Light Photos

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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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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...

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!)

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!

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, 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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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.