http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/ Fri, 18 May 2012 05:46:06 -0800 http://www.billheller.com/images/BillHeller_FineArt_and_Commercial_Photography.gif http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/ (c) Copyright 2005-2012 Bill Heller, BillHeller.com http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/May_13_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for May 13, 2012

Santa Barbara Mission Kitchen in 360 degree VR

The Santa Barbara Mission is a beautiful place. But you usually see it from the outside. This is a display of a kitchen as it was for the early inhabitants of the Mission.

From the plaque on the wall:

"This kitchen display is typical of the indoor cooking facilities of the early 1800s. Cooking was done both outdoors and indoors. Indoor cooking was usually done by women over hot, glowing charcoal.

FOOD SOURCES:

Large gardens, orchards and adjacent ranchos supplied the Indians and Mission community with vegetables, fruit livestock and grains such as wheat, barley, oats and corn. THE ORIGINAL ADOBE CAN BE SEEN ON THE LEFT SIDE WALL."

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]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Sun, 13 May 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/May_13_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/May_8_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for May 8, 2012

Gulf Fritillary [Agraulis vanillae]

A backlit beauty at one of my favorite local nurseries! This is a Gulf Fritillary at Rolling Hills Nusery in Buellton. We have some beautiful nurseries in Santa Barbara, but sometimes it's nice to get away for the day and see what's happening in the Santa Ynez Valley. Especially this time of year with our June Gloom (costal fog that covers the city for most of the day,) which comes early sometimes. The fog is usually very beautiful in itself, but after a couple of days it's nice to be able to go get a little sun in the valley. Then we can come home to the nice cool evening termeratures.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Tue, 08 May 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/May_8_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/May_4_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for May 4, 2012

Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, California

An amazing sunset at Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove, California. The Monterey Peninsula has no end of beautiful views. As the golden sunset light stretches across the beaches the show only gets better. The only real problem is choosing just one place to sit and enjoy the evening.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Fri, 04 May 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/May_4_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_30_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 30, 2012

Pismo Beach Boardwalk

There are some amazing spots along the California coast. Pismo Beach is one of the more well known, and it's not hard to see why it is so popular. The big wide sandy beach with the amazing views from the beautiful boardwalk are something special even for our coast. Just to the north along the top of that bluff, I have chased some beautiful hummingbirds and watched some amazing sunsets. It's definitely a spot to see if you have the chance.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_30_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_29_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 29, 2012

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse Clocktower in the Morning Sun

A beautiful view of an absolutely amazing example of local architecture, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_29_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_24_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 24, 2012

Stargazing at Butterfly Beach in Montecito

We are so fortunate to have such amazing beaches, and their beauty is not limited to the warm sunny days. After sunset they are an amazing place to watch the sky. They may not be dark enough to see the really wonderful skies you can see further away from the light of the cities, but the proximity combined with the athmosphere of the crashing waves makes them a perfect spot for stargazing. Originally this shot was going to be a virtual reality panorama, but after a little experimentation I thought this would be a better way to take in the whole sky.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_24_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_23_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 23, 2012

California Poppy [Eschscholtzia californica]

This beauty was found in one of my favorite local nurseries, Terra Sol. There are a lot of beautiful poppies around this time of year, but the advantage of taking my camera to Terra Sol is they have them up on shelves which makes it a lot easer to get nice angles like this. Of course I have been known to lay down on the ground with my camera when necissary to get these beauties, but it's nice to have a variety of subjects all in one place.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_23_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_22_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 22, 2012

Threadleaf Japanese maple [Acer palmatum var. dissectum]

This beautiful little plant is a Japanese Threadleaf Maple tree or [Acer palmatum var. dissectum]. We found it while wandering the aisles of a great nursery in Carmel Valley. These trees apparently turn an amazing golden color in the autumn. Perhaps someday soon we'll have space for this beauty. Right now our tiny back yard is bulging at the seams from plants so we have tried to control ourselves when we visit the nurseries. Of course they are supposed to make great bonsai trees... hmmm. (That has to be the last thing a plant wants to hear when someone is thinking about buying it)
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Sun, 22 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_22_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_8_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 8, 2012

Santa Barbara Mission Chapel in 360 degree VR

Happy Easter!!

Ok, I know the decorations are from Christmas, but the Santa Barbara Mission Chapel is still a nice spot to share for Easter.

