This is just a quick temporary posting for a preliminary look at your family portraits from last weeks session at Hendry’s Beach.

PLEASE NOTE: this video is in a low resolution format – making the images look blurred. This is not how they will look in print format or at higher resolutions.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS

It’s that time of year again when family and friends join us to celebrate the holidays. What better way to celebrate than to create a lasting memory of family – as they are right now in 2009!

I have cut my normal rates by 2/3’s and extended the season through December 15th. And I can guarantee you delivery before Christmas!

I will even come to your home on Thanksgiving Day or meet you and your family anywhere in the Santa Barbara area, if that’s the only time you have that your family will be together.

BUT this does carry a price with it – mostly because you are taking me away from my family and the traditions we have grown to love and share on this day. Should you chose to schedule a session on Thanksgiving Day, the rate will be $250 per session.

There are times when I think my head is in the clouds!

I have this tendency to look up – a lot! Not only as part of my outlook on life, but when I photograph as well. Why always look straight ahead when there is so much to see above? Of course, for me that’s not too hard to do since I am a bit vertically challenged at only 5′2″.

While I look down a lot as well, and photograph much at ground level or laying on the ground, up provides interest and perspective uncommon to everyday life. Up is good.

Today’s images aren’t necessarily a reflection of ‘up’, but they are about things that are above us. I have been gathering an assortment of lampposts . . . and it seemed appropriate to put them into a collection and share. These are a few taken recently.

street lamps at Gelson's Market

from the Calle Reale Marketplace

also from the Calle Reale Marketplace in Goleta

Stearn's Wharf lamppost

from the Santa Barbara Train Station

another view of the Santa Barbara Train Station lamppost

shadows created by the train station lamppost - looking down is good too!

from the Getty Center

a creative capture in San Diego

Why is it that these lampposts capture my attention?

I cannot answer this one precisely – perhaps it is the shape against a deep blue sky, perhaps it is the contrast of shape against solid, perhaps because most of us take these things for granted, perhaps it is because I am a little weird and like taking photographs of the mundane, the overlooked, the everyday life things – I do the same with doors and windows a street numbers; weather vanes, chimneys and steeples; signs, shadows and other sundry architectural details.

I finally heard from Mack Camera and Video Repair – my Canon 5D is on the way home once again, and should be in my hands by Friday of this week – WOO HOO ! ! !

Meanwhile, I had to rent one for Donna and Alex’s wedding on Saturday. So, as I needed to return it to Calumet Photographic, Inc. early this morning, I thought I would take a small detour on the way home – to the Santa Barbara Train Station, or as it is sometimes referred to as, the Amtrak Station. I stopped for about 1/2 hour before really starting my day . . . here are a few of the images.

an old luggage and freight hauler

wheels

wheel shadows

old sign

another old sign

lampposts along the boarding platform

a new addition to the station: a refurbished Southern Pacific car

one of several lanterns that adorn the front of the station

the front of the station

arched walkway in front of the station

another view of the arch-covered walkway

bench on the left side of the entry into the train station: the tiles and artwork were created by Blair Looker-Ridenour in 1991 as part of a beautification project with the city of Santa Barbara

an overall view

wasn't it nice of a train to pull into the station while I was there? (image converted to infrared)

I kinda think this image speaks for itself

time to buy a ticket and go for a train ride!

the refurbished car - it looks like this may possibly have been a dining or lounge car (image converted to infrared)

At the beginning of this month, I shared some photos with you that chronicled the formation of clouds over the course of one very special day (August 3rd’s post). Santa Barbara does not get a lot of clouds during any given day, so it is a rare thing to observe.

Today was another exception. However, due to my schedule, the only ones I had time to photograph were at the end of the day and the wonderful coloring added by the setting sun.

evening sky

evening sky too - a wider view

more of the same

lower on the horizon

a plane flies through it

It is ironic that the post at the beginning of the month was about cloud formations throughout the day; and this post, ending the month of August, should reflect clouds at the setting of the day . . . I could not have planned it better if I tried!

Just a quick post today . . . but here I am back at Calumet Photographic, Inc. of Santa Barbara.

