Image Prep

JWise Photo of the Day

Photo of monitor and Photoshop CS3 with images from John Wise being prepared for inclusion in a book being printed by MyPublisher

All day and all night, I work away on 433 images I selected from thousands taken from the years 2000 to 2004 of road trips and vacations Caroline and I had taken during that time. I had originally intended to take photos from 2000 to the present from 58 journeys that had been whittled down from over 150 trips. But the book we are printing these in only allows for a maximum of 100 pages and I was on page 96 by the end of 2004. It took more than a week to choose which images were going to be printed and three days to prepare them for publishing.

Breakfast

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Mixed fresh fruit bowl with peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries

Fresh organic peaches, nectarines, blueberries, along with cantaloupe, pineapple, and strawberries from our trip to California is what is being served all week for breakfast. It could almost be considered a mistake to buy fresh local organic fruit from a farmers market as we become all too aware that what we buy in the local Phoenix market cannot compare. Many a time the fruit we buy from one of the major grocery chains is literally without flavor, and while Whole Foods or Wild Oats offers better quality, local fresh in-season fruit cannot be beaten.

Pelican

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

A pelican touches down but doesn't dive just offshore at El Capitan State Beach north of Santa Barbara, California

I had to post one more photo I liked from the weekend due to the optical illusion in the image. It appears the ocean is simply dropping off to a lower level while the pelican, who just aborted a dive and only touched the water, is returning to flight. Actually, the dark area of water is a cresting wave just behind the breaking wave that is about to roll over into white, foamy surf.

Farmers Market

JWise Food, Photo of the Day, Travels

Goleta, California farmers market

Every visit to Santa Barbara now includes a stop at the Farmers Market, and with summer upon us, the pickings couldn’t have been better. The smell of the fresh garlic in this photo is what lured me to this veggie stand. A couple of stands down the line, fresh peaches were a big pull on my senses, too. Stone fruit was in abundance this weekend, as were strawberries. One local farmer had brought in fresh, super sweet organic blueberries; I left with nearly a pound of them. I also picked up almost five pounds of the fingerling potatoes above and three heads of that aromatic garlic, along with four or five bags of other fresh goodies.

Dolphins In The Surf

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Dolphins in the surf in Santa Barbara, California

No frolicking, no jumping out of the water doing backflips, not much action at all, just a casual swim up and then back down the beach. I’m not talking about Caroline and me, but the dolphins in the photograph above. A small pod of bottlenose dolphins was out meandering along the coast at El Capitan State Beach as casually as could be and just beyond the rolling surf. It was a moment I wished I were one of the surfers sitting between us and them so I might have an even better view, except for that first moment spotting them, thinking that dorsal fin belonged to a shark that was about to eat me.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Santa Barbara, California

The first part of our day was spent with my great aunt and uncle at home in Goleta, but sometimes it’s nice to get out for some John and Caroline time.

Santa Barbara, California

What a luxury it is to be so close to the sea, what a shame it is that so rarely are others out here with us who live right nearby.

Plomosa Mountains

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Plomosa Mountains near Quartzite, Arizona

Hot in Phoenix, Arizona, or cool in Santa Barbara, California? Desert, sand, cactus, and brown mountains or ocean, cool breeze, and flowers? We left behind the Plomosa Mountains near Quartzsite shortly before crossing over the Colorado River en route to the coast, where it was a beautiful 71 degrees (22c) versus the raging sun blistering the citizens of Phoenix with 108 degrees (42c) temperatures. Disclaimer: I did not shoot this image on our way out to California but instead took it on our way back; I wanted an image showing the area we’d passed through.