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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Sunday, December 2, 2007
Santa Barbara Courthouse Palms
Another angle on the Santa Barbara Courthouse.
The early morning light casts some
beautiful shadows.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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