August 13th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day ASHES to ASHES
Today is a tough day for me – it would have been Mark’s 51st birthday . . .
I considered not posting any image at all, but then had to force myself to redirect my energy and understand that this photo-of-the-day project is not related to my emotions during the day. It is more of a reflection of the things I experience, the places I go, the people I meet, the ordinary, everyday life things I observe.
Emotions become a part of the image, they do not preclude the image.
And so I find it quite ironic that a walk around my back yard should reveal ash covered foliage . . . not just ash from the fires in the surrounding area, but ash as a symbol of the death we must all experience; a reminder of sorts . . . . . .
 a dying leaf  honeysuckle . . . . . from ashes to ashes.
August 12th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day Not much of a story associated with today’s image – it is simply a line of trees against a red brick wall and a window in the center!
Though, after really looking at the image, I am curious!
Curious as to why a window was placed here. In my best judgment, the length of the wall is at least 100ft long, and smack dab in the middle is this window with a light above it and the four trees . . .
Why weren’t the trees evenly spaced out along the entire wall?
Why didn’t I take a wider angle picture so you could see what I am talking about?
Why was this small window placed on the side of the building at all?
Was it to get to the light? To have the ability to change the light bulb on the outside of the building?
Doesn’t it make you even a little bit curious?
 tree-lined brick with with a window & light in the center
August 11th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day HEROES
I met a wonderful woman today, her name is Martha.
Martha came to my rescue. Martha is truly my “hero of the day”!
One of my errands included a stop at the Michael’s Store in Goleta, CA. I was fortunate enough to park directly in front of the store proper, which has a beautiful corrugated steel fronting and four square vine-ridden posts with these small star-shaped white flowers on them.
All but the one I parked in front of were healthy and living – the one I parked in front of had dead vines wrapped around it, but the flowers were going strong. The contrast of organic against corrugated steel was stark and ripe for photographing – so out comes the camera!
And since I am not always in a standing position when I photograph – it can look rather precarious sometimes when a grown woman with a camera is being a contortionist in order to ‘get the picture’ . . . or remove background clutter – in camera.
 dead potato vine wrapped around corrugated steel and terra-cotta posts  a better angle . . . . or get a different color backdrop by changing the position of ones body angle relative to the flowers, as with the next few images.
 love the purple-ish background  and this terra-cotta colored background  as well as this green backdrop I think it was about this time that Martha stopped and asked something like why I was taking pictures of dead potato vine when there were living ones on the three other posts.
Thank you Martha! I now have a name for a flower! How many blog-posts have I added over the past several months that I have had no clue as to the name of the flowers or trees? Martha is my “hero” today and I am very grateful that she took the time to stop and be curious about what and why I was taking pictures.
After we finished talking, I took a few more, differently composed images before returning to the myriad of remaining tasks on my to do list.
 this image was created with simplicity in mind - it almost has a Japanese feel to it  lots of blossoms  here I liked the flowers against the texture and lines of the terra-cotta Remember, these are potato vine blossoms . . .
August 10th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses !
You already know I take my camera with me everywhere I go, and you know that I photograph some of the most ordinary things in life ~ things that most of us overlook.
Today is no exception.
It isn’t roses that I stopped to smell, it was these rusted leaves (and no, I did not smell them!) sitting on an old railroad tie being used as car stops or parking stall markers – whatever they are called! Got out of my car, walked around the front of it and saw these two rusted leaves just sitting there – how odd is that? It’s as if someone had placed them there so perfectly. . . knowing I would want to create this image!
What’s even more odd, is that I walked around the front of the car! I never do that! But if I hadn’t, I would have missed this photo opportunity! Guess there are reasons for everything.
 two rusted leaves on an old railroad tie  just one leaf by itself  and what kind of funky, fuzzy yellow leaf is this? And just as I thought I could be on my way, to go where I needed to go, for why I had come to this place to begin with . . . I look to the right to see this huge feather sticking up out of the ground!
 a feather that caught my attention So down on my stomach I went to photograph close to the ground! Of course, do you see all the dead grass lying around in all four of the images? What do you think my blouse looked like when I stood back up?
