Santa Barbara Farmers Market

One of the best things about living in California is the year round fresh fruits and vegetables. Local farmers set up stands in Santa Barbara on Tuesdays and Saturdays to sell a variety of goods ranging from fruits, vegetables, cheese, nuts, breads, meats and flowers. While shopping for fresh goods to enjoy later at home you can often enjoy local musicians playing music.

Twilight UCSB

This is part of the UCSB campus at twilight. Twilight occurs after sunset as the sky begins to turn dark shades of blue. The darker the blue sky the more dramatic the architectural photograph could look.  

In Motion

"Everyone who's serious about what they're doing must be in constant motion forward."

Ed O'Brien

Santa Barbara Sunset

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Santa Barbara Foot Hills

I took this panorama of the Santa Barbara foot hills while I was at the zoo. The landscapes of california are breathtaking, the clouds caught my attention as they engulfed the mountainous landscape.

Elephant

This is an Asian elephant that's at the Santa Barbara Zoo, smaller than their African cousins, they are highly endangered. Elephants are the worlds largest land animal.  Asian elephants can be identified by their smaller, rounded ears. These  elephants have a fingerlike  feature on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. The trunk of an elephant is used for smelling, breathing, drinking and also garbing a potential meal. Elephants can consume about 300 pounds of food a day; they eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, and they eat a lot of these things. 

Gorilla

These are several images I took of the gorillas at the Santa Barbara Zoo. These creatures are one of the most popular animals to visit there. Not knowing what they will do next, you have to be ready to capture their facial expressions on camera. Gorilla's seem to have their own personalities as they pose for their observer. The one gorilla had a very peaceful innocent expression on its face as it sat there holding his hands and looking up toward the sky. Another gorilla gave me a serious, death stare as I photographed him eating, and the last image is of one of them peering over at me as he walked by. 

UCSB Architecture

This architectural photograph was taken on the UCSB campus. The building struck my interest as I drove past it one night so I decided to go back and photograph the building. I decided that the best time to photograph this building was just after sunset so that the lights would be visible to help emphasize the structure.

26th Annual Parade of Lights

Tonight I went down to the Santa Barbara Pier with a friend to watch the 26th Annual Parade of Lights. This was my first time going to this event it was great seeing crowds of people in the holiday spirit. There where families, couples, friends and more lining the pier to watches as the decorated boats passed by. At the end of the parade there was a small fire work show. Here are a few photos of tonight's festivities if your ever in the area during the holiday season Santa Barbara is filled with things to do with the family. Hope you enjoy. 

The Natural World

It may seem a bit strange but I tend to photograph dead things when I come across them out in the natural world. Slowly I have been gathering a collection of images of dead animals. This particular bird was found laying amongst the rocks along the shore in Santa Barbara. Spread amongst the rocks near the bird lay feathers and small bones. 

“Celebrity”

These photos were taken for a photo assignment where we had to create a celebrity persona. I choose to create the persona of a country singer. Since Santa Barbara does not scream country to me I headed up to Solvang, CA to do this photo shoot. Searching for interesting locations I came across this old building which had the perfect feel with the old signs, an old gas pump and a tractor out front. The building had its own personality and told a story of the past.

The Elegance of the Great Blue Heron

This great blue heron caught my eye one afternoon along the waters edge of the Santa Barbara Harbor. The great blue herons are typically seen along coastlines, in marshes, or near the shores of ponds or streams. They are expert fishers. Herons snare their aquatic prey by walking slowly, or standing still for long periods of time and waiting for fish to come within range of their long necks and blade-like bills.

Fly

Walking along the Santa Barbara Harbor during sunset one evening this Pelican soon caught my attention as it sat along the waters edge. I sat there inching closer to the bird until it realized and began to move almost putting on a show for me. Capturing a bird's image is challenging, frustrating and fun all at the same time.