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This is the view from 4,000 feet elevation above Santa Barbara (90 miles northwest of LA) looking south towards Channel Islands National Park. Santa Cruz Island is to the left. And towards the right is Santa Rosa island, with San Miguel Island far off to the right.
A hole in the clouds opened up off the right side of the frame illuminating the underside of the clouds and the foreground too. I got lucky!
The Channel Islands are America's version of the Galapagos Islands, and home to the oldest dated human remains in North America—Arlington Springs Woman (13,000 BP). The world's most complete pygmy mammoth specimen was discovered on Santa Rosa Island in 1994. These miniature mammoths, only four to six feet tall, once roamed island grasslands and forests during the Pleistocene. There are lots of landscape images waiting to be taken there, as they are nearly uninhabited and untouched by modern humans.
This one required a bit of hiking through very thick and stiff chaparral brush ranging in height from 4-7 feet deep. By the time I had climbed on top of a rock to get this shot, I had cuts and scratches nearly everywhere.
3 vertical images taken with ND grad 0.9 2x3 ratio. (4512x6768) Shot using a panoramic head and stitched using RealViz Pro.
| Title: | Santa Barbara Evening |
| Username: | 
PatrickSmith |
| Uploaded: | 8 Jan 2007 - 4:12 PM |
| Camera: | Canon EOS 5D |
| Lens: | Canon 17-40L @22 on each |
| Recording media: | RAW ISO 50 |
| Tags: | General, Landscape / travel, Santa barbara channel islands |
| Votes: | 135 |
Comments
I just adore the light and colour in this Patrick.. excellent work.
Jeanie
Beautifully composed picture, love the color in the plants in the f/g. Very well done.
Lisa
wow , the colors are fantastic, i like the rocks in the foreground..I noticed in the middle of the image on the horizon a sharp straight edge leading out...was that part of the stitch or a pier..or ?
alex
Thanks for looking!
Hi Alex, that is a point of land that sticks out into the ocean. It forms a cove that is near UC Santa Barbara. It goes straight out into the water from this angle.
Patrick
stunning shot and stunning scenery, the light and colour are superb, it looks a wonderful place.
At the risk of sounding really thick... do you mind me asking why 3 portrait images? wouldn't one or even two in landcsape have done the job??? Sorry, just curious.
CLIX
I think there is rather more to it than just 'got lucky 'Patrick.Stunning.
Ron
Great light and tones - and a superb sky. Another surefire winner Patrick.
Lovely shot, this looks great large as the detail is ace
Sean
Thanks for your comments!
Tony, I wanted to keep the 2x3 ratio and 3 portrait images would allow me to get a higher resolution than would be possible with just one shot. 2 in landcape mode woudl make a wide panorama. And that would mean that I'd have to crop off the bottom or the top, but both areas are too good to do that. I was originally going for a wide panorama but the top and bottom were jsut too interesting. I can make a 40x60 of this no problem!
Patrick
I may just have to accept, Patrick that you live in a landscape that just doesn't appeal to me and in it you have very different light.
good sky though.
You may be right Keith, though I've only scratched the surface of California and mostly just along the coast. You may like the sierra better. But I haven't been there much since I joined EPZ. We have thin clouds and storms that pass through and clear out quickly.
Our light seems to be softer with clouds and then very harsh with clear skies, with little in between. But the Sierra is different.
Patrick
like the composition and the colours. Nice work with both camera and computer to get this right.
Worth all those scratches...
Love the sky in this, Patrick.......
Jouko
A very appealing capture Patrick, the light and detail are awesome.
Rg Tony
It would seem that you have to work pretty hard to get a decent composition here, and I think I would struggle in this position.
Like the light on the side of those main foreground rocks, and those little flowers you have managed to get in the frame are a nice touch too. Plus , of course, the sky is superb.
Martin
Thanks for looking!
Yes Martin, it was difficult. I took this on top of a 12 foot tall pointy rock because the whole hillside is covered in bushes. and I wanted to get high enough to not let the foreground rock poke up too high.
