Sunday, April 27, 2008

Loving hands

This is my last post from the Descanso Garden visit (not really). My oldest son found this flower on a bench and thought it was so beautiful that he wanted to give it to his Mama. She said it was a really thoughtful idea but didn't want other kids (or Garden workers) to think that he pulled it off a plant to give it to her. We decided that he should put it back, but on the way I said that we should take a picture of it in his hands so Mama could keep it forever. He thought that was a great idea and held it very gently and still so I could capture it for her.

Late afternoon

An image I captured during a late afternoon walk around my neighborhood. I love all the different lines and the little splash of green on the left. Never ceases to amaze me what you can find close to home if you look.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Good things come in threes

Three is my wife's favorite number. Just as my older son's love of the color orange has caused me to take more notice of things that are orange, my wife's love of the number three has led to seek out things that are grouped in threes. And so it was at the Gardens last week that I found these tulips (yes tulips again) arranged so beautifully. I cropped this into somewhat of a vertical panorama because I felt it made a stronger composition.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Memories

Another image from our Descanso Gardens visit. I've tried to capture an image similar to this several times, but this is the closest to what I had envisioned. I love those boys.

Two-lips

My parents have been in town and we decided to take them to Descanso Gardens. I can't believe after all these years we haven't taken them. Anyway, the weather was perfect and this time of the year is fantastic for seeing lots of flowers in bloom. The tulips are on the way out, but I manages to find a few that were still in good shape.





Saturday, April 19, 2008

Santa Barbara Simple

Another image from our trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. The bees were going crazy on these plants.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Swirls

I saw the sun shining through one of my wife's glass vases yesterday morning and I just had to grab the camera. It was cool to see the way the light and shadows were playing with the patterns on the vase. This one's my favorite.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

From within


I waited for the temperature to cool off into the 80's today before venturing out with my camera. It was jacket weather last week and this week we've got the AC running all day. Anyway it was nice to get out and remember that it's Spring and all the beauty that comes with that. I found this long grass a few streets down catching the last rays of the sun. It seemed to glow with this great softness and warmth.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Big Tujunga Canyon

On Thursday I went for a hike with my boss and another friend from work on a trail that none of us had been on before. My boss does a lot of hiking and he had heard from a friend that this was great hike. To say that I haven't been hiking much is a bit of an understatement. I mean, don't get me wrong, we can go seven sometimes eight blocks to find a place to eat at work. And except for the seven miles, 1400 foot elevation change, and twenty to thirty creek crossings, this was basically the same as a walk to lunch.

My butt was kicked the next day, but it was such a great hike and a nice time with friends that it was all worth it. Oh, and I did bring my camera, cuz that's what I do.





It seems that no matter where I am or how grand the landscape is, I always end up focusing on the small and intimate. This hike was no different. I couldn't walk ten feet without seeing a flower that I thought was image worthy.





Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Mission

During our recent trip we visited the Santa Barbara Mission. We managed to get there just at the "hey, let's follow around two bus loads of kids who don't want to be here" time, but we still had fun exploring and learning about the mission's history with the kids. It was also a bit nostalgic because my wife and I had gone there on our first wedding anniversary almost eleven years ago. Awwww. Anyway, here's da pics.








The chapel was definitely may favorite part.



Sunday, April 6, 2008

P.S.


This was the view from our beach side breakfast cafe. It's rough, but we do it for the kids. By the way, I did some work on this image with a wicked new Photoshop plugin called Viveza. It's definitley worth checking out the trial.

Beachy goodness

Didn't everyone spend three days last week at a hotel by the beach? No? I understand. It was overcast and gray. It was windy. And you know the beach, it's so sandy. I mean, who wants to be at a hotel that's just across the street from the beach in a room with an ocean view. And the nights were so cold; it must have been at least the low 60's. That's the last time I'm going on vacation without my winter coat. Well, I did brave the bitter cold to capture some images for you, because that's the kind of guy I am.





Saturday, April 5, 2008

Avian exploration

Well I've been off-line for a few days because we decided to take a little mini-vacation up in Santa Barbara. We thought we would surprise the kids by taking them to the Santa Barbara zoo and then when we were done, suggesting that we go to our hotel. They were super excited and it turned into a great couple of days and some nice time away. Contrary to popular belief it is not always sunny in Santa Barbara, and the overcast skies made for some nice picture taking conditions. I particularly enjoyed to the zoo (we ended up going back a second time) and especially the birds.







And this little guy. I had to go back to this aviary four times to get a shot of him. He ran more than flew and was very fast. He was a knockout though. Finally got on a perch right in front of me and showed off for a couple of minutes. Sweet.


Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Stained


I went to my brother's wedding last fall with the idea of making some images that would be worth framing as a wedding gift. This is one of my favorites.