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Saturday, May 10, 2008
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish 360° view
Back to Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Montecito.
This was actually the first image I took with my
new panoramic tripod head. But as I mentioned in an
earlier post it took me a bit of time to finish all
of the shots and in the time it took the light had
changed quite a bit. I did not think I was going to be
able to stitch it together right. But now that I have had
a little practice I was able to get it to work.
Of course that brought up some new problems. The image
is so large I kept getting "Hard drive full" errors.
Strange seeing as how there was 500 gig of space.
In the end I realized that the format of the hard drive
only allows a maximum of four gigabyte files. Yeah,
it's a big picture... ten feet wide actually.
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
Stearns Sunset
I have learned to make the most of the clouds when they come out around here.
during the summer we just have haziness and fog. Most of the rest of the year
it's clear and blue. But as I have said so often on the photo of the day,
the clear blue skies don't make for much of a sunset. But the evening I took this
shot was just amazing! We almost did not go since we were getting out
a little too late for the sunset. Turned out to be a better image with the stars in it anyway!
So now that I have the VR functionality down I thought I would take the time to fine tune the
process. I created this image and recreated it from the 120+ individual shots
that make it. This is my fourth complete revision, after trying out about ten
different programs for different parts of the process. I can now confidently say there is
no substitution for hard work. (I'm hearing my 7th grade english teacher in the back of my head asking
me if the computer I did my homework on did the work for me when I pushed a single button)
Maybe some day, but we're still not there yet. Quite to the contrary, with each new advance
in computing power you just get more room to find a new level of creativity.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed making it!
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Monday, January 21, 2008
Moonlit Tree
This evening I went out to take some test shots
for my current project. The moon was doing some
beautiful things with the clouds so it got
me a little sidetracked. But that is always
lots of fun too.
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Friday, January 18, 2008
Shorline Sunset Panorama
Click the main image for a larger view
As I have mentioned before, there are very
few places you can see the sunset over the
water in Santa Barbara. Our coast faces the
south for the most part. But there are a few
small sections that give you a glimpse of the
setting sun.
This is a combination of thirteen shots covering
more than 200°. My intention was to shoot
an entire 360° image. In the end this particular
set of images caught the best lighting to bring out the
beautiful texture of the clouds. But it did not quite
make the full circle.
If you like the panoramas, you should check back.
My wife got me a couple of nice tripods, and one
will be perfect for a panoramic head I have been
drooling over... er, I mean carefully considering investing in. :-D
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
My intent was to get some nice sunset shots of this beautiful
church in Montecito. I was a little late, but it was still
a nice night.
If you tilt your head to the left and
use your imagination a little you can make out
half of the constellation Orion rising from behind the
church.
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Friday, January 4, 2008
Mission Storm
Click on the main image for a bigger version
Another attempt to get to the Nativity Scene at the mission a
couple of weeks ago, and still no animals. Probably
a good thing for them, it was raining like crazy.
But I do so hate to come home empty handed!
And, I still have not had a chance to develop
the film from this evening. This was from my
digital camera, but four feet wide just might not be big enough. :-D
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Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Santa Barbara Hills
Happy New Year!
It's been a busy holiday season. This
was from one of my many trips by the Mission
to see if the animals were in
the nativity scene yet.
I had no luck there before things got too busy, but
as long as I was out with my camera...
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Monday, December 17, 2007
Mission Christmas Trees
Merry Christmas!
Some of the Christmas decorations at the Mission Santa Barbara.
They don't usually do a lot in a flashy way, but I like the
Christmas trees. They put them up really early too so
you have lots of time to enjoy them!
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
CCSB in the Setting Sun
As I mentioned yesterday I was out taking some test
shots for a new project. The intention was to check the
lighting and get an idea what equipment I would need.
But as the sky got prettier I decided to take a shot
at getting some images to combine into a high dynamic
range image. Normally, not a difficult task. But
in this case I only had a monopod so that made
keeping the camera perfectly still between shots
a bit of a challenge. I might not use it for a poster
size image but I'm pretty happy with the results.
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Friday, December 14, 2007
Sunset at 1525 State
When the evening sun does beautiful things like this I find myself
wishing I could drop everything and take pictures.
Today I had a busy afternoon of meetings and appointments,
fortunately one of them was with a new client so I just
happened to have my camera handy. I think the wispy
pink clouds really add a lot! Not to mention the
cool bus tail lights that came through at just the right time.
This is a combination of five images in what is called a High Dynamic Range Image, mostly
used in this case to pick
out the details in the bright spots. One of the interesting things
about one of those bright spots is the color of the sign.
That lovely green is the way film (or in this case a digital sensor)
sees fluorescent lights. As they ummm... "encourage" us in California
to use the CFLs my evening shots are going to get a lot
greener, supposedly in more ways than one.
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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.
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Paradise at the Farmers' Market
This is another shot from last night at the Farmers' Market.
I actually spent less time taking pictures than driving
the few miles to get there, but I had a good time once I did.