Patrick
Beautiful work - I like the way the sky colour is echoed in the foreground rocks. Bruce
Great photoshop work and lovely to view!
I got a kick out of your comment re: the
Fairy Wand-- made me reconsider the title-- LOL!
Jennnnnnnnn
The light and landscape iscertainly different where you are Patrick but I feel pretty tuned in to what you have done here.
Dave
Love the natural colours Patrick,beautiful pastels in that sky.Love the flowers in the fg..your feminine side Mr Smith?..lol
Janet
Thanks for looking!
LOL Jennn, you will never see me name an image 'Fairy Wand!' Despite what Janet writes just above! But you have a little more leeway in that department.
It is different Dave. I'd like to get those dark clouds and dramatic light too. But ours seems to be softer and I want to keep it looking as I saw it. I guess I could do some PS stuff to make it more dramatic, but this is what I saw.
Errrr...um... Janet? Don't forget that only the manliest of men are comfortable enough to show that particular side!
Patrick
It do appeals to me this area, lots more to look at than just grass. Lovely landscape
Peter
Marvellous colours and light Patrick, superbly composed as always
love the sky and the fg colour you alway manage to get a top class shot. keep um coming
Steve
Wonderful sky and detail Patrick. I'm glad I'm not late on this one.
Nigel
I think this one needs to be seen as large as possible to appreciate the size and depth of this landscape.
A splendid image.
Simon
This is very nice Patrick. I have been in these mountains once before. It seems like everytime I found a good spot, there was a bush in the way, preventing me from setting up my tripod. That was great information you gave about the reason for taking 3 shots instead of one wide shot. I will have to use that technique in cases where the composition calls for it and I wouldn't want to crop and loose pixels. That last weather system didn't produce anything interesting here, but there's more heading toward southern California on Thursday and Friday. I'll keep my fingers crossed. By the way, I bought a wider lens. I got a Tokina 12-24. I know it won't be as good as my Canon 17-40L, but at least I will be able to get wider (that 1.6 cropping factor on the 10D was killing me). I also got some new grad ND filters. My Cokin filters had to many scratches. I got the large 4X6 Lee filters. I got a .9 soft edge and a .9 hard edge ($95 each "ouch".
terrific depth to this Patrick. Love the colours and f/g detail
Malcolm
Great view Patrick and and a stunning take
Brian........
Great composition Patrick, the shot is full of great detail, colour and the sky is superb.
Geoff
Thanks for your comments!
Dennis (chamberlain), that Manzanita is very thick and there are few opportunities to get decent shots. Once I found my spot I stayed put until the sun went down. It was too difficult to look for other spots. And I liked this spot anyway. I will probably get those bigger filters too. An dyes, I have not seen a cloud in three days. Just more boring light as some say. We don't get the dramatic skies very often.
LOL - Facts Janet, nothing but facts!
Patrick
Hey Patrick, lovely expansive landscape image! Also, would like to see more of your lovely and very popular Isla Mujures images.
Simon.
Gorgeous landscape.! Wonderful colors and a great dept in it.
Looks a little as taken from the Etna facing East to the sea on a very clear day.
Really a stunning picture again, Patrick.
Thanks a lot for commenting al the latest ones of mine.
Cheers Jan
An immense landscape. I particularly like all the foreground detail and those rich greens.
Allie
Hi Patrick,
An immaculately captured and composed image.Love it.
Take care.Ann
Like the expanse and great colors on this image. Must be viewed large to fully appreciate the great detail.
Antonio
. . Palaeontology, Geology, Geography, Botany, and oh yes! of course Photogrpaphy! . . . I just love these intros, [almost as much as the image] LOL . . .
Mike.W
Great shot Patrick---see you and KeithH have a little in common----Big rocks in the foreground.
Think you both got away with it---this time!
Thanks for looking! I've been really busy but I'll catch up soon.
Hey Simon, I have a few more somewhere. I may dig them up.
I see what you mean Jan. They are similar in a way.
Mike, the more 'ololgies the better!
