Pacific Photos
Friday, May 3, 2013
Windrose Sunset
Sunset on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara is a wonderful experience. This day even more so than usual. This compass rose (or windrose) is out near the end of the wharf, past the buildings where there is nothing around you, not even railings to seperate you from the beautiful Pacific Ocean.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Tropical Butterfly Sunset
Our sunsets are spectacular in Santa Barbara during the fall and winter. This is one of my favorite spots, under a beautiful Cypress tree at Butterfly Beach in Montecito. The lights across the water are in downtown Santa Barbara. When the tide is low you can walk all the way along the beach from this spot to Stearns Wharf, but the tide was definitely not low this evening.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Butterfly Beach Cypress Sunset
The evening I took this a few weeks ago, like many evenings, I took a walk along Butterfly Beach. But that night I was paying particular attention to this tree, one of my favorite spots along the walk. I had just spoken to someone who was looking for a special gift for someone who loves this tree as much as I do. Now I have quite a few shots already, but many of them use the amazing sweeping branches to frame other subjects, especially the sunset from the other side. Never one to shy away from the chance to look at a faviorite subject in a new light, I took it as a chance to spend some time wandering the beach with renewed inspiration for one of my favorite spots!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Sunset at Butterfly
Another shot from a beautiful sunset a few days ago at Butterfly Beach. Recently there has been a great deal of interest in photos of the Butterfly Beach area so I thought I would post a few new images. Gives me a nice reason to go out and wander the beach too.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Cypress Sunset
An amazing sunset captured in one of the most perfect spots, under the Butterfly Beach Cypress Tree in Montecito.
Monday, October 22, 2012
19th Hole Bar B Que
This is what you need after a long day of Golf. A great Bar-B-Que! This is from the Jordano's Fall Golf Classic from a few weeks ago. Sandpiper is one of the most beautiful golf courses I can imagine, but they have a lot more going than just amazing scenery. The people are friendly and the food is amazing!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Stearns Wharf Harbor Restaurant View
This view is from the end of the Sea Center section of Stearns Wharf. The Sea Center has it's own little wing, apart from the main section of the wharf. An area where you can escape the fray of the restaurants and shops and watch the people go by from a distance. And while you're there you can stop in and learn about the amazing world 20 feet below your feet too.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Elevated Wharf View
One more elevated view of Stearns Wharf. I really liked this spot, but the wind was really picking up so it made me a little nervous to have the camera suspended high above the water. But I'll be back to this spot again in the near future.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Santa Barbara View from Stearns Wharf
Recently I had a request for a cover shot that showed a view of Santa Barbara from Stearns Wharf. I have quite a few Stearns Wharf shots but the client was looking for a daytime shot, and most of my wanderings on the Wharf have been in the evening. This was one of the first shots after I raised the camera in this spot, the sea gull was really interested in the camera. I think he was planning on landing on it. He only thought better of it at the very last second.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Evening Wharf Wandering
One of my favorite views on Stearns Wharf. I'm looking through some older Wharf shots for a new project. This particular view comes up a lot. The meandering shape of the Wharf makes for a quite a few interesting compositions. If it were just a straight pier you wouldn't be able to get a good picture of it while you were standing on it.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Stearns Sunset Reflections
There's no better place to be at sunset than Stearns Wharf at the end of State Street in Santa Barbara. Great restaurants, souvineers and ice cream are all found out here. And they even have been known to film a movie or two out here.
