Sunday, November 6, 2011
November Butterfly

Our winter friends are back! The last couple of weeks have seen quite an increase in the number of Monarch butterflies around Santa Barbara. This one floated by as I was chasing a Hummingbird. The hummingbird turned out to be too shy, but there is always someone around who loves to have their picture taken!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Red Gold

We often try to get these guys to grow all around our property but with the exception of one pretty hearty yellow one that came up this year from seeds planted last year they seem to have a mind of their own. Even the first poppy that was the inspiration to start this site was a volunteer that popped up in one of our potted plants. This is one that we purchased from the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. The red color was really striking and I couldn't pass it up. Which is probably not a bad thing considering we were there for a Bonsai show so there were much more expensive and delectate things I could have fallen in love with.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fluttering Monarch

This was from a trip to a local nursury just before Christmas. Santa Barbara is a popular place for them to hang out in the Winter. We actually have a grove of Eucalyptus trees they congregate in. I'd love to go take more shots of them, but the way it's raining right now I don't think I could make it through the mud.

Saturday, December 1, 2007
Painted Orchids

This is another one of my low depth of field experiments. I really like the way it helps you focus on one flower, but you can still see the others fading into the background. The lighting was something special on this one too. It was in a nursuy in Carpenteria, CA. The roof of the building we were in was translucent. It let the sun through, but the light was filtered and beautiful.

Monday, January 1, 2007
Egret in the Wind

The last couple of days have had some amazing winds. Wild weather always makes for great photo opportunities. The backdrop of this image looks almost like a painting, but the gusty wind made these beautiful ripples on top of the bigger waves near the beach. The timing of the heavy gust was perfect too, just at the right time when this beautiful Egret looked up from foraging in the tidal pools.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Monarch & Zinnia

I really love the background in this image. It is a bit abstract. And the low aperture that makes the background so interesting made the butterfly's wings just out of focus enough to look like they are fluttering a bit.