That’s it! 4 images in 4 minutes . . . but things we normally miss because we don’t take the time to stop and smell the proverbial roses.
August 9th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day COME SIT WITH ME FOR A SPELL ~
A change of pace today. This one is an invitation to sit and relax and stay a while in one place, to separate yourself from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
A most of you know, I photograph a lot of the everyday life things and I gather them from all over: things like lampposts, flowers, mailboxes, doors, fences, hats, gates and flowers.
Today I want to share with you my collection of park benches, or just plain . . . . benches . . . . . they are from everywhere I have been over the past few months and I will continue to add to the collection as I go through this photo of the day project.
 from the Jefferson Campus of Brooks Institute  from the town of Ojai  in my own back yard  at the Santa Barbara Train Station  another one at the Santa Barbara Train Station  in the park near my home in Hope Ranch Annex  at the Getty Center  another one at the Getty Center  inside one of the buildings at the Getty Center  again, from the Getty Center - isn't this interesting? from here you can look out over the city of Los Angeles  we are still at the Getty Center  last one from the Getty Center  in the gardens of the San Juan Capistrano Mission  at the San Juan Capistrano Mission - it was in a great little shaded nook!  at the San Juan Capistrano Mission in the center courtyard  at the San Juan Capistrano Mission I hope you had a chance to relax and enjoy, at least for a little while ~ for now, it is time to get back to the work at hand – business!
V I V A l a F I E S T A !
Put your headsets on and fasten your seat belts – Ready ?? Push play!
Now that you have watched the video, let me tell you the rest of the story . . .
First, however, I need to tell you about the music in the video: it is from a creative commons license, so here is where I need to mention and give credit to Mariana Seoane who sings Mermelade. I don’t speak Spanish at all, so I have no idea what she is saying, but I love the beat and pace of the music and it seems to fit perfectly with the pace of the images.
I have lived in Santa Barbara for 5 years now and have never been to the Children’s Fiesta Parade nor participated in any of the activities associated with the Old Spanish Days Fiesta.
This year I jumped in with all fours, as you can see from the video! Specialty Color Services hosted another Holga event, the Holga’s and Fiesta Workshop, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get into the heart of the goings-on.
Lead by the fearless Tom Judah, who took all participants out into the streets of Santa Barbara, we met at Specialty Color Services, filled up on coffee and bagels and fruit and orange juice, loaded our Holga’s with film, then meandered our way from Cota Street up to Arlington and State Streets. And that’s where the fun began!
And, that’s where our group of 20 or so workshop attendees got separated . . . but that was kind of the idea: so that all of us were not shooting the exact same thing.
As for me, I ended up moving further south down State Street to a point where the parade would actually be moving through (or passing by me) versus the static location of the parade participants just starting out. And I took my digital camera with me – didn’t I mention I was in this for the gusto?
As the story goes though, my experience of the day was not through the lens of medium format film media camera (the Holga), it was through the lenses of the digital camera – to the tune of some 1300+ images later!
And about 1 1/2 hours after we were supposed to return to Specialty Color Services (SCS) to turn in our film and wrap up the workshop, I had to force myself to stop photographing and race back. That’s when I realized that I had only taken maybe 8 images on the first roll of film and I still had another roll to expose before I got back to SCS. However, after experiencing the fun and flare of the Fiesta spirit through song and dance and brightly colored costumes and confetti and kids, it was very very difficult to stop and focus on film.
Below are some of the images that were shot with the Holga – oh, by the way, these were cross-processed (putting slide film through the chemicals used to process color negative film) so the colors are more vibrant and the contrast is typically extreme.
 on the way  the first parade float we encountered as we entered State Street  I have no idea how many exposures this is! Obviously I forgot to advance the film !  a sweet balerina ready to go home but she stopped long enough for me to take her picture - Mom said it was okay  riding in luxury  love this! would have loved to get closer - isn't Ian adorable?  we are done for the day  homeward bound These last four images, though they were cross processed, don’t have the appearance that the first three images have. Perhaps because of the type of film: the roll may not have been slide film and therefore not subject to the changes created by processing one type of film in a different type of chemical. And since I was in such a panic to get back to Specialty Color Services way later than I was supposed to, I did not take the time to note the type of film these were shot on.