Today’s event? A travelite demo with models – and a free t-shirt, to boot! And I have no images to show – at least not for the demo portion of the day.

But when all was said and done, and we played with all the attachments for the Travelite series of studio flash, I am thinking I need 2 items: the Calumet Compact Fresnel Attachment and the Bowens Ringlite Converter, both of which are amazing for portrait work – but they are going to have to wait . . .

Upon my departure from the demo, I took several more photos with the Lensbaby 3G to give you an idea of its effects on/in the outside world!

a palm tree in the Calumet parking area

signage: you can see my 'sweet spot' is not exactly where it needs to be - told you it was not as easy as it looks!

more signage

a motorcycle parked nearby

a different angle - is there even a 'sweet spot' in this image?

just a feather trapped by the juniper branch

Sometimes you just have to mix pleasure with business!

I attended a Canon Owners Workshop at Calumet Photographic of Santa Barbara today – more to learn about calibrating my lenses to my cameras. A Canon rep was on hand to walk us through this process and answer any and all questions we may have had about our Canon equipment.

As some of you know, I have been having serious problems with the focus on my cameras and I really need to get this issue under control. Having sent my Canon 5D back to Mack Camera and Video Repair in New Jersey twice (by the way , it is still there, under going repair for the dislodged mirror that occurred smack dab in the middle of a wedding on August 1st), I am still not convinced that everything is good to go. Even my new Canon 5D Mark II doesn’t seem to be ’spot-on’ – and it is not my eyes!

So, now I know how to calibrate my lenses to my camera (the 5DM2), only the manufacturer can calibrate the lenses to the original 5D.

But that is not all of the story. Calumet’s staff . . . Brad, Christy and Craig . . . are such wonderful and customer oriented people, one just has to spend time with them! It’s not business as usual – go in, make a purchase, and leave – it is more of a ‘lets get together and chat’ atmosphere. So no matter what I go to Calumet for, I always add 1/2 hour, at least!, to my time – to chat, to visit, to catch up on the goings-on . . . to socialize.

And each time I go in, I always end up at the rear counter gawking at the Lensbaby display. The real question here is – WHY? I already own a Lensbaby 3G (the control freak version) along with the macro, wide-angle and telephoto add-ons. So what is it that draws me to this display?

Have you ever used a Lensbaby 3G? It’s very simple, and yet very difficult – no contradictions here! It’s effects are dreamy and surreal, but using it at a wedding is not as easy as it seems because of the time constraints. The Lensbaby 3G takes time to manipulate in order to be creative and get the sweet spot correct, and there are way too many times at a wedding when  you just don’t have that freedom or luxury!

The new Lensbaby configuration (the composer) however, is much more simple and quick in its manipulations and handling. And that is the draw . . .

So now that I have written a novel, allow me to share a few of the images I took with the Lensbaby (my old system) while I was there – all images were taken by permission.

oh how time flies! (this is my favorite)

a miniature globe, set inside a display case

a miniature globe bank

all 3 globes, same display case - seems Brad is a globe connoisseur

colorful seamlesses

more colors - can't tell where my focus point is on this one!

Craig's handiwork in display case design

a much better focal point and angle of view

Do you get the idea? So much fun, so little time . . . and  . . . oh, the things you can do with this fun little lens!

But really, the story doesn’t end here – there are optic add-ons for the new composer system as well! Not only can you get the macro, wide-angle and telephoto (and now the double wide-angle) accessory kits, there is an optic swap system that compliments the 3 basic lenses that allow you much more creative control and experimentation: the double glass optic gives you the sharpest sweet spot; the single glass optic gives you a softer, not so tack-sharp sweet spot; the plastic optic produces images with very soft effects and great chromatic aberrations; and the pin-hole optic produces an even softness across the entire image – and you can dial in the softness . . . it’s all greatness ! ! !

hmmmmm . . . I should be a walking billboard for Lensbaby ! ! !

Perhaps I need to sell the first system to get the new one! Now that’s an idea!

