Sunday, August 27, 2006
Butterfly Beach Sunset

It was a nice sunset this evening. No clouds, but still a nice glow in the sky.

Thursday, August 24, 2006
Sunset Exercise

I went to the doctor and, big surprise, I have to eat healthier and get more exercise! (should have seen that comin') On the plus side, walking is his recommended way to do that. And I figure, if you're gonna walk, you might as well do it someplace nice!

This is Butterfly Beach in Santa Barbara. It is one of the less traveled beaches around here. It is not in an area that you would normally stumble on. And it is our favorite beach. So after making one good pedometer out of two broken ones, we had a nice sunset walk. Oh, I mean... we went out and got some exercise!

Friday, July 7, 2006
Santa Barbara Sunset at the Wharf

This image reminds me of visiting Santa Barbara, about nine years ago, on vacation with my best friend. When we first got here she told me that she had to warn me that I probably was not going to want to leave. She was right! But Santa Barbara was not the only thing I got attached to. Now that we live here, my best friend has also become my wife!

Saturday, July 1, 2006
Catamaran Beach

Another Santa Barbara sunset shot taken a few minutes after yesterday's.

Friday, June 30, 2006
Stearns Sunset Panorama

(click to see a bigger version)

More shots from yesterday's wharf walk. Actually, it's a combination of 9 shots. It was a beautiful evening.

Thursday, May 11, 2006
Santa Barbara Beach Bums

We have not been seeing the sun much lately. But, it is a beautiful day when we do!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Happy Beach Hound

This guy was having a really good time! 'Course who wouldn't have a good time running on the beach in Santa Barbara at sunset?

Saturday, December 24, 2005
Santa Barbara Beach Panorama

(click to see a bigger version)

Ok I got a new toy! This is actually seven images stitched together in a panorama by a cool little tool named PTGui. Actually it is quite powerful. I am a bit fanatical about image quality and size. I usually work with 16 bit originals from my scanner and the this tool can work with them which is rare.

To truly appreciate this image you have to realize the full resolution version is over 500 megabytes and could easily be printed almost nine feet wide.

Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Carmel Beach Fire

The people on the beach look almost insignificant under this awesome display. And, believe me that is how it made you feel! And, at the same time, it filled you with awe.

Some days I see things that make me wanna kick myself for leaving my camera at home. The days like this one make up for them many times over!

Saturday, December 3, 2005
Sunset Beach Walk

Carmel beach is a beautiful place to watch the sun set. I took a lot of shots that evening, but this is my favorite. I wonder what they were talking about.

Thursday, November 24, 2005
Sunset Reflection

Well I tried to find a Turkey, but I guess a couple of sea gulls will have to do!

Happy Thanksgiving anyway!

Monday, October 17, 2005
Bounding Beach Vizsla

Dogs are wonderful creatures. And, it's hard to take a bad picture of one of them. This is a Vizsla doing what they do best. They are a tracker, retriever, pointer kind of huntin' dog and they are extremely high energy.

Of course you would never see my hound dog doing something like this. She would explain that she is far too dignified for that. She would continue to explain that she is a scent hound. So once she leads you to where the tennis ball is, it is YOUR job to go and get it. Besides, she has not been excited about the water at the beach since she realized someone ruined the recipe with too much salt. We have been known to have some high energy romps on the beach though.

Friday, August 26, 2005
Smiling Dragon

Another shot of Gracie the Sand-Dragon. This is what we spent last Saturday doing in a contest to benefit the music Academy of the West.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Gracie the Musical Dragon

This is Gracie the Dragon, she was designed by my best friend for our church's entry in a sandcastle contest to benefit the Music Academy of the West. (That explains the keyboard she is playin'.)

Gracie won first place in the adult division!! Not really the point, but it really was exciting after all of the hard work. We carried about a hundred and fifty gallons of water to the spot to make the sand wet enough to stick together.

Monday, August 15, 2005
Basking Seals

More "Sea Bassets!

Monday, August 8, 2005
La Jolla Evening

We were just marveling at an unseasonably beautiful sunset here in Santa Barbara tonight. Usually this time of year the air is too dry to make an interesting show. But, even with the beautiful show, we still didn't get anything quite like La Jolla in the winter. Partially because we have a south facing beach here and the sun sets over the mountains rather than the water.

Saturday, July 16, 2005
Seal Beach Sunset

Some days it is easier to get up and go to a photography show than others. This is one of the days that was really hard. Not because I don't like the shows. It is just an amazing amount of work to set up a nice display, basically from scratch, each week.

Fortunately, the people always make it worth the effort. I am always interested in what people like, and this photo is for the several people today who asked for sunsets. This beach is known for it's seals.

I really enjoy watching peoples' reaction to my photos. And, I get very excited talking to them about photography and the subjects. I'm not just talking about people who are interested in purchasing prints either. Almost every time I go out I talk to someone who is sure I have spent thousands of dollars on my equipment. And, wishes they had the money to spend so they could experiment with photography. I am always happy to inform them they can get the same camera (and lens) I use for about $70 on eBay.

Actually, these conversations always remind me of a joke I like...

A Photographer was at a dinner party. The hostess, while admiring some of his work, told him how much she loved his photographs. As she looked through the images she said "Wow, you must have an amazing camera!" The evening went on and as the photographer was about to leave he thanked the hostess for her hospitality and the delicious dinner she had prepared. As he left, he added "You must have some amazing pots!"

Sunday, July 10, 2005
East Beach Sunset

This is looking back at East beach from Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara. I like the single glowing cloud. It really makes the sky a lot more interesting.

Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Watching the Fireworks

Well it was a good fourth. We spent the day at a picnic put on by the Elks. I had a booth with my photography, there was a lot of food and lots of nice people. Even Zoe had a good time (she loved the chicken!).

I didn't know much about the Elks, other than the fact that a few of the ones I know remind me of my dad, so they must be good people. Turns out they are a pretty cool organization, they do a lot of things in the community to support kids programs.

Monday, July 4, 2005
Grand Finale

Happy Fourth of July!!

My favorite thing about this photo is the kid sitting on the post. He is a little blurry, it was a long exposure, and each time there was a really big boom he would jump and squirm a bit. You can not really make it out on this version, but in the high resolution scan you can even see a slight shadow of his arms out at the sides of his head as he covered his ears after a particularly loud one.

Sunday, May 22, 2005
Butterfly Beach Sunset

The weather around here in June is known as "June Gloom." The fog comes in over the water before dawn and we usually don't see the sun until about 4:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes the beach is totally covered all day. There can be a wall of fog right by the beach that looks thick enough to touch.

The fog in this image is not quite that crazy. It was an amazing evening. I had to wade pretty far out in the water to get the angle of the sun behind the trees. And, I was not really dressed for swimming at the time.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Day at the Beach

This is actually from last summer, but it felt so much like summer around here yesterday I was feeling in the mood. That water is looking better and better at 90 degrees with no A/C!

Saturday, May 7, 2005
Santa Barbara Sandpiper

These guys are fun to watch on the beach, sometimes they seem to forget they can fly as they run from the waves. I particularly like the perspecive of this shot. I got down more at his (her?) level and it made for a much more interesting photo.

Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Sunsite Kite

Since Monterey lies on the North East side of the Monterey Peninsula you have to go around to the Carmel side to see the sunset over the ocean.

Of course, I did get some nice sunrises from the Monterey side :-)