Sunday, August 16, 2015
Milky Way Vista

This week was a great week for stargazing. In case you missed it, the Perseid meteor shower peaked on Wednesday. If you did miss it, don't feel bad. I love that sort of thing and I would have missed it if it weren't for running into a good friend at the beach while I was taking an evening walk with my wife. Fortunately we were all set up for taking photos of the stars anyway. We got a few nice meteor shots, (this NOT being one of them, that's just a passing jet in the sky) and saw even more really beautiful meteors. But I was, purely coincidentally looking to experiment with a wide enough view to capture more of the milky way. Although the meteors were amazing, this is more the image I was looking for and it just goes to show, you don't need to wait for the next meteor shower (October 8th, by the way) to find something absolutely amazing as close as the night sky.

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Sunday, August 19, 2012
Whale's Eye View at the Wharf

Did you ever wonder if it was possible to have an aquarium so big you could keep a pet whale? It would seem I'm not the only one who ponders these things. This is the Ty Warner Sea Center on Stearns Wharf. They have created a wonderful place to learn about the ocean and its inhabitants, as well as a home with an amazing view for a beautiful whale.

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Monday, August 6, 2012
The Law Offices of Buynak and Fauver Evening Mountain View

This is another shot from my recent work at the offices of Buynak and Fauver. This one is an outtake. It was taken later in the evening and although I really love the view, it didn't fit well in the final tour. But you can see it here. The rest of the tour, including an Easter Egg, which no one has found without being told where to look, can be seen here... their site: http://www.buynakfauver.com/virtual-tour/.

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Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Law Offices of Buynak and Fauver

An evening view overlooking Santa Barbara from the El Paseo Building overlooking De La Guerra Plaza. This is the view from the patio of the Law Offices of Buynak and Fauver. They have an amazing office, and it's not just because of the view. Their workplace is one of the greenest offices in Santa Barbara. Because of their efforts their employees and clients have an incredibly safe work environment and they have greatly reduced their building's impact on the environment. If you would like to take the full tour be sure to stop by their site: http://www.buynakfauver.com/virtual-tour/.

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Sunday, July 29, 2012
The Santa Barbara Unitarian Society in VR

The courtyard behind the El Paseo restaurant in Santa Barbara is one of thoes little jewels just off the beaten path in Santa Barbara that most people walk within 50 feet of without ever knowing it's there. This is actually an older shot that was originally published as a still image because the fountain itself was so beautiful. But sometimes it's fun to go back and play with the images a little and make something new.

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Thursday, July 26, 2012
Twin Cities Community Hospital Founder Pavilion in VR

This is a shot from Twin Cities Hospital in Templeton, California. This tour was completed early in the year, but I just realized I never had time to put it on my own site. This was a really fun trip, and the tour was especially interesting because we produced an HD television spot as well as the online tour. The HD video looks very smooth in a way that flash can't quite match yet. I'll share a bit of that in the near future.

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
El Paseo Fountain

The courtyard behind the El Paseo restaurant in Santa Barbara is one of thoes little jewels just off the beaten path in Santa Barbara that most people walk within 50 feet of without ever knowing it's there. This is actually an older shot that was originally published as a still image because the fountain itself was so beautiful. But sometimes it's fun to go back and play with the images a little and make something new.

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Sunday, July 22, 2012
Santa Barbara Breakwater Sunset

Sunset above the Santa Barbara Breakwater. I like the way this photo shows the shelter of the breakwater as your view moves across the beautiful waves on the outside to the small ripples in the harbor. Either way the water is beautiful!

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Sunday, July 15, 2012
La Pacifica Ballroom Terrace 360 degree Panorama

La Pacifica Ballroom at the Coral Casino has one of the best views around. Overlooking butterfly beach, with a huge terrace under the stars. This shot was taken specifically to catch the reflection of the sunset in the glass doors.

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Tuesday, July 3, 2012
UCSB University Center Elevated Evening Virtual Reality View

This is another shot from my recent evening at UCSB. If you click on the thumbnails you can see the shot from the other day in full VR. Sometimes it's fun to see the same shot in a differet way.

Saturday, June 30, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission and the Big Dipper

Queen of the Missions under the stars. The evening I took this last week, I was actually trying to get anohter shot down at the beach. On the way home I thought I would stop at the mission to see what things looked like there. It was a little dark, but I decided to see what I could get anyway. I'm glad I did. The stars in this shot were rather inspiring for some new ideas I'll be working on.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church 360 degree Panorama

Santa Barbara is the city of red tile rooves. But there are a few creative variations. This beautiful BLUE tiled roof building is the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in the hills above Santa Barbara.

