Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Portland Japanese Garden

Stone Lantern and Waterfall at the Portland Japanese Garden. I've always loved botanic gardens, and the Pacific North West has no shortage of beautiful gardens and parks, but one of my favorites is the Portland Japanese Garden. They even have some great Bonsai demonstrations and classes, just in case you're a crazy plant person like me and you want to try to get a little taste of a Japanese garden at home.

Saturday, August 15, 2015
Sandpiper Glow

I've never been much of a golfer, but I do love spending my time on the beautiful courses around Santa Barbara. This is Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta, where some good friends hold a golf tournament just about every year. Although I wouldn't be much help to them with a club, I take great pleasure in wandering the course with my camera trying to do the amazing views justice. If you've ever tried to make a business out of something you love to do, you know it can have its challenges. But days in a spot like this are definitely the reward.

Sunday, August 9, 2015
Ice Cream Castles in the Air

This beautiful view is actually a little bit of nostalgia. This is Laguna Blanca in Hope Ranch. Or rather this was Laguna Blanca about a year and a half ago, back when we actually had so much water here it actually fell from the sky. But these days they are really doing their part there to help with the drought. The last time I was in the neighborhood it didn't quite look this lush at all. Still it's a great place to see the beautiful sunset colors on the mountains.

Sunday, October 26, 2014
Andree Clark Sunset Reflections

The drought has been hard on all of the natives and visitors of California, the Andree Clark Bird Refuge and its visitors have been no exception. But standing there on a beautiful peaceful evening like this enjoying the sunset with the ducks offers a wonderful break from all the cares of the day.

Sunday, September 14, 2014
Storke Tower Across the Lagoon Landscape

This view of Storke tower on the campus of UCSB is taken from the path around the lagoon by the residence halls. What an amazing view those halls must have.

Friday, August 1, 2014
Andree Clark Sunset

One of serveral absolutely spectacular sunsets this week thanks to high clouds in the area from Hurricane Hernan. This was the view from the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, one of the amazing natural places in the Santa Barbara area, named in memory of the sister of the refuge's primary patron, Huguette Clark. A special thanks to Alan Rose at KEYT, for the heads up early in the week about the impending high level moisture. Knew it was going to be a good week when I heard that.

Saturday, March 29, 2014
Sandpiper Sunset

The rain isn't the only thing we've been missing this year. The lack of moisture has made it a more timid than usual sunset season. But if there is one place you can count on to get every bit of breathtaking beauty out of a sunset it's Sandpiper Golf Course. Evenings like this make me want to take up golfing just to have an excuse to spend more time there.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Sandpiper Sunset Reflections

One of my favorite spots to watch the sunset, the 18th hole at the Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta. If you want to chase a little white ball around this is the place to do it. Even if you don't know what you're doing you would have to admit this is a great place to spend the day.

Saturday, October 5, 2013
Sandpiper Sunset Clouds

Sandpiper Golf Course is one of the best places I can imagine to spend a few hours, especially this time of year when the sunsets are really getting spectacular. This evening I was actually on the course to get some timelapse shots.

Saturday, May 25, 2013
Evening Over Alice Keck Park

This is Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, one of the most amazing spots right in the middle of downtown Santa Barbara. At one point they wanted to turn this piece of land into a very large condo development. Fortunately thanks to some dedicated people, we have a place only a couple blocks from our main city street, State Street where you can enjoy a retreat from the concrete and steel (or in our case the stucco and red tile roofs).

Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Cachuma Lake Sunset Colors

Cachuma Lake is a beautiful place to spend the day. Even more so at this time of day. The sun was able to peek under the clouds the last few moments before sunset and light up the mountains.

Thursday, February 14, 2013
Misty Mountain

Every evening this time of year is a different work of art. This particular evening, the clouds were just lapping over the top of the mountains. As the golden light fell on them I knew just the place I wanted to take it all in. This is the view of the Santa Ynez Mountains over Laguna Blanca in Hope Ranch.

