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Saturday, April 26, 2008
San Simeon Sunset
This was taken the evening before my VR Highway 1 Sunset,
just a little further up Highway 1.
If you turned around from where we were standing
you could almost see the top of Hearst Castle in the hills.
Of course if you looked to the left... and I apologize in
advance for ruining the tranquil California sunset day dream you're
having right now... there were a bunch of Elephant Seals.
And they were quite loud and very comical. I'm sure I have a few
shots of them to get on-line soon.
Now back to the regularly scheduled day dream... Right up the road, a little closer to the
lighthouse is a scenic point that has less seals, and when we were there
they were just laying enjoying the evening sea breeze. One had
her flipper over her baby like she was hugging it. So if you'd rather
picture yourself there that would work too. :-D
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Sunday, March 2, 2008
Highway 1 VR Sunset
If you have Flash installed in your browser,
click and drag on the image once it loads, you should get a pleasant surprise.
This image has been quite a few days in the making.
I had the good fortune to be in Cambria (north on the coast, 'bout half way to Monterey)
last week around sunset and I just happened to have
my new panoramic tripod head with me. Seeing as how I don't
have a good fish-eye for my digital camera, I used my widest
lens available. To get the whole image it took 36 shots.
Of course, the difference shooting into the sun, and away
was more than a single exposure setting could handle. So I had
to take three separate exposures and combine them into a High Dynamic Range Image.
From that point, I just had to see how far I could push my computer.
Rather than scale the images down I wanted to see just how big I could make the image.
In the end the 108 images combined into a two gigabyte, 240 megapixel image.
I figure it would print nicely at around twelve feet wide. I spared your internet connection
the full size image. But as I mentioned above, users with Flash
should be able to experience a nice point of view. I can tell you
the VR interface gives the closest experience to actually standing there
taking the photo I can imagine.
Enjoy, and please let me know if you experience any difficulties with the new interface.
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Friday, January 18, 2008
Shorline Sunset Panorama
Click the main image for a larger view
As I have mentioned before, there are very
few places you can see the sunset over the
water in Santa Barbara. Our coast faces the
south for the most part. But there are a few
small sections that give you a glimpse of the
setting sun.
This is a combination of thirteen shots covering
more than 200°. My intention was to shoot
an entire 360° image. In the end this particular
set of images caught the best lighting to bring out the
beautiful texture of the clouds. But it did not quite
make the full circle.
If you like the panoramas, you should check back.
My wife got me a couple of nice tripods, and one
will be perfect for a panoramic head I have been
drooling over... er, I mean carefully considering investing in. :-D
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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Two Thirty
I love sun dials. Hopefully someday soon we'll have
space for a nice one. Of course I'll probably just fill the
space up with more plants. But that's ok too. :-D
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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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Monday, March 5, 2007
Pismo Beach Sunset
Click for a bigger image
It's not really the most popular time of year to go to the beach around
here. But, then most people are not crazy photographers. (thank heavens!)
Ya don't get sunsets like this in the summer around here.
The flowers in the center are Japanese Irises, on the right is
a bird of Paradise.
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Friday, February 23, 2007
I Can FLY!
I took several shots of this dog, but the thing I like
about this one in particular is the fact that none of
his feet are touching the ground. He was running far ahead
of his friend, the guy to the left. Then he would run all the way back.
Apparently the pace of the walk was not quite as fast as he would like.
In my case, it could be me making multiple trips back and forth waiting
for The Hound. Not because she is lazy, but
because when she really gets into her walk she likes to inspect every
inch along the way. I experience our walks with my eyes and camera.
She is all about her nose. I don't think she even pays attention
to her eyes unless something out of the ordinary happens. As evidenced
by the orange traffic cone that snuck up on her tonight and made her
jump straight up in the air when she realized it was there.
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Sunday, February 18, 2007
Mesa Sunset
There are few places in Santa Barbara where you can
watch the sun set over the ocean. Most of the beaches
face south. But if you look around you can find a few
spots with a nice view.