LOL - Kim, actually Keith gives me his binned shots that he takes in little known places on the 'dry side' of the UK. (Few EPZ'ers have seen these places.) Then I just say that they are from California.
Then I take a branch and scratch my arms or pour water on myself to make it look real, just in case I run into anybody in person!
Patrick
Love the way the sky reflects the pinks in the rock.
Jon
Sound like a painful hike! But what an image, the light is fantastic and he stich up is superb. Love the pastel tones in the sky. Great work, Ben
Thanks for your comments!
Ben, it was a bit painful but it was the only way to get out to where I could see the view. And the sky was awesome for sure.
Patrick
Gorgeous capture, Patrick - well worth the packet of bandaids!
Susie :o)
Excellent work as ever - as has been said it must have difficult to make a composition out of this.
Martin
Magnificent colours and composition Patrick!
All the best in '07
Stan
Thanks for looking! I'll catch up with all of the the latest uploads this week.
I hope you're right Susie!
All the best to you too Stan.
Patrick
Wonderful composition and great colours,a beautiful image,great work.
Mo.
the sky is exquisite in colours, and beautifully caught.. find the info as fascinating as the composition !!!
Nikki
Just Beautiful - thank you for the identification of my ray the other day - sounds very posh.
Freda
This is absolutely stunning, definately among your top shots Pat, beautiful colours and mother nature was looking over you with the light, however long you waited for the right light it was worth it, i wish this was mine.
I love the crispness in this Patrick ... and a really smooth image, lovely work.
Joe
#100 here....
Wonderful lightng, Patrick......Luv the fg rocks and the colours within the clouds...It's Truly Mesmerizing!
Thank you for your kind comments.....Always a Smile...
Cheerios and Have a Great Day,
Suze
Thanks for looking! I can't do any browsing today but I'll catch up later this week.
It is Freda!
Terry, now you will live 1.5 hours from here so I'll tell you where to go.
Suzan, today won't be a great day, as I have too many things to do at work! But thanks!
Patrick
another stunning picture!
Incredible composition and skill involved with this one. I really enjoy the descriptions of your photos and how they help the image tell a story.
Chris
perfect exposure with gorgeous colour and detail
- love your descriptions too
A beautifully balanced exposure. Full of detail and colour. Nice one.
Ted
I love the light and the overall image here, Patrick. I've no issue with the use of the 50:50 sky/land split in it's own right, but I can see some flowers leading out of the frame and I can't help feeling that they should have featured more strongly in the composition.
All the best for 2007.
Pete
Nice light on a pleasant scene.
Yes I don't think (this included myself) folk realise how in hospitable the vegetation is in California - virually everywhere we've been - got to be pretty determined trying to make ones way on foot off road
Looking at keith's comment - I tend to concur about the specific area North from LA along the coast - Big Sur was grand enough but generally other areas not as magnificent as elsewhere in California, Utah, Arizona etc. etc. etc.
If he were to dismiss canyon lands and the desert ----------????????????
Dave
I really enjoy reading your descriptions Patrick! Whatever you go through to achieve your photo's, the end result is always up to a high standard - this one is no exception, it's a stunning view!
Sarah
Thanks for your comments!
Yes Chris, there always seems to be a story, especially since there is usually some risk involved in some way.
I thought about it Pete, but there is a lot of ragged looking bushes around and it would have looked messy.
You're right Dave. It is not quite as bad as Arizona and that area, but it gets really difficult to hike around through this stuff.
And yes, the area actually from just north of San Diego all the way to Santa Barbara is very limited in it's photographic potential. Lots of wide flat beaches with no rocks or decent cliffs. Then there are some patches of good areas until Big Sur where it definitely gfets better and better.
Thanks Sarah, but I wonder sometimes if it is worth it?
Patrick
Oh my...AWESOME colours and clarity in this, Patrick!
Andrew
Thanks for looking. This one is softer and does not stand out well in the gallery so I glad you found it!
Patrick
Golden! Excellent shot as is to be expected! Spot on! Click!!!
Greg
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