Santa Barbara Inflections I

schmoo

Marc Muench strikes again. The new MW weekend workshop format really worked in my favor this season with the 2.5 day whirlwind tour of Goleta, Santa Barbara, and the Santa Ynez Valley. While we had only a quarter of the time available to us then the last workshop I attended, this trip seemed infinitely more productive.

That conundrum boggles my mind, but maybe having the more condensed version of Marc the Pro lights the fire under your butte and gets you moving. Or maybe Santa Barbara is just where it's at!

I've only had a day to sort and start processing, so more to come later. But while the iron's hot, here goes.

Sunrise at the harbor:



Standing there under the glowing sky, surrounded by walls of blue mountains and shimmering stars, the sea air is intoxicating. I was shamelessly inspired by seastack's great photojournalism of the Pacific NW ferries and waterfront.





As the fishermen pulled forth their dripping wares to the docks, inpatient seafood snobs lined up, shivering in sweaters and hoodies to snag them before they were all gone. I was amazed at how short the supply lasted.

Sea urchins were, apparently, a specialty. They also had octopi and a small shark.







The sunrise was beautiful, but elusive. So we turn to other shapes in the light.







The kayaks for rent reminded me of the kayak club I belonged to back in Baltimore. I had joined specifically to explore an abandoned ship in the Inner Harbor, but I don't think I'll find such a vessel in thriving Santa Barbara!



Dgrinner and MW initiate, Pindy through the little doohickey LCD thing that everyone but me seemed to have :lol3



Things got a little busy this week so more to come later. :smo

DavidTO

schmoo wrote:

I already told you this privately, but I just wanna say out loud. I love this shot.

schmoo

DavidTO wrote:

I already told you this privately, but I just wanna say out loud. I love this shot.

Thanks, David. With your eye, that means a lot to me!

dlplumer

Wonderful series Stephanie, and I have to agree with David on that shot

Dan

SYMPL

Nice series of images.
I like the image mentioned above as well, and the image of the person at the sea wall for its moodiness.
Well done.

Tango

schmoo wrote:

Tee Why

Looks like a nice trip.

dkoyanagi

PHOTOempt

great series, schmoo. very original takes, as you seem to do. my favourites are those already mentioned - the feet and super clear reflection, and the person gazing out to sea. is that you, having sprinted for the self timer? you don't look a bit out of breath!! cheers, sarah

pathfinder

AaronNelson wrote:

Thats a great view!

Nacho

Schmoo:

I love the vernacular feel of these images, even if they are not what traditionalists would call vernacular. The light is great, and the sea urchins reminded me of my time growing up by the beach and stepping on those! In fact, I remember our technique for getting them out of our feet: melting surfboard wax ("sex wax" it was called), pouring it on the sole of the foot right over the sea urchin spines, and then pulling it off once it was affixed enough to those. ! Ouch, always more painful than stepping on them in the first place.

Great shots!

Best,

N

schmoo

Thanks so much, folks! I just finished going through my SB shots, finally. What a beautiful place and it's just hard to make it not look pretty. Couple that with Marc's ability to get good light and great weather anywhere, and you have a win-win situation.

PHOTOempt wrote:

great series, schmoo. very original takes, as you seem to do. my favourites are those already mentioned - the feet and super clear reflection, and the person gazing out to sea. is that you, having sprinted for the self timer? you don't look a bit out of breath!! cheers, sarah

Hi Sarah it's great to see that you'll be continuing on the Muench Workshops journey! I wish I could shoot with you on another one this year but I'm not so sure. Did you see this thread? And Emmanuel swore that tree was in no-man's land! That was a shock for me to see that tree again a year later

Thanks for checking in, as always