Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Mission Sunset Fog

Click on the main image for a larger view.

Once again we are having a fire in the area. Fortunately for us here in the city it's a little further away this time. Of course that's not much consolation to the over-worked firefighters on the front lines.

As always, the fire is making for some nice sunsets. And I had a project specifically looking for a nice wide straight shot of the mission. This looked like my opportunity, but I thought the fog was going to roll in too thick to get the photo. In the end the fog swirled right behind the mission with the beautiful colors of the sunset making for an amazing backdrop.

Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunset Over the Rose Garden Bench

Usually when I'm in the Mission rose garden I'm focusing on the Mission, or even the roses. But this time was something special. I was there to get an image for an anniversary gift. You see, one of the rose garden benches is where he chose to propose to her. He came to me looking for just the right image and had just about selected one of my older panoramic Mission Photographs. But listening to his story, I thought I could create something a little more fitting. Of course, it's not all up to me. I had to hope for just the right backdrop. Wednesday evening I saw my chance!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Queen of the Missions Fountain Test VR

This is the rest of the image from my lens test at the Mission Santa Barbara the other day. Actually, most of the recent photos of the day have full 360° panorams to go with them that I will get online soon. Usually the panoramas start out based around one nice shot. Of course the challenge is to find a point of view on that nice shot that also looks good in all directions.

Thursday, April 23, 2009
El Paseo Courtyard

So after the Mission the other day I was pretty happy with the new lens I was considering. But I like to get my money's worth out of a rental. I had it for two evenings, and when I went out last night I was a little disappointed by the overcast sky. It looked like it was going to be a very grey evening with low fog. But I figured it was worth a try. Fortunatly, my art director (my wonderful wife) suggested going to the El Paseo restaurant. As the sky got a darker blue there were a few minutes where the sunset colors mixed with the blue sky and the reflected city lights on the low fog to creat a wonderful purple color.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Santa Barbara Historical Museum

I was looking through some old shots for some photos that I remembered taking, but did not remember how they turned out. (Sometimes I take more photos than I have time to process.) This was one of the ones I was looking for. It's always a nice surprise to wander back through my photos and try to find cool things that fell through the cracks.

This was just after a particularly beautiful winter sunset. The wispy clouds are still reflecting the glow of the sunset and the lights of the city making the beautiful colors in the sky.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Queen of the Missions Fountain Test Shot

Last evening I rented a lens to try out for some upcoming panorama work. I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted, but it was worth taking it for a spin first. When I'm trying out new equipment I like to go somewhere familiar. I couldn't think of anywhere better to start than the Santa Barbara Mission. This is only one part of the image. The final image is a full 360° panorama. But my computer is a little overworked at the moment, so I thought I would get this much online.

As for the lens, I was so happy with the results that I was ready to buy it before the rental was up but it turns out I'm not the only one who likes it, it's on backorder everywhere I called. Oh well, there is always the rental! And whenever I have rental equipment it motivates me to go out and get my money's worth.

Sunday, March 15, 2009
Misty Morning Courthouse

This is another image from my recent Courthouse shoot. When I posted my previous courthouse shot I thought that was the one the client chose. But they are leaning toward this one now. A massive panorama taken in the first glow of the morning. The fog was so thick when I was driving there I thought I would not be able to get the shot. But it actually made for some interesting lighting. The light on the left cast shadows up from the building through the fog.

A few projects have been taking a lot of my time lately. To top it off, my main backup drive crashed. With just under a Terabyte of images on there I'm feeling pretty lucky at this point to have everything safe with the exception of one large image that I was working on at the time of the crash.

I did find an interesting thing though. When your backup drive crashes it is very nerve racking until you find a way to get everything backed up again. Of course, the only way to backup a terabyte of data fast is to put it anywhere and everywhere there is space.

I started posting this image on the fifteenth, but it's taken me a week since the full size image is 2.6 gigabytes. But I finally got things moved off onto new hard drives so I actually have some scratch disk space. TWO terabyte backup drives so everything is double backed up. With every drive crash I get more paranoid. But it's a healthy paranoia that keeps my favorite images safe.

