Saturday, April 16, 2016
Twilight Harbor Mist

The evening mist rolling in over Santa Barbara always puts on a beautiful show. This particular evening the beautiful fog was just enveloping Stearns Wharf and the Santa Barbara Harbor as the last colors of the setting sun bathed the city in a beautiful glow.

Friday, October 2, 2015
Point Pinos Sunset Panorama

Sunset in Monterey at the Point Pinos Lighthouse. The sea mist was quite heavy from the large waves on the other side of the light house. It made the sunset colors glow beautifully.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Butterfly Rays

The sunlight streaming through the ocean mist always puts on a beautiful show. These humid days seem to have a head start, the mist from the waves lingers in the air even longer putting on a colorful show late into the evening.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Evening Sentinel

I love this palm tree. He's one of a few who live up at the edge of the hills above Santa Barbara keeping watch, as the evening mist rolls in like a gentle fluffy blanket to tuck in the city below. From down there the fog is sometimes called "June Gloom" but from this angle gloom is just about the last word I would use to describe it.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Shoreline Vibrance

Yet another one of those evenings recently that had such vibrant colors from horizon to horizon that you could actually hold your hand out and see the color of the sunset light falling on it. Interestingly, although the moisture came from the same weather system as my recent photos, the clouds this evening were completely different. The thing that was the same though was the beautiful light that bathes everything in such richness. Add that to the natural beauty of Shoreline Park during a nice walk with your best friend and you have a truly memorable evening.

Monday, February 16, 2015
Evening Blanket

Some evenings the fog is so thick in Santa Barbara it seems you would never get a good view of anything. But sometimes it only takes a small change of perspective to see what once blocked your view is actually something to behold itself. I love to watch for the evenings, more common this time of year, when the beautiful thick fog hugs the surface rolling in just at sunset leaving a clear view out above it's fluffy beauty. As the stars start to glow from above the city lights light the fog from below and the effect is something quite amazing that you would never expect from the surface.

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.

Monday, November 24, 2014
Gold Coast

Everyone enjoys the beautiful sunsets here in Santa Barbara. There are always Sandpipers and Seagulls on the beach seeming to watch the sunset with us. But this particular evening there was a comical crow playing chicken with the waves. Sometimes they seem to forget they can fly, and their comical gait makes for quite a show when they're enjoying the beach.

Sunday, August 10, 2014
Friday Night Lights at Butterfly

I've always enjoyed taking my camera out after dark. A long exposure can reveal all kinds of interesting things you didn't even know were there. This was Friday night at Butterfly Beach. The moon was bright enough in the sky to easily catch the details at a faster shutter speed than this. But I intentionally lengthened the exposure to try to capture a more dreamy effect. In the middle of my exposure the people at the right walked up carrying some kind of small light, a cell phone presumably, which made for some unexpected interest in the form of an abstract light painting along the wall.

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.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Carmel Cypress Silhouette

Speaking of windswept Cypress Trees (see my Poppy post from last week). This beauty and his friends stand watch along a particularly beautiful stretch of the California Coast on Carmel Beach. The hills in the distance between the beach and the setting sun are part of Pebble Beach. This is one of the areas I love to walk along at sunset whenever we find ourselves in the Monterey area. The beach is beautiful, and there is a nice path along the top of the bluff overlooking the beach. You can watch the surfers enjoying the water and take in the amazing view from a great perspective.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Golden Hour from the Montecito Hills

Friday night was a wonderful night to be out enjoying our beautiful views. The sunset was absolutely amazing, but even before the clouds lit up with the colors of the sunset. As the sun slipped closer to the horizon the clouds seemed to swirl around it. leaving just enough space to watch it's descent and reflection on the ocean. In the center of the image you can just make out Stearns Wharf in the distance.

Sunday, January 19, 2014
Stearns Sunset from the Vedanta Temple

Last night's sunset overlooking Stearns Wharf and Santa Barbara from the grounds of the Vedanta Temple in Montecito. The sunsets have been a little less intense this year due to the lack of moisture in the air, but not last night. The beautiful colors in the sky seemed like they would just keep getting more and more intense. Another beautiful evening in Santa Barbara.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013
New Years Eve On Butterfly Beach

The Last Sunset of 2013. What better way to enjoy it than at the beach?

Thursday, December 5, 2013
Late Afternoon Flight

On an afternoon walk at the beach recently we noticed this hummingbird who seemed to be contemplating the sinking late afternoon sun. It took a little manuvering, but I was able to get a few silhouette shots just as he took flight. This is a double exposure of two successive frames. In the first frame he had released his grip on the perch and spread his wings, but not actually taken flight yet. Only one sixth of a second later he was moving fast. Fast enough to leave me staring into the glare of the sun with no idea where he'd gone after that.

Sunday, October 6, 2013
UCSB Labyrinth

Another peaceful spot. This is the stone Labyrinth at UCSB. If you follow the path around the Lagoon toward the southern most point of UCSB you come to a beautiful bluff overlooking, well, no end of amazing views. At this spot the students at UCSB have constructed this Labyrinth from stones and gravel. In the evening like this it's an absolutely amazing spot to be.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Carmel Cypress Sunset

An amazing evening on Carmel beach in Carmel by the Sea, California

Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Santa Barbara Sunset

Sunset over Santa Barbara. This is the kind of sunset that perplexes people about Santa Barbara. On the west coast you'd probably expect the sun to set over the ocean. The thing is, we're along a stretch of the California coast that faces south. There are spots at the right time of year where you can see a beautiful ocean sunset. But in general the ocean is to the south, the mountains are to the north and the sun sets somehwere in between.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Cypress Silhouette

This is one of my favorite trees in the Santa Barbara area. A beautiful Cypress that hangs out over Butterfly Beach in Montecito. It always makes a beautiful frame for the lights of Santa Barbara in the distance.

Sunday, January 27, 2013
Golden Shoreline Run

Girls running in the surf on the beach at Shoreline Park. I particularly like the gold water splashing up by their feet. They looked like two sisters enjoying the beach together. They stopped long enough to take in the sunset for a moment, then they were off again splashing in the breaking waves around their feet.

Monday, January 21, 2013
Shorline Reflection

This evening was a great one to spend on the beach. A few wispy high clouds and a great view of the setting sun. We found ourselves at Shoreline park late in the afternoon and decided to take a walk down the long stairway to the beach where we wandered and watched the setting sun. This is about the time everyone on the beach seemed to just stop and watch the beautiful scene. It was a wonderful evening!

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.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Thenth Hole Golden Hour

This is just past the clubhouse at Sandpiper. On the way down the path by the tenth fairway. I went out recently to get some sunset Sandpiper Golf Course shots for a project, this was one of the first shots of the evening, as you can see it was an amazing evening and a wonderful place to spend it!