We have to enjoy the sunsets while they last, this
is about the time of year the show is over for about
nine months. During the spring and summer there's not
usually enough clouds to make a spectacle like this.
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Friday, January 12, 2007
Sunbeam
Zoe loves to travel with us. But she is glad to be home from
her adventure in Monterey. She was happy to see her sunbeam was
right where she left it for her mid morning nap. All that travel
takes a lot out of a hound!
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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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Friday, May 19, 2006
Epiphyllum Blossom
This is one of our blooming Orchid Cacti
that I mentioned the other day.
If you have one and want to know what makes them happy,
we have one in full sunlight and several in the shade.
(this guy is actually hanging from our patio umbrella)
The full sun one is HUGE, the others are still happy.
One was inside for a while. It is much happier outside, although
it grew very long thin pads looking for food while it was inside. Now
that it is outside it is popping out all kinds of thick
little pads along the lengths of the woody thin pads.
Makes for a very interesting plant.
One thing they all have in common is they love water.
You may think since they are cacti, they like to
be dry, but they are definitely jungle plants.
More about their history, and one of the reasons I love them
so much see this photo of the day.
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
Santa Barbara Beach Bums
We have not been seeing the sun much lately.
But, it is a beautiful day when we do!
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Sunday, April 9, 2006
Palm Sunday
We decorated our Church yesterday for Palm Sunday.
It was no small task to find nice palm fronds
with all the crazy weather we've been having.
March was the wettest one on record in California.
Fortunately, when something needs to be done at our church
it just happens. Someone always comes through.
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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Sunset Reflection
Well I tried to find a Turkey, but I guess a couple of
sea gulls will have to do!
Happy Thanksgiving anyway!
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Friday, October 14, 2005
Laguna Sunset
My friend has taken up Sumi-e Ink painting and she is quite good at
it. (I'll add some links once she has her images online.)
I think this image has a bit of Japanese art feel to it. Although,
it would probably have to have fewer branches to qualify. Perhaps
this one is a little closer.
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Saturday, August 6, 2005
Sunset Silhouette
We are having some unseasonably beautiful sunsets.
Usually the real show is reserved for the wet winter season.
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Thursday, June 30, 2005
Backlit Agapanthus
Last week, when I was loading my Jeep for a show,
I was fortunate enough to catch the sun at
a great angle on our little front yard area.
On a Saturday my Hound Dog and I would have
still been quite unconscious at this time.
This is a variety of Lily native to South Africa. It
grows like wild around here, and it's beautiful when
they really get going.
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Friday, May 20, 2005
Blazing Sun
What strange weather! Santa Barbara is now doing
it's "mid-summer" impression. Looking out at the thermometer
I see about 95° F. I guess that should not be surprising
considering the winter California has had.
But the timing is a little unfortunate. This week they
decided to repave our street, so we cannot have the windows
open. And, Santa Barbara is one of those places that wants you to
believe the weather is so consistent that they do not need
Air Conditioning (or insulation for that matter).
Someone once told us when I we were looking at his apartment
to rent... "Air conditioning!? Well you must not have ever lived in
Santa Barbara before, you don't need air conditioning here!".
Well you don't need air conditioning in the Mojave Desert
either, but it sure makes it a lot more livable!
Still, I gotta think I am more comfortable than the guys out
there running the asphalt spreading equipment! Perhaps I should
go see if they need something to drink...
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Thursday, January 27, 2005
Sunset Gull
Here are two different croppings of the same image.
I love trying to catch birds in flight and this
one was very cooperative! This was during a walk on
Leadbetter Beach (one of the main tourist beaches in Santa Barbara, by the Harbor) at sunset right after feeding the seagulls
a little bread. (Hey, I have to pay my models! And these guys are smart enough to get payment up front)
The poles sticking up in the air are the masts
of small rental catamarans on the beach.
And, if your monitor is bright enough to see it,
the rectangle on the pole at the right of the smaller image is an array of lights
over the sports field at Santa Barbara City College.
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