c91b Santa Barbara Photos, by Bill Heller

Santa Barbara Photos

Harbor Lights
Friday, May 24, 2013
Harbor Lights

Hanging around the Santa Barbara Harbor in the evenings this time of year is not only wonderful for photography, but it's a nice cool place... literally! We've had quite a few hot days lately, and the harbor and wharf are my favorite places on a hot day.

Rose Garden Panorama Sunset
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Rose Garden Panorama Sunset

An amazing sunset at the Santa Barbara Mission rose garden. The Roses are in full bloom this time of year, it's a wonderful time to visit the Mission and wander around the grounds. If you have really good timing you can experience a spectacular spiring evening with amazing beauty in every direction.

Blue Moonrise
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Blue Moonrise

Once in a blue moon... The full moonrise is quite a sight to see in itself, the moon on the horizon looks so large and beautiful. But on an evening like this there is actually enough light reflected by the amazing moon to photograph our beautiful landscapes and beaches. The cool lighting gives the beach a completely different feel from only an hour before when the sunset glow bathed it in warmth.

Cypress Silhouette
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Cypress Silhouette

This is one of my favorite trees in the Santa Barbara area. A beautiful Cypress that hangs out over Butterfly Beach in Montecito. It always makes a beautiful frame for the lights of Santa Barbara in the distance.

Santa Barbara Mission Cross at Night
Monday, May 20, 2013
Santa Barbara Mission Cross at Night

One evening when we were at the Santa Barbara Mission we noticed someone playing ball with their dog in the field by the mission rose garden. The really interesting thing for my camera is they were playing with a ball that had a light in it. It was a lot of fun watching the ball move back and forth, it was too dark to really see the dog, but it was obvious where he was. In the end, there were too many cars to get an interesting shot of the ball, although it is in there bouncing under the big tree at the left. The fun thing is the shot came out beautifully anyway.

Vista Point Storm
Friday, May 17, 2013
Vista Point Storm

There is a little turn off from the 101 South about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara. The evning I took this was right after a great storm rolled in. Santa Barbara and Goleta were already socked in. They are somewhere in that deep dark cloud on the horizon. But the storm had such a distinct edge, it seemed like it would be possible to get out from under it so I took off for the Vista Point. A few miles before I got there the clouds started to break up and I got out from under the rain enough to watch it slowly make its way toward me as the sun was going down.

Last Rays of the Setting Sun
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Last Rays of the Setting Sun

I was out for a beach walk the other evening. As the sun got closer to the horizon the waves kicked up some beautiful sea mist givng just a few moments of absolutely beautiful light.

Santa Barbara Courthouse Anapamu Garden
Monday, May 13, 2013
Santa Barbara Courthouse Anapamu Garden

A panoramic view of one of the most beautiful buildings in Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. The sunken garden in the center is used for a wide range of creative things throughout the year. It's an amazing spot right in the middle of the city.

Taxi Dancer in the Santa Barbara Harbor
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Taxi Dancer in the Santa Barbara Harbor

The breakwater at the Santa Barbara Harbor is a great place for an evening walk. Of course you have to be willing to risk a rouge wave making you a little wet, but usually it's possible to navigate without getting too much of a shower. Last night it looked like there was potential for a nice sunset, initially the clouds didn't get as much color as I'd hoped for. But a little patience and some long exposures a little later paid off with some evening shots of the beautiful crafts wating for their next outing. Taxi Dancer (in the foreground) in particular looks like it would make for a fun (and fast) sail up the coast.

Butterfly Beach Fog Season
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Butterfly Beach Fog Season

Santa Barbara is always beautiful, to the point that some people think we don't hardly have seasons here. But maybe you just have to look at them a little differently. Winter sunset season just ended, at the beginning of that was butterfly season, when the Monarchs come home to roost. We're now entering fog season. Locals have lots of names for it, most commonly "June Gloom", or before that "May Grey" but the fog is rarely solid and complete as those names make it sound. It's beautiful and wispy, it dances beautifully as it rolls in and out. Sometimes it hugs the coast and the ocean where from inside it may seem grey. But get above or beside it like this and it's an amazing soft blanket hugging the city.

Windrose Sunset
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.

Sunset Cypress
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Sunset Cypress

The windswept trees along our coast are all works of art in their own right. This little Cypress is between two of its absolutely massive big brothers at Butterfly beach. Even though it's much younger than the others you can still see the beginnings of the windswept character that make them so beautiful. The amazing view of Santa Barbara in the background doesn't hurt either.

Stearns Wharf Evening View
Friday, April 5, 2013
Stearns Wharf Evening View

It's always a challenge to try to get a new angle on one of our local landmarks. Our beautiful city has been photographed so many times from just about every angle imagineable. But it's still possible to get a creative take on it if you do a little exploring and have some patience. It doesn't hurt to have a creative best friend location scouting for you while you cruise around the city on a beautiful evening.

Sunset at Shoreline Bluff
Friday, March 15, 2013
Sunset at Shoreline Bluff

Yesterday we took a nice walk at Shoreline Park in the evening. We decided the best use of our daylight savings hour was to spend it on the beach, or at least overlooking it. It was a bit of a hazy evening, but I think most of it was sea spray, and it made for an amazing sunset!

Montecito Sunset Panorama
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Montecito Sunset Panorama

This spot in Montecito on the walk by Butterfly Beach is one of my favorite spots to watch the sunset. The lights on the land to the right are in downtown Santa Barbara, on the left you can see the channel islands.

Mountain View Patio Evening
Monday, March 11, 2013
Mountain View Patio Evening

View of the Santa Ynez Mountains from the El Paseo building in Santa Barbara. A long exposure to bring out the evening lights of our beautiful city.

El Paseo Fountain Courtyard
Sunday, March 10, 2013
El Paseo Fountain Courtyard

This beautiful spot is right off of State Street in Santa Barbara. winding back pathways in the appropriately named El Paseo building, you find yourself in an amazing garden-like courtyard in the middle of a busy city block.

Above State Street
Friday, March 8, 2013
Above State Street

View of Santa Barbara overlooking State Street tword the last glow of the setting sun.

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