Maybe next time I'll get there a little earlier.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tuesday Night Farmers' Market
It's been a busy couple of months but last night
the fog was so beautiful I thought I would try
to get some sunset fog shots at the Farmers' Market.
(Then I could get a little Thanksgiving shopping done too! :)
Unfortunately, the fog was much lighter tonight and I was a
little late for the sunset (still have not adjusted to that time change!)
but it was still a fun night with my camera.
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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!)
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Friday, October 19, 2007
Harbor Earth Shadow
I really love this shot and all the others I took along with it.
It was a great evening right after a Photography show
walking with my dad at the Santa Barbara harbor.
Aside from the beauty of the scene and the great memories it brings
back (as most of my photos do for me), I like the science
in this shot. If you poke around the photo of the day
it's not hard to notice
other
evidence of
the left side of my brain creeping into my photography.
In this case, the dark blue near the horizon that
slopes upward to the left is what intrigues me.
It is actually the shadow of the Earth. As the sun was
slipping further below the horizon behind me
on my right side, it still lit the atmosphere above me.
It is easiest to see this effect looking out over the
ocean so there are no hills or even buildings and trees to block it.
BTW, I finally got back to the photo of the day
thanks to a really nice post
the other day from Mary Ann. Always wonderful to
know people are enjoying my creativity.
One of the many things I was doing in my absence
was working on a new gallery site of my Santa Barbara
photos... www.ImagesOfSantaBarbara.com.
Thanks again Mary Ann!
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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.
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Monday, July 30, 2007
Dolphins in the Evening
The hound decided that we should take our walks in the
evening on this trip. Apparently the early morning
walks while we are out of town have lost their shine.
Can't say I am unhappy about that, especially when
I get nice images like this.
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Thursday, June 21, 2007
Storke Sunset
This is an older image, from the building I used to work in at UCSB.
My office was on the first floor but in the winter I liked
to watch the sunset from this spot.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Fisheye Sunset at Savoy
I have been preparing more photos from an old shoot for
one of my favorite clients. This is a beautiful
restaurant on Figueroa Street in Santa Barbara.
It is run by a really nice couple who
grew up around here. With all of the huge corporations
setting their sights on Santa Barbara in recent years
it is really nice to see a good local business thrive!
They have really nice photos on the walls too! :-D
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Saturday, March 3, 2007
Canon Perdido
I never really noticed the streetlights
around here before I started taking my
evening shots of the city. They are
actually very interesting and add a lot
to the photos. Now I try to get them in
the shot whenever I can.
If you look closely to the left of the streetlight
on the sidewalk you will see a couple of black
smudges in the photo. Those were actually
people walking on the sidewalk. The exposure
was almost long enough for them to disappear completely
because of their movement,
but not quite.
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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Shoreline Access
One of the many beautiful images that are a result
of an early morning hound
walk during our last trip to Monterey. As I have said
before, that was not really my idea of a relaxing trip
but the hound sure can sniff out a good photo opportunity!
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Monday, December 25, 2006
Frohe Weihnachten! Natale allegro! Merry Christmas!
This is an amazing little restaurant
where we had a wonderful Christmas dinner today.
The first thing that called our attention
to this it was the Maitre D'.
As we got out of our car the first night we were in Carmel
he came over to the wall under the lamp post and
howled at Zoe.
He was very excited to see her, he explained in a German
accent that he had grown up
with hounds just like her. He then asked us
if we were ready for dinner and told us that he had a
patio where Zoe would be welcome.
We were not ready for dinner then, but he left a
real impression on us. Any place that was that friendly
to our hound had to be ok.
It was a good assumption, the waiters were very friendly
and the food was absolutely delicious. A perfect Christmas
memory! We will be back again for sure!
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Saturday, November 18, 2006
Savoy Nights
This week I had the enviable task of shooting and designing a new
ad for a great restaurant in town. I love this kind of
evening shot, and since the primary objective of the ad
was to let everyone know they are now open for dinner it
seemed the perfect opportunity for some dusk photography.
If you would like to see the finished ad, watch for the upcoming issue of
Santa Barbara Food & Home or contact me
for a sneak preview.
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Sunday, October 8, 2006
Harbor Light
Another sunset shot from the harbor.
The evenings have been really beautiful
lately. This is a good time of year to be
a photographer. In fact, the only bad thing is
I did so much photography work last week
I did not get other things done.
I hope to have many more weeks like that. :-D
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Friday, October 6, 2006
Starlight Harbor
It was a full moon tonight, a really full moon.
My wife read online that the moon was going to look
as much as 12% bigger than other times. (The reason
for this is the fact that it is near the low point
in it's slightly elliptical orbit.) So we thought it would be a
good evening for some evening shots.
The sun was gone when I took this, just a faint glow behind me.
The glow to the left of the photo is from the full moon.
And the stars are clearly visible.
This is not a new type of shot for me. But it is just about a
first with my digital camera. I can usually pull this off pretty
well with film, but the digital was a little more temperamental.
Actually, it is just what you get used to. Now that I know how
it likes to be treated, I think I'll be using it a lot more
this way.
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