Sunday, December 14, 2014
End of the Rainbow

Friday after the storm, the late afternoon sun on the mountains was spectacular and the air was clear and beautiful from the rain. As the sun slipped below the remaining clouds there were several light rainbows appearing and disappearing moment by moment as the shafts of light played among the remaining clouds. It was an amazing afternoon to just enjoy our beautiful city at the end of the rainbow.

Sunday, August 31, 2014
Heaven and Earth

Every evening as we go about our lives there is an amazing ballet going on above our heads. Most of us are too busy to think about it. But if you take some time to get away from the brighter lights of the city you can see some spectacular things just by looking up. This is the the beautiful Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, under the equally beautiful Milky Way Galaxy. The Galaxy we call home. If you think of all those stars at night that you usually see from any location, they are in general just our local neighbors in a small part of the Milky Way. All the visible stars you can make out with your naked eye in every direction from the earth (anywhere between five to ten thousand stars give or take) only comprise a tiny fraction of the stars in the Milky Way. That glowing band however, is made up of individual stars so numerous that they appear to be a continuous cloud of light to the unaided eye. Estimates put it from one to four hundred billion stars. There are absolutely wondrous and beautiful things all around us!

Sunday, May 4, 2014
La Purisima Mission Bells

This week I visited La Purisima mission. If you havent been there in a while it's a great place to visit. They are always working on some creative example of how life must have been for the inhabitants of the mission. If you wander behind the main building of the mission, where this shot was taken you'll actually find some displays of the mission store, a spot where people working and visiting the mission could trade their goods. And a mill where you can get up close to a mill stone that looks like it's ready to grind flour. All it needs are the burros. Of course don't ask the guys out front, them and their beautiful Ox friend are retired. They just spend time entertaining the visitors and absorbing as much love as they can.

Monday, January 20, 2014
Queen of the Missions Sunset

The end to another beautiful day, yesterday at the Santa Barbara Mission. The sunset this evening was absolutely amazing. The clouds were putting on a beautiful show long before the sun neared the horizon. It promised to be another amazing show, and when the colors really started it did not disappoint. The brightest glow like this only lasted for a few moments, but it was a fitting backdrop for such a beautiful example of historic architecture.

Friday, August 23, 2013
Greek Orthodox Dome Mountain View

View of the mountains in the distance from the Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, in the foothills by Goleta. This beautiful church has some beautiful architectural details. And it's a great place to go if you're looking for a little refreshing change from red tile roofs.

Monday, August 19, 2013
Evening at Mount Carmel

One of my favorite local landmarks, Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Montecito. There are many well known sights to see in Santa Barbara, but this is one of the little local gems that is more tucked away off the beaten path.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Cross at the Church of the Wayfarer Carmel

If I had to choose my favorite spot in Carmel California, I think this would be it. This spot is right in front of the Church of the Wayfarer. The lamp is absolutely beautiful at night, and the whole church is a wonderful place to be any time of the day or night.

Sunday, October 28, 2012
Heavens Above

This view of the Milky Way Galaxy over the Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox Church is a long exposure taken in almost total darkness. The light inside the greek orthodox church is the smallest flicker of light from a very small bulb. The lighting of the thin clouds and shadows on the wall were cast by the glow from the horizon of the just past full Moon, which had not risen yet. Although long by normal photo standards, at 30 seconds the stars are still points of light rather than trails. This much detail in the stars would have been nearly impossible just a few years ago without a motorized tripod head to track the movement of the stars which, of course would make the objects on the ground blur.

Saturday, August 4, 2012
Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox Church at Sunset

Sunset at the Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox church. On a beautiful evening like this out here I could almost believe I'm actually in Greece.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Golden Hour at the Mission Cross

The wispy high clouds made the sun glow a beautiful golden color on the mountains and the side of the mission with a beautiful result.

Saturday, June 30, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission and the Big Dipper

Queen of the Missions under the stars. The evening I took this last week, I was actually trying to get anohter shot down at the beach. On the way home I thought I would stop at the mission to see what things looked like there. It was a little dark, but I decided to see what I could get anyway. I'm glad I did. The stars in this shot were rather inspiring for some new ideas I'll be working on.

Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen

Friday, June 29, 2012
Carmel Church of the Wayfarer

This is one of my favorite spots in Carmel by the Sea. Every time we get into town we stop at the Carmel Bakery then take a walk around the beautiful city. More often than not we end up at the benches in front of the church to watch people go by and enjoy our coffee and macaroons. Of course I always have to wander around their beautiful garden with my camera afterward.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church 360 degree Panorama

Santa Barbara is the city of red tile rooves. But there are a few creative variations. This beautiful BLUE tiled roof building is the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in the hills above Santa Barbara.

Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen

Saturday, June 9, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission Cross Sunset

The Santa Barbara Mission is one of my favorite places to experiment with my camera. It is such a beautiful location it almost guarantees a wonderful evening of photography. This evening I started early when I saw the beautiful cloud formations, but the trick was to predict just where the interesting clouds would be once the sunset really warmed up. When the clouds really put on their show I was glad I went with the really wide angle.

Saturday, May 26, 2012
I Modnnari at the Santa Barbara Mission

Every Memorial Day weekend we have a festival at the Santa Barbara Mission. An Italian street painting festival, the entire mission driveway is turned into a temporary art gallery. Hundredes of artists transform the pavement into amazing works of art with nothing more than chalk. Over the next couple of days I'll try to bring some of my favorite views of the festival to you.

Click on the flashing circles in the image to see other views
Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen

Sunday, May 13, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission Kitchen

The Santa Barbara Mission is a beautiful place. But you usually see it from the outside. This is a display of a kitchen as it was for the early inhabitants of the Mission.

From the plaque on the wall:

"This kitchen display is typical of the indoor cooking facilities of the early 1800s. Cooking was done both outdoors and indoors. Indoor cooking was usually done by women over hot, glowing charcoal.

FOOD SOURCES:

Large gardens, orchards and adjacent ranchos supplied the Indians and Mission community with vegetables, fruit livestock and grains such as wheat, barley, oats and corn. THE ORIGINAL ADOBE CAN BE SEEN ON THE LEFT SIDE WALL."

Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen

Sunday, April 8, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission Chapel

Happy Easter!!

Ok, I know the decorations are from Christmas, but the Santa Barbara Mission Chapel is still a nice spot to share for Easter.

Controls from left to right:
+ Zoom in;
- Zoom out;
change the way the view moves when you drag;
toggle full screen

Thursday, April 5, 2012
Mission San Miguel Bell Tower

View of the bells at the Mission San Miguel. The red tiles in the foreground are on the top of the low wall that surrounds the mission. As with many of the California Missions, this mission has had a troubled life. But the people who care for it now are doing an excellent job restoring it to the thing of beauty it deserves to be. The Mission San Miguel is California Historical Landmark No. 326.

Sunday, March 11, 2012
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Sanctuary

This is an iconic little church out in Montecito, California. It's image has popped up everywhere from album covers to advertising according to the nice people in the office. It is a wonderful example of south-western architecture. It seems like it would not be out of place in the middle of the desert, or southern Mexico somewhere.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunset at the Vedanta Temple Planet View

This is a beautiful spot in the Montecito hills, made even more beautiful by the amazing sunset. 360 degree photos allow for fun with different projections, this planet view (or stereographic) projection is one of the most fun.

Monday, February 13, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission Cross Sunset

The Santa Barbara Mission is one of my favorite places to experiment with my camera. It is such a beautiful location it almost guarantees a wonderful evening of photography. This evening I started early when I saw the beautiful cloud formations, but the trick was to predict just where the interesting clouds would be once the sunset really warmed up. When the clouds really put on their show I was glad I went with the really wide angle.

Thursday, August 4, 2011
Mission San Miguel Fountain

On a recent trip home from Monterey we stopped along the 101 at the San Miguel Mission. It was a pretty hot day, but I was able to explore a bit. It was well worth the stop, and I will definitely be back again.

Friday, July 8, 2011
Mission Sunset Time Lapse

Time lapse of the sunset over the Santa Barbara Mission from the Mission rose garden. The Mission is my favorite place to try out a new technique, so after an evening of driving around trying to find an interesting spot that might have some interesting clouds I ended up here. And I wasn't disappointed.

Saturday, December 25, 2010
Santa Barbara Mission Nativity

The nativity scene at the Santa Barbara Mission early in the morning.