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To get the full effect, see the image in the VR viewer at http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_8_2012/
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Sun, 08 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_8_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_6_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 6, 2012

Oak Tree and Beautiful Stone Wall in Santa Ynez Valley

One of the things I enjoy when driving out to Santa Ynez Valley is all of the beautiful Oak trees. This one is beautiful, but relativly tame compared to some of the wild shapes they take.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_6_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_5_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 5, 2012

Bell Tower at the Mission San Miguel

View of the bells at the Mission San Miguel. The red tiles in the foreground are on the top of the low wall that surrounds the mission. As with many of the California Missions, this mission has had a troubled life. But the people who care for it now are doing an excellent job restoring it to the thing of beauty it deserves to be. The Mission San Miguel is California Historical Landmark No. 326.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_5_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_2_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for April 2, 2012

Flame Skimmer Dragonfly [Libellula saturata]

Looking back I see it has been a while since I posted a nature shot. For that matter it has been a while since I really spent some time outside with my macro lens, which is something I'm going to have to work on. In the mean time I found this beauty who was waiting in an old shoot of images from a small duck pond in Goleta.

This little Dragon is called a Flame Skimmer. The detail on his (or her) wings is so beautiful. I have always loved chasing them with my camera. This shot was taken while hanging akwardly off of a bridge over a small duck pond, it seemed that was his favorite spot. And while he would land other places, the perch over the side of the bridge was where he was comforatble enough to let me get close. It took some patience, but I was able to get close enough over the period of about five minutes to get the shot I wanted.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/April_2_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_29_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 29, 2012

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse clocktower at sunrise

A beautiful view of an absolutely amazing example of local architecture, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

This is an older shot from a permit shoot of the Courthouse. There seems to be a lot of demand for Courthouse images lately, (not hard to see why,) so I have been trying to find some interesting unpublished images to add some variety.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_29_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_28_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 28, 2012

Santa Barbara Mission after dark by the Pepper trees

I'm always wandering around the Santa Barbara Mission looking for a new angle or a veiw that I have not noticed before. This was at the end of a long day of shooting, as the last glow of the sunset was slipping behind the mission. These pepper trees are a beautiful part of the look of the mission and they are prominent in many of my photos. The interesting details I love about this shot are the old millstone and the stone bench under the pepper tree.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_28_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_27_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 27, 2012

The Getty Center West Pavillion Fountain at Twilight

The Getty Center is as beautiful as the art it contains. This was about twenty minutes after sunset with a nice glow in the western sky. This spot by the fountain in front of the West Pavillion is one of my favorites but there are many spectacular views to choose from.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Tue, 27 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_27_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_26_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 26, 2012

Stone wall at the entrance to a Santa Ynez Valley ranch

...of Santa Ynez. I've driven by this beautiful wall a number of times in the past, but the timing was never right to get a nice shot. There is a rather large hill across the street, and the sun sets pretty early at this particular spot. But Saturday I was fortunate enough to be in the neighborhood right before the sun slipped behind the hill and I was able to catch some nice golden light.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_26_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_19_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 19, 2012

Grapes hanging from the vine in the Santa Ynez Valley

Grapes in the Santa Ynez valley. Ok it feels like summer, Spring is just starting, so here is a picture from last Fall. Just because I really like it and I realized I never published it. This is in a nice little vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley.There was a space through the vines that I was able to frame the beautiful valley in the background. The red flowers in the lower right are roses that are planted at the ends of the rows of grapes.
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_19_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_18_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 18, 2012

Old Australian Tea Tree at the corner of Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens in Santa Barbara, California

I really love Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, the variety of wildlife and plants right in the middle of the city is unparalleled. This beautiful tree is at the corner of Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, it's one of my favorite trees in Santa Barbara. I have no idea how old it is, but you can see on the map of the garden which trees existed before the garden and this is one of them. No surprise, normally when you see Tea Trees they are trimmed to look more like bushes. This guy must have seen some amazing things in his lifetime.

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]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_18_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_17_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 17, 2012

Santa Barbara County Courthouse 360° sunset view

The Goleta pier is a great place to watch the sunset. The sun sets right over UCSB this time of year and the veiw is spectacular! Especially on these days when we have a sunset that stretches to the other horizon.

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]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Sat, 17 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_17_2012/ http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_16_2012/
Bill Heller's Photo of the Day for March 16, 2012

Twin Cities Community Hospital Exterior Evening

This is an initial test shot from a recent project. Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton just finished a large building project and they wanted to show off their beautiful, state-of-the-art hospital. I really enjoyed this project. It was interesting talking to one of the hospital directors as he gave me the grand tour. The main part of the interior shoot took about four hours, and over that time his pride in his hospital and the level of care they provide was quite evident. It was the kind of pride you would expect from a people who care for their patients like they were family.

If you'd like to see the finished product have a look at the tour on their website, www.TwinCitiesHospital.com
]]> RSS@BillHeller.com (Bill Heller) Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.BillsPhotoOfTheDay.com/March_16_2012/