S is for Sam, and for Santa Barbara ABCs!

The ABCs of Santa Barbara
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

Back when I was pregnant, I wanted to make an alphabet poster for [untitled], using letters from signs around town. Well, Sam turned 7 months old today, and I finally finished the poster! We hit up many local Santa Barbara institutions, particularly the nearby neighborhood joints (Derf's, Los Gallos, etc.) that we frequent. And this was definitely a joint effort: I took nearly all the pictures, and dealt with cropping and scaling, but Eli did the assembling of the poster in Photoshop. In my defense, there is no way my laptop could have handled it.

I can't wait to see the poster on the wall. Happy 7 months, Sam!

(Week 20 of Project 52.)

Careful!

Caution!
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I just really love the bright red sign against all the blue and gray. Also, the breakwall does get very slippery sometimes, yikes.

Week 19 (yes, I know it's late, but there's a good reason) of Project 52.

The solitary flower and/or photographer

Scrubbing bubbles
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I know I said "no flowers", but I'm using this picture because it actually has a story behind it! I was lagging behind the rest of the family while walking in Santa Monica, and wanted to get a picture of these great flowers. While I was doing so, and older gentleman came up to me and we had a chat about trees, California, photography, etc. I learned that this is a bottlebrush tree, which I'm sure saved me some time that would have otherwise been spent with a National Audubon Society Field Guide.

Most of my hobbies and interests are naturally solitary pursuits -- reading, photography, jogging -- and that often suits me. That doesn't mean it's lonely, though. I enjoyed the photowalk I did with local Flickrites, and people often approach me while I'm out and about with my camera. And I don't take pictures of other people, generally, so it's not even because of that. People just want to talk about cameras and trees and art, and I've started to enjoy that.

(Week 18 of Project 52. Uh. Did I say I was going to stop taking backlit pictures? Sorry about that.)

Busy Busy!

Busy
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

It's busy everywhere right now. Busy on the blog! Busy at home, now that Sam's eating solids and we're making baby food! Busy at work! Busy with photography, as I'm working on an alphabet project for Sam's room.

So I thought this busy photo was appropriate. I'm still going through the pictures from last weekend's photowalk, and experimenting with the post-processing, and some conversions to black and white. Hopefully some of those will see the light of day!

Walking around

Hanging around
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

Yesterday I met up with a few other local Flickr people and went on a photowalk at the harbor! I love the harbor so much. It got overcast, and then it got cold, so we didn't last very long. Long enough, though! I took tons of pictures, and uploaded quite a few after my first pass through them.

This one was my favorite. I love the way the pink bucket stands out against the masts and the background.

(Week 16 of Project 52. As I said, this was a stupid resolution. But I may as well keep going. I'm going to try to keep with the spirit of the resolution -- no holding back pictures with the intention of uploading them at a later date).

Whimsy and Whining

Takin' it to the streets!
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

Boy, this was a stupid resolution. Uh, this is from my archives, which are running a bit thin. Anyway, I think this is cute, and there are worse things in life than being whimsical.

(Week 15 of Project 52.)

Lining

Lined
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I know, more diagonal lines! But, much like Sam, the heating vent kept catching my eye. I love the weird patterns made by the rust, and . . . okay, maybe I should dust it. Whatever.

Week 14 of Project 52. I'm caught up! We'll see how long that lasts.

Barriers

Barriers
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I know I keep doing these backlit shots, but I can't stop -- it's a sickness! I promise, this will be the last one for a while, but I like the over-exposed nature of this one, plus the spiderweb at the top.

Week 13 of Project 52. (Yes, still catching up. Taken on or before 3/28/2010.)

Balanced. Maybe

More Tivoli Lights
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

Another picture from Tivoli! This might be the last Tivoli picture, but it's not like I could ride any of the rides there, so I spent the entire time taking pictures.

Sorry for all the archived pictures, but except for pictures of Sam (which, in addition to sunsets and flowers, don't count) I didn't manage to take any pictures I actually liked in the month of March.

(Project 52, week 12. Taken on or before 3/21/2010.)

