A Photo a Day by Bill Heller

Palm tree Photos
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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!

 
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.

 
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

East 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 East 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.

 
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.

 
Sunday, December 2, 2007

Santa Barbara Courthouse Palms

 Another angle on the Santa Barbara Courthouse. The early morning light casts some beautiful shadows.

 
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.

 
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.

 
Thursday, March 15, 2007

Santa Barbara Sunset Clouds

 Click for a bigger image

What a wild evening. The clouds are absolutely amazing around here sometimes.

 
Saturday, October 21, 2006

Californian Forest

 This is the image in the seagull's glasses from yesterday's photo of the day.

Now before you go sending me hate mail, this is supposed to be FUNNY! The back of the card has information about our beautiful redwood forests...

"Californian Forest - Of course, Californian forests also include some of the tallest trees in the world at Redwood National and State Parks. These trees can grow to over 300 feet tall and reach ages in excess of 2,000 years. Only about 4% of the Redwoods remain since logging became an industry in California in the mid 1800s. Fortunately, most of the remaining old growth Redwoods are protected in state parks or in public land reserves."

 
Thursday, August 24, 2006

Sunset Exercise

 I went to the doctor and, big surprise, I have to eat healthier and get more exercise! (should have seen that comin') On the plus side, walking is his recommended way to do that. And I figure, if you're gonna walk, you might as well do it someplace nice!

This is Butterfly Beach in Santa Barbara. It is one of the less traveled beaches around here. It is not in an area that you would normally stumble on. And it is our favorite beach. So after making one good pedometer out of two broken ones, we had a nice sunset walk. Oh, I mean... we went out and got some exercise!

 
Thursday, June 29, 2006

Stearns Twilight

 Tonight we took a walk on Stearns Wharf. It was hot and we were hoping to cool off. Of course, we were not the only ones with that idea. It was pretty crowded, but it was a nice walk and a beautiful evening.

 
Sunday, January 22, 2006

San Diego Water Fall

 This is a shot from a couple of years ago. We used to celebrate my best friend's birthday in La Jolla (pronounced Lah-HOY-ya. It is right outside of San Diego for all you non-Californians.)

On this particular birthday she wanted to go to a botanical garden we had heard about, and it was beautiful!

 
Thursday, January 19, 2006

Gettin' the Dress

 Just scanning the film that was in the camera right before the wedding. This was the evening that I took my wife :-D to try on her wedding dress. I, of course, had to sit in the car and wait. Fortunately, the hound dog and I had the camera to entertain ourselves.

 
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Evening Fog

 The thing that looks like a large cloud on the ground between the palm trees and the mountain is our evening fog. It is caused by the marine layer. A warm cushion of air from further out in the Pacific that slides in across the cool coastal waters. The water is cool here because it follows the pacific currents down the coast from cold places in the north.

Given the right conditions, the fog slides in as the sun goes down and will not leave the beach till around ten in the morning. Of course, in June, the fog covers the whole city and only leaves for about ten minutes in the afternoon. We call that "June Gloom".

As long as you can stay back from, or above it, it is actually very beautiful. My office at UCSB used to sit at the perfect point at the limit of the fog. I could watch it swirl outside my window, but it never really got to my office.

 
Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Santa Barbara Sunset

 This is the view from the stairway to my old office. It may not have been the most fun place to work, but it was a great place to watch our beautiful winter sunsets.

 
Saturday, November 19, 2005

Santa Barbara Sunset

 There is an artist in the Sunday Art walk on Cabrillo Blvd. (where this shot is taken) who does woodcut images, silhouettes with a gradient color in the background. These evenings, the beautiful cloudless sunsets remind me of those.

 
Monday, August 22, 2005

Sunset Run

 This was a nice evening. We were still recovering from yesterday's adventure, building a sand castle. I wanted to finish a roll of film so I can get some images of our winning castle online! We spent the evening wandering around the Mission Rose garden and the Stearns Wharf areas. This image is from a previous sunset walk near the Wharf. There were less clouds tonight, but it is always a beautiful area.

As for the castle, our church entered an annual sandcastle contest on Leadbetter beach this year benefiting the Music Academy of the West's scholarship program. My best friend was in charge of the design. After a few iterations, she settled on "Gracie the Musical Dragon" (a distant relative of Puff) in honor of our church "Grace Lutheran". Our dragon was playing a keyboard made of sand and driftwood. It was a lot of work, all together I estimate we carried 150 gallons of water, but we were rewarded with a first place ribbon in the adult category! There was also a professional and a childrens' category, both of which came up with beautiful designs too.

Come back tomorrow to get a look at Gracie.

 
Monday, August 8, 2005

La Jolla Evening

 We were just marveling at an unseasonably beautiful sunset here in Santa Barbara tonight. Usually this time of year the air is too dry to make an interesting show. But, even with the beautiful show, we still didn't get anything quite like La Jolla in the winter. Partially because we have a south facing beach here and the sun sets over the mountains rather than the water.

 
Sunday, August 7, 2005

Desert View

 This was a sunny day in front of my old apartment in Palm Desert, CA. This cactus was over six feet tall and they actually had to prune it a couple times a year to keep it that height.

 
Sunday, July 17, 2005

Fire in the Sky

 Another sunset for the people at yesterday's show. The combination of beach fog and sunsets can do some amazing things for a camera.

This was a few days after yesterday's shot, at the same beach. You can see the flag in the other shot too, to give you an idea of the perspective.

 
Sunday, July 10, 2005

East Beach Sunset

 This is looking back at East beach from Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara. I like the single glowing cloud. It really makes the sky a lot more interesting.

 
Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Mission Palms at Night

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

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