Purple and White Flower

I found these tiny little flowers in the entrance to the garden area today. I noticed this one with the two flower buds pointing at an angle away from the main flower, so I spent the next 20 shots or so trying to get it right. I'm pretty happy with this one. 

Morning Walk in Ellwood 2

 Today was another morning excursion on the Ellwood bluffs behind our apartments. I tried to catch the morning light on the grasses and foxtails, but the shots didn't come out as well as expected. Below is a shot of the ocean and bluffs. This is all about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. 

Unbloomed Flower

I saw these flowers and tried to photograph them, but I got distracted by the un-bloomed flower buds. I like the shape, color and simplicity of this one.

Rock and Water Pattern

Today we went climbing at a place called Malibu Creek State Park. I've gotten into the habit of not getting my camera out much when we go climbing. I noticed the reflections of the rocks on the water at one point, so I took about five photos. That was the only time I had my camera out, and this is the best of those five. Eh. 

Morning Walk In Ellwood

 Today I went for an early morning walk with Maxine, Carey and Joey for some photographing. It was a bit cloudy, but the lighting was perfect. We found some awesome California Poppies, a blanket of greenery, and lots of color. The first two shots are my usual flower shots. Then a blanket of green, which I really like the texture in that shot. The fourth shot is kind of my typical shot-from-below flower shot, but for a clover leaf. I like the form and shape of the fifth shot, and if you look close, you can see tiny spider webs between the flowers. For the last shot, it took me quite a few shots to get the right angle for some color in the background. Oh, and I tried to take some good shots of Joey, Carey's dog, running around, but failed. Someday.

White Flower

I wasn't feeling very motivated or inspired today, so I went out to the garden, spent about five minutes, and came out with this photo. I like the photo, but I can do better.

Calla Lilly 2

There are quite a few calla lilies in the garden area, and I keep trying to capture the elegant curves and beauty of the flowers. This one is close to what I want to show. I think I'll have to spend some time concentrating on just calla lilies some day. Today it was a bit cloudy for the time I was in the garden, which is usually good for flower photos, but this is the best shot I got for the day.

Sunlight Patterns

Yup, you guessed it, another day in the garden. I've photographed back lit palm leaves several times, and posted a couple photos on here, but today I noticed the cool pattern formed by back lit interlaced palm leaves. I like how not every line is continuous through the photo, making the photo even more abstract.

Yellow Flowers

 Another day in the garden. Today I got out in the late morning and took a different way into the garden area, only to find the sun lighting up these yellow flowers. In the shot above, the glare from the sun was accidental, but I really like the affect. I love when the sun lights up flowers and makes them glow.

Inspiration Point Hike

 Today we hiked up Jususita trail to Inspiration Point, which looks out over Santa Barbara. The view from the point was nice, but it was super hazy, so none of my scenery shots were very good. On the way to the car though, we passed lots of flowers, so I went a little nuts and took a ton of shots. Oh, and the cool close-up of the caution flasher at the bottom was Maxine's idea. I really like it.

Nell Rocks..Again

Another day of climbing at Echo Cliffs near Malibu. Today we decided to try some easy two pitch sport routes. Nell is leading the second route that we did. I enjoyed the day climbing, and only took my camera out a couple times, so this is the only good shot I got. So there.

Fun Day at the Beach

Today we went to the beach to hang out with friends and play on the slack line. Well, mainly Paul played on the slack line and entertained the rest of us. He's pretty good and can do several tricks, including jumping in the air and landing back on the slack line. I took several shots of all of this, but the three below are the only ones that came out well, and none of him jumping. Both Maxine and I were having problems photographing Paul, so we went for a walk to find other subjects. That's when I noticed the random green bottle on the beach that was back lit by the sun. I think it's a pretty cool shot. The bottom photo is of a heron in the slough behind the beach.

Jen on the Mandolin, and a Bored Joey

Tonight we went over to a friend's house for another potluck/party. My friend Jen played around on a mandolin, while Joey looked bored. Not really. The Joey photo was much later in the evening, I think he was tuckered out from all the shenanigans. 

Gorgeous Yellow Flower

Instead of walking out to the garden, today I decided to walk around the apartment complex. I found this awesome yellow flower and spent the next hour or so photographing it. I ended up with a lot of great shots, but the closeups of the petals were my favorites, even though they were extremely hard to get in focus. 

Glass is Half Full Abstract

I was a little bored today, but as I was sitting there on the couch I noticed the water line of the glass on the table. The glass, and water, were reflecting the red from the place mat. Naturally, decided to try to photograph this and got out my camera. I ended up with a few good photos, but I liked this one the most. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 It rained a bit last night, so I got up early to try to catch the morning light, in hopes of getting some good shots of raindrops on flowers and such. Mission success!! I got a ton of great shots. These are the cream of the crop. Enjoy.

Oscar!

 

My friend Maxine is birdsiting Oscar, for our friend Nicole. So, Maxine and I both decided to try to photograph Oscar. This wasn't half as easy as we thought it would be. I'm happy with the two photos I got, but these are the only two out of about 30. 

The Playground

 Nell and I went climbing with Rob at a place called the Playground, above Santa Barbara. I like how Nell kind of looks like a thug in the first photo. She's climbing a fun 5.9. Below, Rob looks out over Santa Barbara. It was nice to see Rob, and climb with him. I'm looking forward to climbing out east with him when we move to New York.

Sunset From Above Santa Barbara

A good friend of ours, Rob, is in town visiting this weekend from Philadelphia. He loves the bouldering in Santa Barbara, so as soon as he had the chance, we headed to his favorite spot. I didn't get any good shots of climbing, but there was a nice sunset, so I climbed up on top of a boulder and snapped off a few shots. 

Cool Blue Flower

I've been trying to photograph this flower for a while, but I haven't been able to come up with a good photo until now. I like the fuzzy stems and leaves. Oh, and this flower actually faces the ground, the photo here is of the backside of the flower. 

Green Abstracts

Another day in the garden! Today I noticed this huge succulent. It caught my eye because it was back lit, and the sun was making the edges of the succulent leaves glow. I spent the next hour on this plant. Believe it or not, about 80-90% of my shots came out great!