People in the Picture

Stop. Lights.
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here, but I'm finally catching up on blogging and resolutions. Here's another picture from Tivoli -- I spent so long wandering around with my camera it's a shame how few pictures I posted back in June! Normally I'm quite shy about taking pictures with people in the frame -- street photography is definitely not my thing -- but for whatever reason I didn't mind that night.

I should get braver about street photography, because I think the people in the frame make this a lot more interesting than some of my other Tivoli pictures. The other pictures might be prettier, but I think this is more interesting.

(I know I'm behind on Project 52. I'm not going to cheat as I catch up -- this picture was taken before 3/14/2010, and so counts as week 11.)

Two is just the same as one

Linked
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I've been meaning to learn to make diptychs forever -- I even have a folder on my computer with pairs of images, intended for future diptychs. Well, now I've finally done one in GIMP. I hate GIMP, but I think the biggest problem is the lack of patience between keyboard and chair.

ANYWAYS. I love fencing, and layers of fencing, so I love the diptych of the two takes on the same field of view. I know that's about the most obvious diptych that one could possibly make, but hopefully I'll branch out this year as I get more comfortable with GIMP.

Looking back on the past

Reflection of another lifetime
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I took this picture last fall, shortly before Sam was born (but after his due date!). Why there was a giant mirror in the backyard, against the garage, I have no idea. But I like the sunlight in the corner, and how it takes a second glance at the picture to register that it's a reflection in a mirror.

Week 9!

New Picture; Old Subject

It's a Zoo Out There!
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

This isn't the first picture I've taken of this awesome carved elephant -- in fact, it was one of my first subjects when I got my camera. But I love it with the lion valentine in the background. Thanks to V for the elephant -- a gift from a while ago -- and to J for the valentine!

Week 8 of Project 52, and a picture I actually took today! Woo!

Stringing everyone along

Strings
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I know I'm late on this week's picture. In my defense, I have a million excuses, including (but not limited to) traveling, the holiday weekend, family in town, and going back to work.

Enough of that. Look! It's another picture with diagonal lines! And as I dig through the archives, I've noticed there are a few colors I'm always drawn to -- mostly oranges and browns. I'm not sure why I never uploaded this picture -- I really like the text on the interior of the piano.

(Also: I've flossed all but two days so far this year. Yay!)

Walking on sunshine

Backlit
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I'd been wondering how I was going to find time for photography, now that I'm going back to work. And the answer is -- weekend walks with the whole family! Of course. We're having a great winter -- enough rain that the mountains are green again, but lots of sunny days. And apparently I just can't stop looking into the sun. The glow in the late afternoons is perfect.

Pretty in Pink

Scarves
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I've started wearing scarves on breezy days to stay warm. In fact, I try to always have earrings and a scarf on when I leave the house -- since I don't wear makeup, it's a good way to feel less frumpy, and to make sure I'm taking care of myself. Anyway, I love the feel of the light scarves, and the fringe, so when a weekly theme group on Flickr chose "colorful", it was an excuse to finally get off my ass and take a picture of the scarves!

I'm not super-thrilled about this picture -- maybe I should have lowered the contrast? -- but it's fun and bright and I like the fringe.

(Maybe this will end up being the year that I get much better at post-processing?)

Tilted a New Way

Lined up
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

It's been raining here for the past week, so time to dig into the archives again. I love the Santa Barbara Harbor (Marina? Does it have an official name?), and yet for all the happy times I've wandered around there with my camera, I've only uploaded about half a dozen pictures. At the same time, three weeks into my Project 52, and I noticed that a lot of my pictures rely on diagonal lines. Too many of them, perhaps.

So here's a picture from the harbor that's nothing but horizontal and vertical lines! I really love the parallel lines here, but I'm not crazy about this picture. I can't quite put my finger on how it could have been better. Different focal length, maybe?

Pining for more time

Spiny Piny
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

What is this? A picture actually taken in this calendar year? You don't say!

Sam will be starting daycare in three weeks -- eeek! -- and while he won't be there full-time, he still has to get used to taking his food from the bottle, instead of directly from the tap. We're still at the point where I have to leave the house when Eli feeds him, and luckily it's been nice enough for me to wander around with my camera. I may not have a chance to download and edit the pictures right away -- which is why my resolution is to upload pictures, not just take them -- but I'm glad to have the opportunity to take them in the first place!