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Sunday, June 24, 2012
Evening At Alice's Garden 360 degree Panorama

At the end of a wonderful evening of photography, I found myself driving by Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. The look of the glowing lights with the remaing glow of the sunset were enough to make me circle the block to think about what kind of a view I could get. I was glad I stopped. This is from about 20 feet above the edge of the duckpond, looking down on the pond and the gazebo.

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Thursday, June 14, 2012
Santa Barbara County Courthouse Mural Room 360 degree Panorama

There are few more perfect places to take a 360° Panoramic Photo than the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Mural room. The walls of the room depict major events in the history of California. The entire room is a spectacular work of art. Don't forget to look up at the amazing detail on the ceiling.

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Saturday, May 26, 2012
I Modnnari at the Santa Barbara Mission

Every Memorial Day weekend we have a festival at the Santa Barbara Mission. An Italian street painting festival, the entire mission driveway is turned into a temporary art gallery. Hundredes of artists transform the pavement into amazing works of art with nothing more than chalk. Over the next couple of days I'll try to bring some of my favorite views of the festival to you.

Click on the flashing circles in the image to see other views
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Sunday, May 13, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission Kitchen

The Santa Barbara Mission is a beautiful place. But you usually see it from the outside. This is a display of a kitchen as it was for the early inhabitants of the Mission.

From the plaque on the wall:

"This kitchen display is typical of the indoor cooking facilities of the early 1800s. Cooking was done both outdoors and indoors. Indoor cooking was usually done by women over hot, glowing charcoal.

FOOD SOURCES:

Large gardens, orchards and adjacent ranchos supplied the Indians and Mission community with vegetables, fruit livestock and grains such as wheat, barley, oats and corn. THE ORIGINAL ADOBE CAN BE SEEN ON THE LEFT SIDE WALL."

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Sunday, April 8, 2012
Santa Barbara Mission Chapel

Happy Easter!!

Ok, I know the decorations are from Christmas, but the Santa Barbara Mission Chapel is still a nice spot to share for Easter.

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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Alice Keck Park's Australian Tea Tree, Virtual Reality

I really love Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, the variety of wildlife and plants right in the middle of the city is unparalleled. This beautiful tree is at the corner of Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, it's one of my favorite trees in Santa Barbara. I have no idea how old it is, but you can see on the map of the garden which trees existed before the garden and this is one of them. No surprise, normally when you see Tea Trees they are trimmed to look more like bushes. This guy must have seen some amazing things in his lifetime.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Sunken Gardens Twilight

A wonderful spot any time of day, the Courthouse Sunken Gardens take on a magical quality at night. The lighting makes for wonderful photo opportunities that would not otherwise be possible. I like to experiment with architectural photography later in the evening than might seem to work. As long as there is still blue in the sky to complement the buildings it's a good time for photos.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Getty Center Main Garden, Virtual Reality

Another hand-held virtual reality shot from The Getty Center in Los Angeles. From a distance the main garden looks like a very cool topiary hedge maze, and it is, but to find the Minotaur in the center of this labyrinth you need a gondola. Because it is in the middle of an amazing fountain.

This, of course starts the discussion of how do you think they trim the maze. Because it's really nicely groomed. It's not like they could drain the fountain every time it needs a trim. Gondoliers with hedge trimmers? Hope they're not electric trimmers. Oh well I guess we'll have to chalk that up to the mysteries of the ages.

If you'd like to see a great virtual reality shot of another fountain in The Getty Center at sunset take a look at February 6th

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Monday, February 6, 2012
The Getty Center Fountain at Sunset, Virtual Reality

This is from a beautiful evening at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. It was a great day with lots of beautiful art, but I have to admit I liked the architecture even more. And I don't think I'm the only one. There are at least six other people in this photo taking a picture at this moment.

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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens, Virtual Reality

The sunken gardens at the Santa Barbara County Court House is the location of many community events and festivals. There are few places more recognizable as a local Santa Barbara landmark.

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Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sandpiper Golf Course, Virtual Reality

The Sandpiper Golf course is perched right on the coast just north of Santa Barbara and Goleta. It's a beautiful spot any time, but sunset is especially gorgeous.

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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Under the Tree by the Coral Casino, Virtual Reality

I love the Butterfly beach area in Montecito. When the tide is low you can walk all the way to Summerland in one direction, and back to East beach in Santa Barbara in the other direction. On the other hand when the tide is really high, or after a strong storm when the sand is washed away you can't get much of a beach walk. Thats when we like to walk along this walkway by the beach and watch the waves and sunset.

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Monday, November 15, 2010
El Paseo Restaurant Courtyard, Virtual Reality

This spot is a slecluded little courtyard behind the El Paseo restaurant. It's an amazing spot all around but I really love the wonderful Mandeviiia vine. It's got to be at least fourty years old.

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