Thursday, December 6, 2007
Mission Nativity

By request! This is actually a little older shot, I still have not seen if they are doing the nativity this year. I'll have to go check it out. This is one of my favorite Christmas attractions in Santa Barbara too.

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.

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.

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.

Thursday, October 13, 2005
Dolphins at the Wharf

I really like the water in this image. The long exposure hid the fact that the water was moving pretty well in the fountain. If you look closely you can see where the drops of water leave the edge of the fountain and hit the pool below. But they disappear in between. The surface of the water was covered with ripples which caused the blurred surface as opposed to a smooth reflective surface of a less agitated pool at night.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Mission Palms at Night

Always lookin' for a different angle on a subject. Especially one as photographed as the Mission.

Sunday, April 24, 2005
La Arcada Phone

Still experimenting with the evening shots. I particularly like the phone booth in this shot.

Thursday, April 21, 2005
Blue Fire

I know, the Fourth of July is a long way off. But, as I was organizing my photos this afternoon I came across this one and it really caught my eye.

Besides, if I made this the image of the day in July that would be too predictable. :-)

Sunday, April 17, 2005
Nighttime at the Mission

I almost lost this image. It was on a roll of film in a camera that I had not used in a few weeks. Assuming it was empty I opened the back of the camera. Luckily the best shots seemed to be early on the roll and deep enough in the camera to not be affected.

This was a long exposure from the edge of the fountain. the blurry area in the water is the affect of the water on the surface over the length of the exposure.

Sunday, March 20, 2005
Stearns Wharf Dolphin Fountain

I like the fact that this exposure was long enough to get the red, green and amber lights on the traffic signal. The people were waiting for an evening tour bus so they were there long enough to be visible in the photo.

Thursday, March 17, 2005
Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunset

The Spanish Style of the Santa Barbara Courthouse makes a beautiful subject at any time. But in the evening the lighting makes it spectacular.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005
State and Anapamu

A little rain and lights at night make for some nice pictures. This is a great spot on State Street in Santa Barbara. I was right in front of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Diagonally across the street is a great restaurant called the State & 'A'.

Wednesday, March 9, 2005
Eat at Joe's

This is about a two minute exposure while wandering on State Street one night. Joe's neon is kind of a land-mark in downtown Santa Barbara.

Sunday, February 27, 2005
Christmas Mission

Mission Santa Barbara “Queen of the Missions” was founded on December 4, 1786 by Father Fermin Lasuen. It was the tenth of 21 Franciscan missions in California. It holds the distinction of being the only one to remain in continuous use since the day it was founded. Named for Saint Barbara, and founded on the day of her annual memorial feast, it continues to operate as home of the Saint Barbara Parish.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Moonlit Laguna

This shot was taken after dark, lit only by the nearly full moon. I have been experimenting with evening and night time exposures. This was a twenty minute exposure on Fuji Velvia.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Festive Bird House

I like to think these birds were really in the Christmas spirit. The alternative is they are getting a lot of sleepless nights because of their neighbors' lights!

For Christmas my friend and I went to Laguna Beach. Right behind our hotel was a building that was totally decked out for Christmas. Their trees were amazing, after taking a few pictures of the overall scene I noticed the bird houses.

Monday, January 10, 2005
Courthouse Palms

Last Thursday looked like it was going to end with a beautiful sunset. So, I went to the courthouse to get some shots of the city from the tower (it is one of the tallest buildings in Santa Barbara, since there is a limit of about three stories these days).

However, after realizing I had loaded the film incorrectly in my camera loosing all of the shots from the tower (no great loss, the clouds were too heavy at the horizon to make a very good show). I wandered around the grounds as the light was fading and got the best pictures of the day.

Wednesday, January 5, 2005
State Street Christmas

Just before Christmas I took a walk down State street with my new toy, a fish eye lens (courtesy of eBay). For several years I have wanted to take some shots of the Christmas decorations on State street, this is one of my first.