Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Winter Sunset Cruise

This week has been a beautiful week here in Santa Barbara. And the skies have been glowing more each evening. But tonight they put on a show that will not soon be forgotten! I'm not sure if that is a working fishing boat or someone just out for a cruise, but either way it looks like a great vantage point for the amazing light show.

Friday, September 14, 2012
Sandpiper Mountain Panorama

Late in the evening as the sun is low and the shadows are long is the time I love to wander with my camera. Downtown, when there are lights and buildings, I usually start a little later. But out here where things are a little more wide open the golden light in the hours before the sun actually sets is amazing. This day had the perfect combination of clear skies to capture our amazing mountains with just enough marine layer out over the ocean to give the sun a golden color as it dipped low in the sky. This is near one of the middle greens on the bluff at Sandpiper. I was traveling the path just looking for interesting angles, planning to come back when the clouds were more intense for a time-lapse shot. But as so often happens on these scouting trips, I was able to get some beautiful images that were different than what I was planning on for the final shoot. Eventually I did come back and get that time-lapse and I was really happy with it. But the shots I got on the scouting trip to this day are some of my favorites.

Sunday, April 22, 2012
Threadleaf Japanese Maple

This beautiful little plant is a Japanese Threadleaf Maple tree or [Acer palmatum var. dissectum]. We found it while wandering the aisles of a great nursery in Carmel Valley. These trees apparently turn an amazing golden color in the autumn. Perhaps someday soon we'll have space for this beauty. Right now our tiny back yard is bulging at the seams from plants so we have tried to control ourselves when we visit the nurseries. Of course they are supposed to make great bonsai trees... hmmm. (That has to be the last thing a plant wants to hear when someone is thinking about buying it)

Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sandpiper Sunset Across the 15th Fairway

Just past the 15th tee on the Sandpiper Golf course is a wonderful spot to be this time of day. When the sun is casting a golden light on the landscape, and the shadows of the small trees on the bluff are reaching all the way across the fairway there is no more enjoyable place to spend time.

Monday, January 30, 2012
Nursery Hummer Close Up

A beautiful Anna's Hummingbird at one of my favorite spots, Terra Sol Nursery in Goleta, California. I imagine, living in a nursery for them must be like us living in an all you can eat buffet with all your favorite foods. It seems like a pretty good life, they live in there a lot closer than most hummingbirds because of the abundance of food. And the Nursery's cat is very mellow and never bothers them, but keeps anything else away that might be a predator.

Sunday, April 10, 2011
Leaf in the Evening Sun

Spring is here! Although from day to day it's hard to tell. The plants seem to know.

Friday, August 27, 2010
Translucent Santa Ynez Grapes

It's getting to be just the right time of year to start to wander around Santa Ynez. The grapes have just got to the point where they are starting to look juicy and delicious. They change fast this time of year. It won't be long before the leaves get some amazing colors in them. The day I took this shot I was looking for a nicely backlit bunch. This was the last shot of the day, when I saw the three grapes on top with their seeds perfectly visible in the afternoon sun I knew I had what I was looking for.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Kiwifruit

Food and photography, some of my favorite things!

Friday, November 23, 2007
Backlit Grape Leaf

One nice thing about living in Southern California is the fact that you can take pictures like this even this time of year. On the other hand, we were walking The Hound yesterday when we passed a tree with beautiful fall colored leaves. Makes me think about taking a trip somewhere to see some real fall colors!

Thursday, November 22, 2007
Baby Granny Smith Apple

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope you enjoyed lots of good food and friends today!

Unfortunately I did not get to take any photos of the great feast, but this was one of the "aromatics" (to quote my favorite tv chef) that contributed to the meal.

I did get a little adventurous today and decided to throw away those silly little plastic bags we usually use for the turkey. I can now tell you that brining your turkey the night before is the way to go. Much more moist and tasty that way. This is the basic recipe I used. But since I had not thought about it before hand I improvised on some missing ingredients. (Also, onions are bad for The Hound, and almost everything we make is hound-safe. Not that she is spoiled or anything. :-D )

Saturday, September 22, 2007
Kiwi Slices

The Kiwis in the kitchen were getting a little soft so it was time to do something with them. I guess I could have just eaten them... but then I wouldn't have some cool photos to show for it.

Monday, June 18, 2007
Resting Dragon

This is actually an older shot, one of my favorites. In fact it is one of the images on my business card.

