Sunday, October 14, 2012
Alice Keck Park Evening Lamp Post

Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens is beautiful any time, but at twilight it becomes almost magical. This was from a nice evening walk a while back. Looking at this image I can almost hear the sounds of the wildlife settling down for the evening. The ducks seem to like to stretch the evening out as long as possible in the park. Trolling the lake for a last snack before bed time.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Happy Holidays From Santa Barbara

Yes I know the Holidays are over, but the flag was still up when I took this (Look closely to the left of the light.) and we just took our tree down. ( I really like to make the most of the holidays ) So lets just say I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are having an amazing new year!

Friday, January 30, 2009
Lamp at the Church of the Wayfarer

Today we tried to stop at the Carmel Bakery after getting to Monterey for the weekend. But we got there ten minutes too late. Bummer!

While we were driving around looking for a parking space (which I'm thinking took just a bit over ten minutes!) my wife pointed out this beautiful lantern as we passed the Church of the Wayfarer. I just happen to carry my camera almost everywhere these days so we had a nice walk and got a few night shots of the Church and had a great time anyway.

Friday, August 29, 2008
Carmel Doorway

When I was taking this photo last week I was thinking of the last time I took pictures of this doorway. I was really surprised to find out it was more than three years ago. I need to get out more often!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Solar Pathway Lantern

One of the things we learned from the recent fire is how truly dark it can be outside when the power goes off. My dad who was far ahead of his time taught me the virtues of solar energy when he was able to power our whole house with solar panels twenty years ago. Unfortunately there are less options for renters although we keep trying. When we tried these small solar path lights a few years ago they did not last very long. But these days they have small LEDs in them so they last all night this time of year. So we replaced all of our landscape lighting with these and some nice spotlights on the plants. Next time the power goes out we'll at least be able to get around without falling over all our plants.

I'm sure it's wonderful for the environment too, but personally I'm not convinced that buying a bunch of stuff just to save energy is a terribly responsible thing to do unless the things you are replacing have outlived their usefulness and need to be replaced anyway. I'd rater telecommute and keep my old jeep that I drive about 10 miles a month, than buy an overpriced hybrid that had to be manufactured somewhere. Personally I think a large part of the current save-the-world movement is an excuse to make you feel good about buying things... eco-consumerism! Save the world with your credit card!

Friday, August 22, 2008
Carmel Lamp

As if you couldn't tell already, I'm still going through the photos from our recent trip to Carmel. This was actually across the street from yesterday's photo of the day. They like vines there. And I can't blame them, it's a beautiful place.

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Courthouse Glow

Sometimes its nice to take a closer look at something beautiful. This is a gateway into the Santa Barbara Courthouse. The building as a whole is amazing, but as I am so fond of pointing out I really like the details. There is some incredible craftsmanship there that I don't think you would find very easily today. Perhaps the only thing that will make me stop sounding like my grandfather now (WHYYYY, IN MY DAY... !) is to point out that it was probably pretty rare to EVER find this kind of creativity!

(Unless of course, it was actually one of my perfectionist German grandfathers doing it! :-D At least I come by it honestly!)

Sunday, August 26, 2007
Courthouse Light

We are getting some unseasonable moisture from the hurricane that went through the Gulf of Mexico last week. The days have been really humid, but the clouds have been a nice change. Seemed like a good time for some evening shots of the courthouse.

This is actually a combination of about ten exposures in a technique called a High Dynamic Range Image. Takes a little work, but a normal long exposure would have blown out the image around the lantern and you would still not have been able to see the clouds and stars.

Friday, January 13, 2006
Courthouse Detail

I always appreciate the kind feedback I have received when I have displayed my photos. I particularly love the stories I get from people when my images make them think of something near to their hearts. Many times I leave with a much deeper appreciation for my subjects.

I was looking through my recent images for a good Santa Barbara image for Mary Ann, and this is what I came up with. The day I took this was a bit overcast so the wider "city" images are not as exciting, They are more "ideas" that I am building on for future images. But the detail in this image reminds me of another person that stopped by the La Cumbre Art Walk a couple of times. She told me about her Grandfather who worked on the stone detail at the base of the Courthouse. If I remember correctly, some of his work is near the fountain. I have always loved taking detail shots of the courthouse especially since there's already a wide variety of angles on the bigger views out there. Now, every time I look at these details, I think about the incredible talent that went into creating them, especially by one particular grandfather.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Lantern by the Lake

I like this lantern, it is very raw and natural looking. There are quite a few of them at Lotusland. Which apparently is not very Zen :-) In a real Japanese garden there would be only one. But I can see why she liked them.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Lantern

Another relaxing image from Lotusland.

I think I was in a peaceful mood last evening when I picked this image because I spent some time out at the butterfly overwintering spot yesterday. It is about the quietest place I can imagine especially without leaving a populated area.

I mainly went to enjoy the butterflies with my best friend for Valentine's day. But, there are a few pictures to come from the trip, and I scoped things out a little to to go back for some more serious photo sessions later this week.

Thursday, February 10, 2005
Lantern

I walk past this building on my way to Starbucks on a regular basis. It would not be nearly as interesting if they didn't leave the light on.

Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Peaceful Spot

Another of my favorite spots at Lotusland.