Sunday, February 22, 2009
Courthouse Evening

This is another image from my recent Courthouse shoot. In fact, it's looking like this will be THE shot that the client likes. They were only looking for one cover shot, but since I was going through all the paperwork to get the permit I made it a day long event. Good thing too, this is not really what the client was asking for in the beginning, but they decided they liked this one even better than the requested image.

These were some of the first shots with my new camera, and so far I am very happy with the results. It's not like me to buy camera equipment anywhere but eBay, but once in a while it's nice to have a shiny new toy... oh I mean shiny new piece of business equipment. Besides, my 20D took it's 40,000th shot just before this project. So it's time it had some reinforcements just in case that shutter decides to give out in the middle of an important shoot.

Thursday, February 5, 2009
Quatrefoil and Clocktower

The Courthouse is one of the most photographed buildings in Santa Barbara. Still, the building itself sits on two sides of a city block. If you take a closer look the details could keep you busy for weeks with a camera. I can't imagine the effort that went into creating them.

The small window beneath the clocktower on the Garden side is one of those details that you might easily miss. If you look around you can find these Quatrefoil or "four leafed" windows all throughout the architecture of our city but I think this is the most ornate and beautiful example you'll find.

Monday, January 5, 2009
Mission Arches

I've been spending a lot of time at the mission lately. This evening it was to try to catch the animals in the Nativity Scene before they went away. I was too late! But it was such a nice evening I stuck around anyway and I'm glad I did. It turned out to be a beautiful sunset. As I was trying to get some new angles on a building that has been photographed thousands of times (many of them by me). I was thinking it may be time to get all my mission shots together in one place.

I received some really nice feedback recently which always makes me want to revisit a great subject. I appreciate all of the kind words! That is one of the things that makes my photography so enjoyable.

Friday, December 26, 2008
Candelight Blessing of the Creche

About a week ago (the 20th) we were lucky enough to happen by the Mission at just the right time. My wife had reminded me to go check to see if the Creche (Nativity Scene) had been set up. When we got there we saw that the animals were there, but we also saw a large parade of unlit luminaries. (lanterns made of candles in a paper bag with a little sand to hold them in place.) So after a quick trip home for an unsuccessful scouring of the Internet to try to see what the occasion was and to get my camera (D'OH! Should always have that with me!) we headed back. We were lucky enough to get there just as the congregation of the Saint Barbara Parish (The church that calls the Mission home) were starting to sing christmas carols around the steps of the mission. It turns out it was the Blessing of the Creche ceremony. Ahhh, what perfect timing my wife has!!

Monday, September 1, 2008
Mission Rose Garden Sunset

Click the main image for a larger view

I really love the fountain by the Santa Barbara Mission. But most people don't realize there is another fountain across the street in the rose garden. It is really worth the little walk, especially at sunset.

If you have been around the site for a while you know that I really like the clouds in the winter around Santa Barbara. Mainly because we don't normally get much weather in the summer other than some very thick low fog in the mornings. Well, this summer has been a little different. Not much fog, I assume because it has not been very cool at night, but lots of humidity. On the plus side we have had some really nice winter-like sunsets. Of course there is one drawback. The night before last was so warm and humid I almost could not breathe. Fortunately it looks like we are starting to get a break from the heat.

Saturday, March 15, 2008
Santa Barbara Courthouse Clocktower View

This was the same day as the recent Mission shot. It was also the day of the grand reopening of the Granada theatre on state street. That is what the giant tent is for in the gardens in this image. Aparently the reception was at the Courthouse. I actually thought of taking a shot of the Granada, but apparently it was not a priority to get ALL of the boards off the windows before opening night. Of course, those were the office windows and they were probably not very noticable after dark. At any rate, it was a fun day of shooting!

Sunday, December 9, 2007
Archway Palms

I still have not had a chance to get my film developed from my adventures last week. (Been a busy week with a sick hound dog.) But this was one of my test shots from my digital camera.