The branch is a dead branch on a ficus tree that we saved from being thrown away. It was sitting on the patio of our old apartment and the branch was hanging out over the railing. Unfortunately, shooting straight out would have given me a background of the next apartment building. I had to lean out to get a better angle with trees and filtered sun in the background. Even though the background is totally out of focus, this made for a much nicer shot.

BTW, the ficus is much happier these days. It is in the back yard and growing like crazy. We are a little crazy that way. We like to save things and nurse them back to health. Plants, hound dogs whatever needs a home! I must get that from my parents.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Green Sun Star

Recently I got a new Ornithogalum (Snake flower [Ornithogalum dubium]) at a Cactus and Succulent show. It is a close relative of the Sun Star. Actually, it is the source of the orange color and size of the Sun Star.

There are three bulbs in the pot, as one of the inflorescences started to open I noticed it is a bit different. Supposedly there are over 80 Ornithogalums out there. (and some of them apparently, are considered weeds.) I couldn't figure out which one this is, but I really like it. (Weed or not!)

The orange in the background is the Snake flower.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Green Hummer

She thought she was blending in pretty well, but I saw her fly in.

Friday, September 1, 2006
Hummer-Hawk

She looks like she is perched, just waiting for lunch to scurry by. The only problem with that is flowers usually don't scurry.

In reality, she is stretching her neck out and tilting her head back and forth trying to figure out why there is a strange creature with a 300mm nose stalking her.

Friday, August 25, 2006
Wild Pepper

I would tell you what kind of pepper this is, but my wife grew it from a seed and the seed was in a packet of mixed seeds. Hope they taste as good as they look. Of course, this one is particularly wild lookin'.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Red Dragon

I like dragonflies and this guy and his friends were putting on quite a show. They were diving down to the surface of the water and skimming across it (hence the name I guess,) I got a few action shots but this is my favorite!

While I was trying to identify this guy I found many sites incorrectly identifying damsel flies as dragonflies. The way you tell the difference is by how they hold their wings when they are resting. This is a dragonfly, wings perpendicular to the body. A damselfly holds it's wings back against it's body.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Hiding in Plain Sight

It was a strange day today. Our electricity went out at 2:00 am and was out until the afternoon. Apparently a TV antenna fell on some power lines. So, it was hard to work, but a great day for taking pictures!

We went to Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. It is always an amazing place, but as soon as we got there we saw some strange movement in these plants right by the parking lot. There were small frogs climbing through the leaves trying to discretely move away from us. As we got closer, some of them decided to depend upon the camouflage. Which was very fortunate for me. This guy is only about an inch long.

When I am a little more conscious I will try to identify him, but it is late now, and time for bed!

Wednesday, June 7, 2006
First Tomato of the Season!

I am sooo excited, this year is our second attempt to grow tomatoes in our small back yard. And I think my wife has figured out the secret as you can see. This guy is beautiful and smells perfect! (smell is one of THE most important things in picking a good tomato IMO) It is a "Pink Grape Tomato" it is only about an inch long, which is about how big it is supposed to be. And as you can see there are more on the way.

Monday, May 1, 2006
Bouquet of Limes

Mmmmmmmmm LIMES!

We just got this dwarf citrus tree about two weeks ago. It was covered in blossoms. As they fell off it revealed these little limes. They are only about 3 millimeters long.

In reality this is a cross between a Mandarin Orange and a Lemon. It looks like a small orange when it is ripe, but it is tart like a lemon or a lime. Yummm I can't wait!

• Rangpur Lime Curd Recipe

Monday, April 17, 2006
Spring Evening

The hound picked a nice time for a walk this evening. The light was beautiful. Finally a break from the rain and it actually felt like spring. For better or for worse the news anchors were excited about the fact that we should actually have three beautiful days in a row! Not exactly a long run for Southern California, but at this point I'll take what I can get!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Leek Soup

So if you have been around the site for a while, you know that I recently married my best friend. Well it turns out, SHE CAN COOK! (not like I did not know that already, we have been friends for ten years.) But she has been quite creative recently. This was the scene in the kitchen when she was experimenting with Leek Soup. We must be newlyweds I can still get in the way in the kitchen with my camera! :-D

Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Backlit Lily

Well there have been quite a few Calla Lilies on the photo of the day lately. But thats because they are going wild around here!

This one is a little different than my usual razor sharp feel, but I like the painting feel of it especially the leaves in the background.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Strawflower

Yet another image credited to the hound! I should take more walks, and enjoy the beauty around me and she is the one who reminds me of that fact. :-D