d233 Santa Barbara Photos, by Bill Heller

Santa Barbara Photos

Misty Mountain
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Misty Mountain

Every evening this time of year is a different work of art. This particular evening, the clouds were just lapping over the top of the mountains. As the golden light fell on them I knew just the place I wanted to take it all in. This is the view of the Santa Ynez Mountains over Laguna Blanca in Hope Ranch.

Quvenzhané Wallis Benh Zeitlin
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Quvenzhané Wallis Benh Zeitlin

Beasts of the Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin, and youngest ever Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis walking the red carpet at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Amy Adams at The Arlington
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Amy Adams at The Arlington

Amy Adams, actress, singer and mother interviewed by Paul Thomas Anderson at The Arlington Theatre before receiving the 2013 Cinema Vanguard Award.

Amy Adams Interviewed
Monday, February 4, 2013
Amy Adams Interviewed

Amy Adams enjoying an evening of questions with a few hundred of her closest friends at The Arlington Theatre during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Quentin Tarantino on the Big Screen
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Quentin Tarantino on the Big Screen

Quentin Tarantino answering questions at The Arlington Theatre before receiving the American Rivera Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Tarantino Q and A
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Tarantino Q and A

Quentin Tarantino answering questions at The Arlington Theatre before receiving the American Rivera Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

David Cherniack at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
David Cherniack at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

An artist on stage. David Chernaiack spoke of the journey to this moment when his film would be seen for the first time by more than five people at a time. You could hear the care in his voice for the effort that went into the making of his film, and the diappointment over the technical details that were not going exactly right in the theatre. I could truly relate to wanting things to be perfect.

Sandpiper Tempest Panorama
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sandpiper Tempest Panorama

An absolutely breathtaking storm rolling in at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta. The sun was still shining brightly around the edges of the storm, but as the rain rolled in that would not last long. The clouds were so close you could almost reach up and touch them.

Golden Shoreline Run
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Golden Shoreline Run

Girls running in the surf on the beach at Shoreline Park. I particularly like the gold water splashing up by their feet. They looked like two sisters enjoying the beach together. They stopped long enough to take in the sunset for a moment, then they were off again splashing in the breaking waves around their feet.

Santa Barbara Evening Mist
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Santa Barbara Evening Mist

This evening the fog was thick at the beach. But what looks like a thick overcast evening from one point of view can take on an amazing new light from another. Climbing to the hills of Santa Barbara lets you see the graceful beauty of the mist as it slowly rolls in over the city.

Shorline Reflection
Monday, January 21, 2013
Shorline Reflection

This evening was a great one to spend on the beach. A few wispy high clouds and a great view of the setting sun. We found ourselves at Shoreline park late in the afternoon and decided to take a walk down the long stairway to the beach where we wandered and watched the setting sun. This is about the time everyone on the beach seemed to just stop and watch the beautiful scene. It was a wonderful evening!

Palm Sunset
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Palm Sunset

Just another wonderful evening in Santa Barbara. There was a period of time when things got too hectic, and we didn't take too many walks on the beach. Not that we weren't thankful for the amazing beauty of the place we live, but life just gets busy sometimes. Lately we've set out to fix that though. Life is still busy, but we make sure to drop everything a few nights a week and go watch the sunset in a nice spot. I've really enjoyed that!

Gone Fishin'
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Gone Fishin'

This week was great for fishing, at least if you're a Brown Pelican in the Santa Barbara area. There are almost always pelicans feeding off the coast here, but there must have been some impressive schools of fish off of Butterfly Beach a few nights ago. The two Pelicans on the surface behind the dive bombers just surfaced from their dives and there must have been hundreds of attempts. If you look closely to the left of the photo you can see a nose sticking out of the water of what I believe must be a sea otter. But it's hard to say since I was paying so much attention to the Pelicans I did not actually see him until I looked at the photo.

Tropical Butterfly Sunset
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.

Sandpiper Tempest
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Sandpiper Tempest

This winter has been a wonderful one for beautiful weather. This is one of my favorite spots to make a bee line to in Goleta when I see the sky doing something spectacular. Sandpiper golf course offers a variety of amazing views (and some great golf too). This is right by the clubhouse as the rain was rolling in. I was perfectly dry, but that wouldn't have lasted long.

Santa Barbara Twilight
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Santa Barbara Twilight

This angle over the city is one of my favorite views of Santa Barbara. But I usually wait for just the right combination of weather and clear air to make the sky beautiful, and the islands sharp. Usually the islands are shrowded in mist at this time of the evening if there are good sunset clouds, and you can't truly appreciate how large they actually are since they just poke out of the fog with their bases hidden. After my last shot at this location I knew I wanted to focus on the harbor and the wharf when I returned. This evening everything finally fell into place to get the image I was looking for.

Butterfly Beach Cypress Sunset
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!

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