August 7th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day Not much to say about today’s photo except that I am so glad I bring my camera with me everywhere I go.
People must think I am weird though, when I stop the car along the side of the road (safely), get out and photograph flowers or mailboxes or shadows – well, you get the picture . . . . . these were a patch of white and purple flowers (no I don’t know the name of them) in the parking lot where I had a meeting with a colleague.
I could not resist the temptation.
 pretty in purple
Every where I go there are surprises. Some make me smile, some trigger sadness, some create wonder and amazement, some evoke curiosity.
Today’s image is a reminder – to keep in touch – sorta like the old AT&T ad, “reach out and touch someone you love”. It reminds me of the note cards I try to write to my mother every day, though lately it has been every other day.
I was walking along various storefronts on the main street of a small town south west of Santa Barbara when I passed this wrought iron fence with all the small hanging placards on it. And instantly it elicited reminiscent thoughts of my mother during her convalescence and the notes I write to her as she once did for so many shut-ins throughout the years.
If you know me at all, you would know how painstakingly difficult it was for me to refrain from going closer and getting detailed shots of the birds and placards – but since this was in the entry way into the small shop, I thought it best not to block it or photograph without permission.
 notes on a fence That’s it, one image, but it reminds me so much of how I now try to reach out and touch my mother: from California to Rhode Island ~ I love you Mom.
August 5th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Portraits Just a few images today of some architectural details of a building in Santa Barbara. It is actually part of the Jefferson Campus that I wrote about yesterday. While I haven’t had the chance to photograph the entire building, these are just two shots that I grabbed as I was there.
Shooting on campus requires permission, and I don’t have that yet, so I can’t stay to do the campus justice . . . one of these days though, I will make it a priority.
 is this called a steeple or is it a chimney? Santa Barbara, actually the entire south central coast of California, is rich in architectural details of its buildings. Weather vanes and chimneys prevail – there are so many varieties! So much to photograph, so little time!
 a sample of the architecture that is so prevalent in Santa Barbara This second image has been converted to infrared – I guess I am really liking this effect. But I also like the warmth of adding what I refer to now as a ‘touch of chocolate’. I tried converting the first image to infrared, but the grain pattern was super ugly, and the darkness of the sky almost obliterated the weather vane, causing me to add quite a bit of ‘fill light’, in turn causing the grain to get even worse – don’t you just love editing images? And don’t you just love run on sentences?
So here is the question of the day . . . when converting an image to infrared, why does the sky not always change to a dark color ?
I don’t have the precise answer to this, but I am thinking it has something to do with the angle of the sun relative to the film plane – a study and topic of interest for another day. If anyone has an answer to this or has done the research already, please let me know and I will be sure to add your comment and response to this post.
August 4th, 2009 | Category: Everyday Life, Photo of the Day I met with Art of Wedding 64 at his office away from the office today – the Jefferson Campus of Brooks Institute – my old stomping grounds.
This image was taken from the edge of the parking lot over a 6 foot chain link fence. Which, by the way, is way taller than I am. Fortunately, there is an area that is fallen over from erosion of the hillside below, and I was able to stand on a curb to get the image.
 scenic overlook of the Santa Barbara Harbor and downtown Great view isn’t it? Sad that that is what we had to look at while we were in classes!
The Jefferson Campus of Brooks Institute used to be an elementary school – back in the day. I am not sure exactly when Brooks purchased the building, but it houses the administrative offices for the Santa Barbara campuses, the school library, classrooms and a darkroom in the basement.
It’s a beautiful campus on the APS – Alameda Padre Sierra – the main thoroughfare that runs along the upper foothill of Santa Barbara. It is from this area that Santa Barbara is known as the American Riviera.
Quite beautiful and breathtaking. And it leaves a segue into another photo opportunity – the Jefferson Campus!
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