Friday, October 12, 2012
View from the Top of Santa Barbara
A beautiful view over Santa Barbara. This is one of the most amazing spots in Santa Barbara. The top of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Clocktower. From here you can see from one end of the city to the other, The Mission to the Ocean. This particular angleis overlooking the sunken gardens of the courtyard with the Pacific Ocean on the right.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Sandpiper Golden Autumn Light
I don't claim to be an expert on Golf Courses. But this has to be one of the most beautiful golf courses around. This is Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta California. I might be a little partial beacuse I spend a lot of time there experimenting with new equipment and techniques. But that's mainly because the people are so welcoming and quite frankly it's hard to take a bad photo there.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Thenth Hole Golden Hour
This is just past the clubhouse at Sandpiper. On the way down the path by the tenth fairway. I went out recently to get some sunset Sandpiper Golf Course shots for a project, this was one of the first shots of the evening, as you can see it was an amazing evening and a wonderful place to spend it!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Butterfly Glow
This evening I had the wonderful opportunity to take a new camera for a spin (Canon 5D Mark III). Now understand I love my current camera (the Mark II,) and before I took the new model out I just couldn't see the need for an upgrade based upon the specs. Other than the fact that my camera just passed the hundred thousand exposure mark. (Timelapse will eat the shutter eventually.) The one thing I did expect was better low light performance. And since I love my evening photos that is a big deal to me. So I decided to wander Butterfly Beach just after sunset. This was one of the early shots, but I was already impressed. I could easily hand-hold shots that would have required a tripod before. And the speed of the camera was amazing. Although it's only supposed to be 33% faster, I found in practice it would easily shoot twice as many photos in the same period of time. Thanks Canon for a great update to a wonderful camera, and thank you for the opportunity to take it for a test drive! Check back throughout the week for more real world impressions of the 5D Mark III.
Friday, September 28, 2012
West Beach View from Stearns Wharf
Recently my wife and I spent an evening playing tourist when friends came into town. We took them out to Stearns Wharf for dinner and to watch the sunset. As we were walking back to our car I took the opportunity to get a few shots of the fading colors in the sky. When you live in a beautiful place like this it's a wonderful way to spend an evening seeing it through someone elses' eyes.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Evening on Stearns Wharf
Recently my wife and I spent an evening playing tourist when friends came into town. We took them out to Stearns Wharf for dinner and to watch the sunset. As we were walking back to our car I took the opportunity to get a few shots of the fading colors in the sky. When you live in a beautiful place like this it's a wonderful way to spend an evening seeing it through someone elses' eyes.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Preparing for the Jordanos Fall Golf Classic
This is a shot of the preparations for the 20th annual Jordano's Fall Golf Classic. It was a beautiful day out at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Haskells Golden Hour
Golden hour at Haskell's Beach. What a beautiful place to be.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sandpiper Mountain Panorama
Late in the evening as the sun is low and the shadows are long is the time I love to wander with my camera. Downtown, when there are lights and buildings, I usually start a little later. But out here where things are a little more wide open the golden light in the hours before the sun actually sets is amazing. This day had the perfect combination of clear skies to capture our amazing mountains with just enough marine layer out over the ocean to give the sun a golden color as it dipped low in the sky. This is near one of the middle greens on the bluff at Sandpiper. I was traveling the path just looking for interesting angles, planning to come back when the clouds were more intense for a time-lapse shot. But as so often happens on these scouting trips, I was able to get some beautiful images that were different than what I was planning on for the final shoot. Eventually I did come back and get that time-lapse and I was really happy with it. But the shots I got on the scouting trip to this day are some of my favorites.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Panoramic Santa Barbara
Panoramic view of Santa Barbara from Santa Barbara City College. On the right you can see the Santa Barbara Harbor and Stearns Wharf. All the way on the left peeking out from under the fronds is the Santa Barbara Courthouse Clock Tower.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Asilomar Sunset
The end of a beautiful day in Monterey. This is Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove at the tip of the Monterey Peninsula, one of my favorite places to watch the sunset!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Santa Barbara Breakwater Sunset
Sunset above the Santa Barbara Breakwater.
I like the way this photo shows the shelter of
the breakwater as your view moves across the beautiful waves on the outside
to the small ripples in the harbor. Either way the water is beautiful!
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Carmel by the Sea Cypress Sunset
A veiw of the beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The Cypress trees are beautiful here, especially the ones that have extra character from decades of abuse by the sea. This is actually not far down the coast from the famous lone cypress at Pebble Beach golf course. This guy might not be as famous as his relative up the coast, but he is no less beautiful!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Asilomar State Beach Sunset Monterey
An amazing sunset at Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove, California. The Monterey Peninsula has no end of beautiful views. As the golden sunset light stretches across the beaches the show only gets better. The only real problem is choosing just one place to sit and enjoy the evening.





