Night Photos
Friday, July 2, 2010
Pepper Tree Inn Virtual Tour
A beautiful spot on upper State Street in Santa Barbara,
this is the Best Western Pepper Tree Inn.
It was a great spot to do a tour. Be sure to look
around closely for the arrows to move around and see the rest of the
beautiful grounds.
Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen
Monday, June 21, 2010
Newburyport Massachusetts Sunset
Another hand-held shot from our
trip to Massachusetts. It was a beautiful
evening. So many brick buildings! Of course
that kind of architecture works in a place
where the ground doesn't shake under
your feet all the time.
Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Santa Barbara Historical Museum Virtual Tour
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is a wonderful bit of history
right in the middle of town. Just waling through their courtyard is like stepping back in time.
And if you ever have the opportunity to be there in the evening the
experience is even more magical.
This is a tour of their courtyard. Not a tour in the way you would systematically
tour a commercial space for an online marketing campaign. But
this is just me wandering around looking for the angles that interest me.
If you click on the arrows on the ground you can wander aroud
the beautiful courtyard with me.
Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Moonlit Massachusetts Town Square
Recently we had the opportunity to spend a
few quick days touring New England.
This was a cute little town in Massachusetts
we stopped in long enough to have dinner
and snap a few photos. In an attempt to travel
light I did not take a tripod, so this was shot
totally hand-held. I was actually surprised
at how well it came out for as late as it was.
Hopefully we'll get back in the fall one year when the
leaves are doing their show.
Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Santa Barbara Historical Museum Courtyard Portico
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is a wonderful treasure. As with so many of the local architectural jewels, the beauty is only amplified by the evening light. Many times I have gone out of my way to walk through their beautiful grounds. It is an amazing change of environment in the middle of down town Santa Barbara and it is one of the things that makes our city special. With just a small detour you are taken not only to another place and time.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
UCSB Starry Night
Walking at sunset around the campus of UCSB during a holiday break I thought I might find everything too quiet to get the photos I was looking for. But like any small city, there is always something going on there. I was happy to see some lights in the windows and the beautiful landscape lighting still on. This image was the last of the evening and one of my favorites.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Natural Cafe Hitchcock Twilight
The Natural Cafe is a great place to get some excellent food in a wonderful atmosphere. This is the Hitchcock location in Santa Barbara. This is from a recent shoot for an article in a magazine featuring the restaurant, and their wondeful yet healthy food.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Courtyard
This is a beautiful little church out in Montecito. It's one of my favorite places to wander in the evenings with my camera. The architecture is really something special and the people are really nice too! This was actually taken the same night as a previous photo of the day which is now part of my Santa Barbara Calendar.
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.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Grand Finale Over Santa Barbara
So there I was thinking "If only I had a flash powerful enough to light up the whole city," and then...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Fourth of July Over Santa Barbara
We usually try to avoid the crowds when there is some sort
of celebration in town. (The exception being the
Solstice Parade.) This year however, I was looking for a nice Independence
Day Photograph for a project I'm working on. The thing is
I would not really have been interested in the normal
looking-up-from-the-crowd shot anyway. So earlier in the day
we spent some time scoping out a nice angle that would include
the Wharf and a more interesting Santa
Barbara view and this is the result. It always helps to scout
your locations ahead of time.
You can click on the main image for a larger view.
Happy Independence Day!! And thank you to all the brave people
in uniform who make this day possible.
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.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Knapp's Arch Sunset
For the last couple of months I have been contributing a "Photo of the Week" to a local news site, Santa Barbara's Blog. Yesterday a request came through them for a shot of Knapp's Castle, the ruins of an old mansion that burned in the forties. It is just over the peak of the mountain north of Santa Barbara overlooking the Santa Ynez valley and Cachuma Lake. For the last year I had been trying to get up there to get some photos, so I was happy to get up there and take some test shots. The intention was to just check out the location and plan for equipment and timing. But, I'm pretty happy with the test shots. I'm still going to try to get up there again soon, but it's hard to beat a couple of nice shots on the first pass.
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.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
After an unseasonably hot day my intention was to go down to
Stearns Wharf to both take some evening pictures and enjoy the cool sea breeze.
Unfortunately, the day had been too much for the power grid
and there was a strange intermittent power outage down by the beach
including the wharf.
After cruising around for a while and enjoying the cool evening
we ended up at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Montecito.
There was just enough blue left in the sky to get
a few nice shots. And, in the end, it was an even nicer
place to spend the evening.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Lamp at the Church of the Wayfarer
Today we tried to stop at the Carmel Bakery after getting
to Monterey for the weekend. But we got there ten minutes
too late. Bummer!
While we were driving around looking for a parking space (which
I'm thinking took just a bit over ten minutes!) my wife pointed out this beautiful lantern
as we passed the Church of the Wayfarer.
I just happen to carry my camera
almost everywhere these days so we had a nice walk
and got a few night shots of the Church and had a great time
anyway.
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!!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Theresa Ann
Another shot from our recent wanderings at the Santa Barbara harbor. It's a nice peaceful scene, but just to my left was a popular restaurant on a balcony overlooking the harbor. There were lots of people around waiting to get in and having a good time. Next time I'll get an image that includes the restaurants.
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.
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, 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.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Leadbetter Beach Woodcut - No Lifeguard On Duty
I went out this evening to get some evening shots of the city.
I was not sure exactly what I was looking for, but when I
drove by Leadbetter Beach I saw it. :-D
This scene reminds me of a woodcut technique where the black
silhouette is printed over a gradient background.
The sky was cloudless, the dark outline at the left on the
horizon is Santa Cruz Island part of Channel Islands National Park.