Saturday, October 6, 2012
Sandpiper Golden Autumn Light

I don't claim to be an expert on Golf Courses. But this has to be one of the most beautiful golf courses around. This is Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta California. I might be a little partial beacuse I spend a lot of time there experimenting with new equipment and techniques. But that's mainly because the people are so welcoming and quite frankly it's hard to take a bad photo there.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Great Blue Heron Silhouette

This little lake on the eighteenth hole of the Sandpiper golf course is one of my favorite sunset spots. The birds seem to like it too. This particular evening I was coming back after getting some sunset shots of the rest of the course when I noticed this beautiful Heron resting at the near edge of the island. But try as I might, I could not get a good shot. After he watched me pace back and forth a few times he must have decided I looked too much like a hungry cat. So he decided to go get some dinner of his own. I watched him slowly cruise across the island moving as elegantly and stealthfully as possible hoping he would move into the remaining glow of the setting sun. After a few minutes you can see that my patience was rewarded.

Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tenth Hole Tee Off

A shot from the tee at the tenth hole of Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta, California. In the distance is the green and water hazard of the 18th hole, with the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Barbara Channel islands in the background. And amzing spot for a great shot (and a nice picture too).

Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Preparing for the Jordanos Fall Golf Classic

This is a shot of the preparations for the 20th annual Jordano's Fall Golf Classic. It was a beautiful day out at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tualatin Commons Evening Lake Reflections

We recently spent some time in Tualatin, Oregon, just south of Portland. We stayed at a beautiful hotel, (The Century Hotel, the Building on the left) that backed up to Tualatin Commons Park. Most evenings we took a walk around this beautiful lake and watched the change of the guards. It seems the Geese take the day shift, and leave with quite a bit of fanfare an hour or two before sunset. Starting around that time, the ducks start to come in for a very entertaining waterskiing landing.

Saturday, July 7, 2012
Storke Tower Lagoon Reflection

This view of Storke tower on the campus of UCSB is taken from the path around the lagoon by the residence halls. What an amazing view those halls must have. UCSB is an amazing place to be this time of evening. The combination of architecture, lighting and water makes for some breathtaking vistas.

Friday, May 25, 2012
Alice Keck Park Peaceful Night

A long exposure after dark at Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens looking across the duck pond at the gazebo.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Swirling Sandpiper Sunset

Yet more wonderful winter sunsets at Sandpiper. The clouds never fail to amaze me. Sometimes they march across the sky like my last time lapse at Sandpiper, like they are on a mission. Other times like this evening they swirl and move in such amazing fluid motions that it looks like someone has dipped their fingers into them and is playing with them like the surface of a beautiful pond.

Sunday, January 22, 2012
Laguna Blanca Mountain Panorama

About a week ago, I was looking for a good spot to enjoy the sunset. After driving around for a while, I noticed how beautiful the colors were on the mountains so I changed my focus a bit. With the sun setting behind me, I found the view was much more interesting in the other direction. This beautiful spot is Laguna Blanca, on the Golf Course in Hope Ranch.

Sunday, January 1, 2012
Alice Keck New Years Day

Ahh winter in Santa Barbara! This is from an evening walk on New Years day through Alice Keck Parks' Park (Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens).

Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sandpiper Lake Sunset

Sunset at Sandpiper Golfcourse in Goleta California. This little duck pond (or water hazard to the golfers out there) is one of the most beautiful places to watch the Sunset in the Santa Barbara area. The sounds at this time of day are amazing. You are over a hill from the roads and populated areas with so many frogs and ducks that it seems like you are far away from civilization. Although I have never spent enough time to get hooked myself, from this point of view I can really understand the attraction of golf.

Monday, November 14, 2011
Sandpiper Golf Course Time Lapse Sunset

The Sandpiper Golf Course is fast becoming one of my favorite sunset spots. And I especially like the duck pond (aka water hazard). What better location to try some new techniques for some interesting time lapse shots. If you are going to stand around for a half hour with your camera watching the world go by this is surely one of the best places to do it.