Cloud Photos

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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Gettin' the Dress

Just scanning the film that was in the camera right before the wedding. This was the evening that I took my wife :-D to try on her wedding dress. I, of course, had to sit in the car and wait. Fortunately, the hound dog and I had the camera to entertain ourselves.

cloud ₄₅ | evening ₂₅ | Oxnard ₁ | palm tree ₂₉ | sunset ₇₅

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Evening Fog

The thing that looks like a large cloud on the ground between the palm trees and the mountain is our evening fog. It is caused by the marine layer. A warm cushion of air from further out in the Pacific that slides in across the cool coastal waters. The water is cool here because it follows the pacific currents down the coast from cold places in the north.

Given the right conditions, the fog slides in as the sun goes down and will not leave the beach till around ten in the morning. Of course, in June, the fog covers the whole city and only leaves for about ten minutes in the afternoon. We call that "June Gloom".

As long as you can stay back from, or above it, it is actually very beautiful. My office at UCSB used to sit at the perfect point at the limit of the fog. I could watch it swirl outside my window, but it never really got to my office.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Birthday Sunset

This one was posted a little late. But, it is a belated birthday present for my best friend who is now (January 16th) my wife. Yesterday, she asked me what picture she got for her day. And, due to some major wedding preparations at that time I was getting behind on the photo of the day so she got to choose her own.

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!

Monday, October 31, 2005

Santa Barbara Sunset

We live in an odd little spot on the coast. If you look at a map of the California coastline there is a small area that runs from east to west. That is where Santa Barbara is. As a result, the sun does not set over the water as you would expect it to on the west coast. Moving straight out from the coast, once you pass the channel islands about 25 miles out, the closet land is Antarctica.

Friday, October 7, 2005

Happy Cows

You can't really make them out at this size but there is a heard of cows in the distance on the left side of the image. If you are not familiar with it, the California Cheese industry runs a cool ad campaign about their happy cows. You see, they are much happier because they live in beautiful rolling fields in sunny California so they make good cheese. Those commercials always make me think of this photo and the beautiful day I took it.

I think it's time for another vacation, then again, when isn't it?

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Stearns Sunset

Ahhh, the end of summer. I don't have to go to school tomorrow, but I can't believe it's over already.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Sunset Run

This was a nice evening. We were still recovering from yesterday's adventure, building a sand castle. I wanted to finish a roll of film so I can get some images of our winning castle online! We spent the evening wandering around the Mission Rose garden and the Stearns Wharf areas. This image is from a previous sunset walk near the Wharf. There were less clouds tonight, but it is always a beautiful area.

As for the castle, our church entered an annual sandcastle contest on Leadbetter beach this year benefiting the Music Academy of the West's scholarship program. My best friend was in charge of the design. After a few iterations, she settled on "Gracie the Musical Dragon" (a distant relative of Puff) in honor of our church "Grace Lutheran". Our dragon was playing a keyboard made of sand and driftwood. It was a lot of work, all together I estimate we carried 150 gallons of water, but we were rewarded with a first place ribbon in the adult category! There was also a professional and a childrens' category, both of which came up with beautiful designs too.

Come back tomorrow to get a look at Gracie.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Sunset Tree Silhouettes

Never a dull show!

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, 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.

beach ₅₁ | cloud ₄₅ | fog ₄ | sunset ₇₅ | water ₅₁

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Mission Sunset

This was an amazing sunset. I thought it would be at a good angle to get a shot of the mission. You can see the Mission's silhouette in the lower right. Of course, splitting the exposure between the front of the mission and the sky caused the much brighter sky to be washed out. I had been hoping the spotlights on the mission would be on, but they come on much later. I did my best and came up with some good shots of what I wanted. But, before I was done, I grabbed this shot metering just for the sky. Because I knew the combined shots couldn't do it justice.

If you are interested in seeing the comparison, there is a similar shot with the mission more in the picture from another evening of shooting here.

cloud ₄₅ | mission ₃₂ | sunset ₇₅

Friday, May 20, 2005

Blazing Sun

What strange weather! Santa Barbara is now doing it's "mid-summer" impression. Looking out at the thermometer I see about 95° F. I guess that should not be surprising considering the winter California has had. But the timing is a little unfortunate. This week they decided to repave our street, so we cannot have the windows open. And, Santa Barbara is one of those places that wants you to believe the weather is so consistent that they do not need Air Conditioning (or insulation for that matter). Someone once told us when I we were looking at his apartment to rent... "Air conditioning!? Well you must not have ever lived in Santa Barbara before, you don't need air conditioning here!". Well you don't need air conditioning in the Mojave Desert either, but it sure makes it a lot more livable!

Still, I gotta think I am more comfortable than the guys out there running the asphalt spreading equipment! Perhaps I should go see if they need something to drink...

cloud ₄₅ | palm frond ₂ | sky ₄₅ | sun ₁₉ | tree ₄₁

Monday, May 16, 2005

Gathering Storm

I lived in the desert for about five years and I never got used to the heat. But, there are advantages to everything. The strange desert weather made for some truly awesome storm clouds. You could watch them build and start the down-pour at the end of the valley while standing in the sun where you were.

cloud ₄₅ | palm tree ₂₉ | storm ₂

Thursday, May 5, 2005

Mission Storm

I actually went out to get a shot of a really nice rainbow. But the scene of the clouds over the mission was the best opportunity of the day. The clouds were bunched around the mountain. As the sun set, it was shining under them through the heavy rain close the mountain. It made for some particularly dramatic lighting. As you can see from the streak of car headlights on the right of the photo, this was not a short exposure.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Sunset Cloud Shadows

More sky shadows. Like the shot from yesterday, this was a particularly interesting sky, and I was happy to have my camera with me. :-)

cloud ₄₅ | sunset ₇₅

Monday, April 25, 2005

Moring Cloud Trails

This was a particularly interesting sunrise. One of the times I was really happy I was carrying my camera with me everywhere.

This photo made me think quite a bit about the position of the clouds in the atmosphere. If you take a look at the contrails, they appear to be casting shadows up on the clouds. This is a result of an optical illusion.

The contrails are at a higher level than the clouds. They appear closer because they are much denser than the high altitude Cirrus clouds. The clouds are made of ice crystals, blown in the wind like grains of sand. And, being thin and wispy, you see more blue sky through them which contributes to the illusion.

All other things equal, your brain is wired to see a bluer object as being further away. Like a mountain in the distance, when there is more atmosphere between you and the object you are viewing, the object appears bluer.

There are actually two layers of clouds, one right below the trails and another, much thinner and hazier one, quite a bit lower. This accounts for the double shadow.

cloud ₄₅ | contrail ₁ | contrail shadow ₁

Monday, April 11, 2005

Zaca Wide Angle

Another view of Zaca Lake. Actually, the same view, just a wider angle lens. :-D

cloud ₄₅ | lake ₇ | mountain ₆ | water ₅₁ | Zaca Lake ₂

Saturday, April 9, 2005

Autumn Sunset

I was just flipping through some older scans when I found this image. It reminded me that I have about a thousand rolls of slides that I would like to poke through and see if there is anything else interesting lurking in the files. (I'll do that in all my spare time) :0)

cloud ₄₅ | sky ₄₅ | sunset ₇₅ | tree ₄₁

Friday, April 1, 2005

Sunset Palms

I particularly like the texture of the clouds in this one.

cloud ₄₅ | palm tree ₂₉ | sky ₄₅ | sunset ₇₅