For the next couple of weeks the christmas decorations will be at their peak so I'm going to try to get as much time behind my camera as possible. So, with a little luck, I should have some nice new images under the tree for Christmas. That is if the hound has not managed to knock the tree over by then.

Sunday, December 2, 2007
Santa Barbara Courthouse Palms

Another angle on the Santa Barbara Courthouse. The early morning light casts some beautiful shadows.

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Courthouse Glow

Sometimes its nice to take a closer look at something beautiful. This is a gateway into the Santa Barbara Courthouse. The building as a whole is amazing, but as I am so fond of pointing out I really like the details. There is some incredible craftsmanship there that I don't think you would find very easily today. Perhaps the only thing that will make me stop sounding like my grandfather now (WHYYYY, IN MY DAY... !) is to point out that it was probably pretty rare to EVER find this kind of creativity!

(Unless of course, it was actually one of my perfectionist German grandfathers doing it! :-D At least I come by it honestly!)

Sunday, August 26, 2007
Courthouse Light

We are getting some unseasonable moisture from the hurricane that went through the Gulf of Mexico last week. The days have been really humid, but the clouds have been a nice change. Seemed like a good time for some evening shots of the courthouse.

This is actually a combination of about ten exposures in a technique called a High Dynamic Range Image. Takes a little work, but a normal long exposure would have blown out the image around the lantern and you would still not have been able to see the clouds and stars.

Monday, January 16, 2006
Courthouse Clock Tower

I'm always trying to find a different angle on my subjects. Especially ones as photographed as the Santa Barbara Courthouse. This is the courthouse clock tower... from the inside, straight up!

Cool architecture in there, but I rarely have the right film on hand to get shots of the inside. This was from my recent experiments with a rental Canon 20D digital camera.

Friday, January 13, 2006
Courthouse Detail

I always appreciate the kind feedback I have received when I have displayed my photos. I particularly love the stories I get from people when my images make them think of something near to their hearts. Many times I leave with a much deeper appreciation for my subjects.

I was looking through my recent images for a good Santa Barbara image for Mary Ann, and this is what I came up with. The day I took this was a bit overcast so the wider "city" images are not as exciting, They are more "ideas" that I am building on for future images. But the detail in this image reminds me of another person that stopped by the La Cumbre Art Walk a couple of times. She told me about her Grandfather who worked on the stone detail at the base of the Courthouse. If I remember correctly, some of his work is near the fountain. I have always loved taking detail shots of the courthouse especially since there's already a wide variety of angles on the bigger views out there. Now, every time I look at these details, I think about the incredible talent that went into creating them, especially by one particular grandfather.

Monday, October 3, 2005
Twilight Clocktower

This was a long exposure on a breezy evening. You can tell by the softness of the trees. But, that actually made the bright clocktower more visible through the tree than it would have been in a daylight shot.

I had to find a nice Santa Barbara architecture image today for a fellow photographer from the area who now lives in Texas.

Sunday, July 3, 2005
Courthouse Lights

Another courthouse shot, taken moments before yesterday's, but has a completely different feel. The lighting had not changed much between the two shots. However, in this image I was facing the glow in the western sky where the sun had set. The long exposure brought out the glow of the lights more than yesterday's.

Saturday, July 2, 2005
Nighttime Courthouse

I have been flipping through my photos looking for images of the courthouse since I have had quite a few requests for them lately. My favorites are the non-traditional views like yesterday's, but not many people would recognize that as the courthouse. Most are surprised to find out it even has a bell. (although one true local even figured out how I got that angle just by looking at the photo) So, I try to go for the non-traditional lighting.

Friday, July 1, 2005
Santa Barbara Sunset

This is a little different angle on an image from a couple weeks ago. Santa Barbara's business area was virtually flattened by a 6.3 earthquake in 1925. When they rebuilt, they took the opportunity to enforce a strict "Spanish style" building code. It has made for a really nice feel to the downtown area to this day.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Courthouse Sunset

It was a great evening for taking pictures.