Saturday, August 18, 2012
I'll have the Pork

This made me hungry! Sam, the very creative chef at the Rhumb Line restaurant in Ventura shared a work of art with me yesterday. This is something new he is working on, and let me tell you the aroma was enough to make me want to put my camera down and pick up a fork.

Now we've all heard the stories about inedible food used for photography. After the shoot the staff at the restaurant ate this dish to try the new item. No trickery here, and no Photoshop work either. Other than a few specks of dust, this is right out of the camera.

Sunday, August 12, 2012
Puzzling

One of the things I like to do in the rare occasion when I put my camera down is to tinker with puzzles. This is an interesting tavern puzzle, the challenge is to get the big ring off. I'm not sure if I have solved this one or not, I've solved most of mine. The challenge for my wife is to find puzzles that stump me. Now I have to go find the puzzle and try to solve it.

Saturday, August 11, 2012
Made in the USA

To make good images you need good tools. There is a lot more that goes into it than just my cameras.

Friday, July 20, 2012
Man Eating Jungle Cactus

Ok, well maybe not man eating, but if you see him in person you might think it's possible. This is one of my Epis, and although there is not much in this image for size reference the blossom is at least eight inches across. These beauties are more like orchids than cacti. They, or more specifically their non-hybridized ancestors, grow in the South African jungle canopy and in the wild they are polinated by bats. Nature never ceases to amaze!

Monday, July 2, 2012
Figs and Honey

I love good food as much as photography, that's why some of my favorite clients are local restaurants. This is a first experiment for a new restaurant in Santa Barbara that will be opening soon. Unfortunately it's not really fig season, so it took a little looking but I finally found some nice ones. I took a lot of images this evening before the lights got to be too much (sometime I need a studio with a real air conditioner :) so far this is one of my favorites, but it was a hard choice. More to come!

Monday, December 5, 2011
Amaryllis Christmas Flower

Blooming amaryllis flower. This is the biggest Amaryllis I have ever seen. The bulb is amazing, and as the first bud started to work it's way out I could see there were going to be quite a few blossoms. I loved the curves of the blossoms as they opened, and my timing was perfect. A few minutes after this shot was taken the inflorescence was completely open and the five buds were all pointing in different directions.

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Iridescent Epi Blossom

One of our Orchid Cacti, blooming like crazy. It may look like a close macro shot, but it is actually THAT BIG! 'Bout 9" across. I have kind of gone wild with Orchid Cacti. We actually have about a hundred epis now. Most started from small cuttings.

Sunday, June 17, 2007
Rose in the Studio

We stopped at the Farmers' Market again this afternoon. I always love the multi colored petals, but this was my wife's pick. She has good taste!

Friday, June 8, 2007
Glowing Gerbera

This is another Gerbera from last week's farmers' market. They are still beautiful, maybe we'll have to see if they have anything else interesting this weekend.

Sunday, June 3, 2007
Studio Daisy

Usually I like to take pictures of nature where I find it and leave it for others to enjoy. (My neighbors have told me repeatedly to take some of their flowers but I just can't bring myself to cut them.) The trouble is, I have never seen a Gerbera growing that looked quite like this.

There was one cool one that I wish I had gone back to the Nursery for, but it was not variegated. So I had to bring this one home from the farmers' market and set up a little studio shoot.

Of course, he had friends. So you'll probably see more in the next few days.

Saturday, May 19, 2007
Blooming Irridescense

Well Saturday has become Epiphyllum day apparently, so why break with tradition. :-D

This is the second blossom on the cutting from last week as it was about to open. The cuttings are all planted now and seem to be doing well. I used a combination of soil, peat moss, bark and coconut fibers.

I'm trying for better drainage than usual because from what we have read they will actually have a better root structure if they have to go looking for water and nourishment. (I usually just plant them in potting soil.)

Since they are a jungle canopy plant, the roots are supposed to be almost as impressive as the pads themselves, up to six feet! Now that's a root! I'd like to see that, but I don't know if I have the nerve to try to coax them into growing that long.

Saturday, May 12, 2007
Epiphyllum Irridescense

Last Sunday there was a Cactus and Succulent show here in Santa Barbara. We went looking for some new Epiphyllums, and specifically this one. I saw one the day before at a Nursery and had my fingers crossed they would have it at the show. We got this one as a single pad cutting. Of course that one pad is about two feet long and four inches wide, with two blossoms.

To get an idea of the scale, the petals are almost an inch across and about five long. The whole blossom is at least eight inches across.

I hope you like it, because there are more Epi photos to come. We got seven cuttings at the show of six different varieties! I think it is safe to say we have a jungle in our back yard now since I have long since lost count how many we have.