When walking this past weekend, I was absolutely taken by the sunlight through this pine tree. I dug out my trusty National Audobon Society Field Guide to Trees, Western Region, and . . . well, it's some sort of pine. Maybe a Knobcone Pine, I don't know. I just love the needles and the golden light, and I'm pleased to get good pictures at noon -- a notoriously difficult time of day for photography.

(I know most of you are already seeing my pictures via FB or Flickr, but if I don't blog about it, I might not keep up the resolution!)

Cleaning Up and Looking Back

Lighting the way
Originally uploaded by R Stanek

I've never met a hard drive I couldn't pack to the gills. Even so, in 2007, when I got my current laptop, 160 GB seemed like an enormous amount of space. That was before I got a DSLR with 12 MP, of course. Two thousand pictures later, some of them need to be cleared off the harddrive -- I was down to 6 GB of space left on my harddrive.

Going back through old pictures was good. It was reassuring to see that as time has gone on, there are a higher fraction of pictures from each day worth keeping. And I also found some pictures from my travels last summer that didn't make it online, due to my rush to get pictures online. So here's a picture from Tivoli Gardens, which is a small amusement park in Copenhagen. The rides are okay -- although being 5 months pregnant at the time, I couldn't ride any of them -- but it's absolutely lovely at night, when all the lights are turned on. And dear Eli was very patient as I spent several hours wandering the park with my camera.

In related news, I have flossed every day in 2010. (Full disclosure: daily flossing was a New Year's resolution of mine in both 2001 and 2006. Maybe the third time's the charm?)

Wine Tasting with Aunt Amanda!

Eli's sister Amanda visited for a few days, so what did we do, as we do with all our guests when I'm not pregnant? Wine tasting! It was a gorgeous day on the central coast for some wine tasting.

We started at Zaca Mesa, whose viognier we really love. The wines, and my brief comments on them:

• 2008 Estage Z Gris. I'm generally not a fan of rosé, but this was the driest I'd ever had. It wouldn't be bad with cheese and crackers on a summer afternoon.
  
• 2008 Estate Viognier. Love!
  
• 2006 Estate Roussanne. I didn't think I liked this -- it tasted kind of strong to me -- but it had a really nice finish.
  
• 2006 Estate Grenache. I was surprised by how much I liked this, since I don't tend to like the light, sweet reds.
  
• 2006 Estate Z-Cuvee. Unmemorable.
  
• 2005 Estate Syrah. Extremely disappointing. But when an employee overheard us complaining about it, she then poured the 2006 Estate Syrah, which was amazing -- best wine of the day. Crazy! It's only become available in the last few weeks, and that's just in their tasting room -- it won't be available elsewhere for a while yet. What an astounding difference between the two years.
  
• 2005 Estate Z Three. Eh. I'm not big on blends.
  

After lunch in Los Olivos, we headed to the Qupe tasting room, as we are big fans of their syrah. They were also pouring tastings of Verdad and Ethan wines. I didn't like any of the whites, but the three syrahs we tried were all very nice:

• Qupe Syrah - "Santa Barbara County". Only available in the tasting room. It was my least favorite of the three syrahs, but still good.
  
• Ethan Syrah "Rancho Santa Rosa Vineyard". This was fantastic. Only 100 cases of it were made, and the guy claimed that only 11 bottles are left.
  
• Qupe Syrah "Alisos Vineyard". Nearly as good as the Ethan syrah, but a much higher alcohol content. Whoa. I've never been able to hit more than two wineries or tasting rooms in a trip to wine country, so things always kind of blend together by the end of the day.
  

We had a lovely, lovely time, and it was no problem taking Sam. We're learning that when going out, we need to budget an extra 45 minutes every 2.5 hours for feeding Sam, etc. But on a lovely day like yesterday, there are far worse things I could be doing than sitting in the sunshine at a winery and nursing Sam. What a wonderful day.

(Picture: Eli, Sam, and Aunt Amanda, on the Zaca Mesa grounds.)