Ocean Photos
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Cypress Silhouette
This is one of my favorite trees in the Santa Barbara area. A beautiful Cypress that hangs out over Butterfly Beach in Montecito. It always makes a beautiful frame for the lights of Santa Barbara in the distance.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Vista Point Storm
There is a little turn off from the 101 South about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara. The evning I took this was right after a great storm rolled in. Santa Barbara and Goleta were already socked in. They are somewhere in that deep dark cloud on the horizon. But the storm had such a distinct edge, it seemed like it would be possible to get out from under it so I took off for the Vista Point. A few miles before I got there the clouds started to break up and I got out from under the rain enough to watch it slowly make its way toward me as the sun was going down.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Last Rays of the Setting Sun
I was out for a beach walk the other evening. As the sun got closer to the horizon the waves kicked up some beautiful sea mist givng just a few moments of absolutely beautiful light.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Monterey Cannery Row
A great little spot on a balcony overlooking a beach from Cannery Row in Monterey
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Butterfly Beach Fog Season
Santa Barbara is always beautiful, to the point that some people think we don't hardly have seasons here. But maybe you just have to look at them a little differently. Winter sunset season just ended, at the beginning of that was butterfly season, when the Monarchs come home to roost. We're now entering fog season. Locals have lots of names for it, most commonly "June Gloom", or before that "May Grey" but the fog is rarely solid and complete as those names make it sound. It's beautiful and wispy, it dances beautifully as it rolls in and out. Sometimes it hugs the coast and the ocean where from inside it may seem grey. But get above or beside it like this and it's an amazing soft blanket hugging the city.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Windrose Sunset
Sunset on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara is a wonderful experience. This day even more so than usual. This compass rose (or windrose) is out near the end of the wharf, past the buildings where there is nothing around you, not even railings to seperate you from the beautiful Pacific Ocean.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Sunset Cypress
The windswept trees along our coast are all works of art in their own right. This little Cypress is between two of its absolutely massive big brothers at Butterfly beach. Even though it's much younger than the others you can still see the beginnings of the windswept character that make them so beautiful. The amazing view of Santa Barbara in the background doesn't hurt either.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Stearns Wharf Evening View
It's always a challenge to try to get a new angle on one of our local landmarks. Our beautiful city has been photographed so many times from just about every angle imagineable. But it's still possible to get a creative take on it if you do a little exploring and have some patience. It doesn't hurt to have a creative best friend location scouting for you while you cruise around the city on a beautiful evening.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Skimming Pelican
Have you ever seen a Pelican surf? On the land they seem a little comical, but in the air they are amazing. They often fly right along the surface of the water taking advantage of "Ground Effect" an aerodynamic effect giving more lift in close proximity to the surface. It makes sense that they would do this to save energy, but at times they move closer to the breakers, riding the front of the wave just like a surfer. They wait until the last moment to slip gracefully over the top of the wave as it crashes below all gliding without a flap. This evening I caught this guy skimming the surface, but as he slowly flapped he actually ran the tip of his wing through the surface of the water just like a surfer playing in the front of the wave with his or her hand. He wasn't being as playful as some in the breakers but he was very graceful and relaxed. It was a pleasure to watch him and his friends fly off into the sunset.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Sunset at Shoreline Bluff
Yesterday we took a nice walk at Shoreline Park in the evening. We decided the best use of our daylight savings hour was to spend it on the beach, or at least overlooking it. It was a bit of a hazy evening, but I think most of it was sea spray, and it made for an amazing sunset!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Montecito Sunset Panorama
This spot in Montecito on the walk by Butterfly Beach is one of my favorite spots to watch the sunset. The lights on the land to the right are in downtown Santa Barbara, on the left you can see the channel islands.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Shoreline Snowy Egret
Time for another local resident! I love all the birds that frequent our shores, but the Egrets have to be some of my favorites. This is a Snowy Egret, fishing at the beach at Shoreline Park. If you ever get the chance to watch them fish it\'s definitely worth the patience to stay still and let them get comfortable with your presence. They like to slowly walk through the shallow water, reaching out with their free leg and large foot to agitate the water, trying to scare any tasty treats out of their hiding places. Their large feet, combined with the fact that they actually walk on their toes giving the impression that their knees bend backward (when in fact it\'s their ankle) makes them look like they are reaching out with a hand just like a person would. This guy does not normally have an upright crest, but those beautiful wispy neck feathers were getting quite blown by the wind. So they have another human-like trait, they can have bad feather days!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Stearns Wharf from the Santa Barbara Hills