What a delightful surprise I had today when a meeting with Art Suwansang of Wedding 64 found us at a small bistro in Santa Barbara. The delight was not with whom I was meeting (sorry Art), the delight came in our meeting location . . . . Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro in the same little strip mall where Gelson’s Market is located: Loreto Plaza on upper State Street.

I saw the bakery the day I was there shooting the rest of the little shops, but as you could see from that post, I didn’t get too close to the front of the buildings – my idea is not to make people uncomfortable with me photographing their establishments or property, and if anyone is around, I will ask permission. Or if I am inside, I will always ask – as was the case today.

And I should have had my camera with me during our meeting so I could have photographed the beautiful cup of latte – not only was it a great cup of coffee, the artistic mix of cream and coffee produced the richest swirl of delight as the cup was presented to me! I should have had my camera with me!!!

Afterward however, I ran out to the car, grabbed the camera and went back inside to ask if I could take a few images.

the front counter where orders are taken

a closer view

and they make their own pastries - don't these look decadent?

scones and cookies and mini cakes - yum!

These are all the images for today, I could have taken so many more had I taken my camera with me – shame on me! But you get the idea ~ moral of this story? Take your camera everywhere you go, go often!

And make sure you check out Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro – there is indoor and outdoor seating available and Chef Renaud creates a great repertoire of pastries ~ patisseries, as it were . . .

What a great day!  And I hate to drive in LA traffic!

But today’s mission was twofold and pleasant: one to deliver print ready and web ready jpegs of the dance studio open house I shot on Saturday; and two, to explore the Getty Center on my way home.

The first mission just happened to include a visit with a dear friend and extraordinary photographer, Ronna Schary – this all by itself outweighed any negative issues with driving into LA !

Then I got to go to the Getty Center. Now one would think that this is a normal occurrence – how many times have I driven to and from Los Angeles?, but oh contrare! I have never been to the Getty Center! Ronna suggested I go straight to the West building, which houses the photography section – they were closed in order to set up for the Irving Penn exhibition – drat!, but that just meant I focused my attention on the architecture, not the content.

Here are a few of the images – just please don’t ask what buildings these are – it’s sorta like the flowers . . .

yes, I even took pictures of the level I parked on - but only because it was blue and matched the sky in most of the other images

The only down side to this entire day was that I got to the Getty Center at 2:30 in the afternoon and they close at 5:00, so I only had two and a half hours to explore and figure out what was there, where things were, and how I was going to photograph. This is a sample.

Odd how this day was about the exterior of the buildings and not what was housed inside of them – I guess I am going to have to go back!

There are not many times I choose to travel all the way to the corner of Los Positas and State Streets to do my grocery shopping, after all it’s a full 3 miles away from my house!

But at this corner is a newly renovated strip mall/shopping plaza, Loreto Plaza, that is home to Gelson’s Market. I’m not sure how long they have been in Santa Barbara, but I know they have been in California since the early 50’s, and I would have to classify this supermarket as an upscale higher-end grocery store.

Which is really not where this blog post is leading to – guess I’m good like that . . . . adding extraneous stuff to a post . . . but eventually I get back to the story line, which today is about the little shops in this strip mall and the recently completed renovations. Perhaps because Gelson’s is the largest retailer here, it’s easy to get side tracked!

driving in to Gelson's Market from Los Positas

the front of the market

I call this the bell tower, but there is no bell ~ perhaps it is the watch tower! or perhaps it's all form and no function ?

I just found the renovation refreshing and in keeping with Santa Barbara’s architectural style, so I just had to photograph the different features of some of the shops. I was even stopped by several people who thought I was photographing for Gelson’s new Grand Opening, so that was an unexpected plug for me!

juat an entry door with vines growing around it, obviously not affected by the renovations, and I liked the wood against the stucco with the red curbing and blue sidewalk leading into it

morning glory (I think) overhang

the flower on the vine

architectural detail: facades

Pacific Company - I loved the long shadows created by the late afternoon sun

a faux-painted red half-column

copper drainage pipes

Federal Drugs

the Federal Drug storefront

bike parking

around the corner and trhough the arches

looking up

looking down

back through the arches from the opposite direction

It’s all about the details and the things we stop to take notice of . . .