A unique perspective on Stearns Wharf from the Santa Barbara hills.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sandpiper Tempest Panorama
An absolutely breathtaking storm rolling in at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta. The sun was still shining brightly around the edges of the storm, but as the rain rolled in that would not last long. The clouds were so close you could almost reach up and touch them.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Golden Shoreline Run
Girls running in the surf on the beach at Shoreline Park. I particularly like the gold water splashing up by their feet. They looked like two sisters enjoying the beach together. They stopped long enough to take in the sunset for a moment, then they were off again splashing in the breaking waves around their feet.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Shorline Reflection
This evening was a great one to spend on the beach. A few wispy high clouds and a great view of the setting sun. We found ourselves at Shoreline park late in the afternoon and decided to take a walk down the long stairway to the beach where we wandered and watched the setting sun. This is about the time everyone on the beach seemed to just stop and watch the beautiful scene. It was a wonderful evening!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Palm Sunset
Just another wonderful evening in Santa Barbara. There was a period of time when things got too hectic, and we didn't take too many walks on the beach. Not that we weren't thankful for the amazing beauty of the place we live, but life just gets busy sometimes. Lately we've set out to fix that though. Life is still busy, but we make sure to drop everything a few nights a week and go watch the sunset in a nice spot. I've really enjoyed that!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Gone Fishin'
This week was great for fishing, at least if you're a Brown Pelican in the Santa Barbara area. There are almost always pelicans feeding off the coast here, but there must have been some impressive schools of fish off of Butterfly Beach a few nights ago. The two Pelicans on the surface behind the dive bombers just surfaced from their dives and there must have been hundreds of attempts. If you look closely to the left of the photo you can see a nose sticking out of the water of what I believe must be a sea otter. But it's hard to say since I was paying so much attention to the Pelicans I did not actually see him until I looked at the photo.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Tropical Butterfly Sunset
Our sunsets are spectacular in Santa Barbara during the fall and winter. This is one of my favorite spots, under a beautiful Cypress tree at Butterfly Beach in Montecito. The lights across the water are in downtown Santa Barbara. When the tide is low you can walk all the way along the beach from this spot to Stearns Wharf, but the tide was definitely not low this evening.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Sandpiper Tempest
This winter has been a wonderful one for beautiful weather. This is one of my favorite spots to make a bee line to in Goleta when I see the sky doing something spectacular. Sandpiper golf course offers a variety of amazing views (and some great golf too). This is right by the clubhouse as the rain was rolling in. I was perfectly dry, but that wouldn't have lasted long.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Santa Barbara Twilight
This angle over the city is one of my favorite views of Santa Barbara. But I usually wait for just the right combination of weather and clear air to make the sky beautiful, and the islands sharp. Usually the islands are shrowded in mist at this time of the evening if there are good sunset clouds, and you can't truly appreciate how large they actually are since they just poke out of the fog with their bases hidden. After my last shot at this location I knew I wanted to focus on the harbor and the wharf when I returned. This evening everything finally fell into place to get the image I was looking for.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Butterfly Beach Cypress Sunset
The evening I took this a few weeks ago, like many evenings, I took a walk along Butterfly Beach. But that night I was paying particular attention to this tree, one of my favorite spots along the walk. I had just spoken to someone who was looking for a special gift for someone who loves this tree as much as I do. Now I have quite a few shots already, but many of them use the amazing sweeping branches to frame other subjects, especially the sunset from the other side. Never one to shy away from the chance to look at a faviorite subject in a new light, I took it as a chance to spend some time wandering the beach with renewed inspiration for one of my favorite spots!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Christmastime in Santa Barbara
Ahh Christmastime in Santa Barbara, when everyone decorates their... umm.. rigging? Which of course makes the beautiful Santa Barbara Harbor even more enjoyable than usual.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Temple Rays
Sunset from the front stairs of the Vednata Temple in Montecito. This little temple out in the hilss above Montecito has some of the best views anywhere. In the winter the sun sets in the area of the Santa Barbara Harbor and the wharf. But closer to the temple the beautiful grounds make for a very peaceful place to spend the evening.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Sunset at Butterfly
Another shot from a beautiful sunset a few days ago at Butterfly Beach. Recently there has been a great deal of interest in photos of the Butterfly Beach area so I thought I would post a few new images. Gives me a nice reason to go out and wander the beach too.
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