John & Anne Wiley

2013/02/02

Eye Rock

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 22:11

Our friend Spence told us this is called Eye Rock on Mission Ridge. Even more fascinating than Tooth Rock in some ways, and I guess this cave is the “eye” it’s named for.

2742 3D Eye Rock Cave

2742 3D Eye Rock Cave

In case you’re wondering where it is, this pic shows the peak I gather is called either Mission Ridge or White’s Peak. I’ve circled Eye Rock in green. I wonder how many people have been out to see it, given how rough the terrain looks.

2743 Eye Rock Location

2743 Eye Rock Location

I’m enjoying looking at all these pix from recent flights, especially the ones that reveal more detail in 3D. I am a hawk riding the thermals. Except I’m looking for beauty instead of mice. 🙂

2013/02/01

Dr. Phil

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 09:47

Was it Johnny Carson who said his dentist’s name was Phil McCavity? Well as you may know this distinctive peak above Santa Barbara reminds me of a dental work so I call it Tooth Rock. It even has several “cavities” on the face. OK, it’s true I intended to stop sharing 3D pix here but I really like how the shape and cavities stand out.

3884 3D Tooth Rock

3884 3D Tooth Rock

Again, to view it look at the line in the center and gradually cross your eyes until you see three photos side by side and then focus on the peak as you cross or uncross your eyes slightly to bring together the two images of the peak in the center of the three photos you see with your eyes crossed. Once you learn to do this it’s quick and easy, and it’s great fun to look at the pix.
Here’s a frontal view of the rock, that shows the caves better. Especially in 3D!

3887 3D Tooth Face

3887 3D Tooth Face

This is more the view from town, where it looks like a conical tooth shape. In the first pic at the top, you can see it’s actually a thick slab of rock. The second pic is fuzzy at the top-right because the angle on the hills behind changes so much between the two pics that make it 3D.

Having seen it close up like this, often when I look at it from town now I can imagine us up there with friends sipping wine and watching the sunset. Later quiet guitar and singing around a small campfire during the wet season. Maybe sleeping in the big cave at the base and watching the stars whirl by outside the opening. Surely many people have spent time there over the ages. Their enchantment there has captured my imagination, and resonates in my soul.

2013/01/31

Nostalgia

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:52

What is it that stirs in us when we see something from a bygone era? In the case of this staple feature in Solvang, maybe it’s the fading shadows of a simpler life?

2569 Solvang Windmill

2569 Solvang Windmill

Perhaps the way it evokes the culture and values of an entire region? Or in the case of this one in Buellton, maybe it’s the road movie that created a tourist boom that still persists in the valley.

2574 Sideways Motel

2574 Sideways Motel

More evocative for me is this old highway bridge nearby, now abandoned next to the 101 freeway. Did my family cross that span when I was a small California child?

2580 Shadow Crossing

2580 Shadow Crossing

In the shadows beneath, life fades into memory along with the last glimmer on water moving inexorably to take its molecule of stone from the gorge at Gaviota and blend back into the sea of time.

2013/01/30

Doubling

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 09:32

I’m going to double down on the 3D craze this one more time, because I really like these ones. In case you just tuned in and don’t know how to see these in 3D, take a look at the previous post below where I describe how to do it. Anyway, when I fixed this one it went from a vague 3D effect to accentuated points.

2539 3D Points

2539 3D Points

As with most of my pix here, you can click on the image to see a larger version. Especially nice with these 3D ones because you can see more detail and a stronger 3D effect. I’ve found it easier to see in 3D on smaller images, so if you start with it as-is and can do it then you might want to click and try again or even look at the ones on my Photo Page and work your way up to full size there. Scenes like this can be even more soothing in 3D.

2570 3D Pastoral

2570 3D Pastoral

Then there are boulders like this, their texture made so much richer by the depth of shape we see when flying slowly past them.

2620 3D Solid

2620 3D Solid

I hope you’ve been able to see these in 3D, and that they may help you experience the joy of flight a little more. But if not, I’ll probably return to flat images again in the next post and try to resist posting any more 3D pix unless one really grabs me and I have to share. 🙂

2013/01/28

Crossing

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 23:49

I was wrong. Not just when I said no more 3D pix. In fact, this new batch is because I was wrong about how to do them. I liked the ones I did, but just last night discovered I’d been doing them wrong. Because our eyes cross in order to create the 3D effect from two photos taken at different angles, the photos need to be “crossed” too. They really pop now, so if you’d like to compare here’s two versions of the barn.

2560 Crossed

2560 Crossed – this Pops!

2560 Barn-O-Rama

2560 Barn-O-Rama – scattered

In case you’ve forgotten (or never learned) how to see them in 3D: Look at the white line in the center, slowly cross your eyes until you see three images, then gradually cross or uncross your eyes until the two barns in the middle image converge. You’ll still see three images, but the center one will magically become 3D. The older version on the bottom had some 3D effect, but the trees were all blurry. Trees on the top one are much sharper and the whole thing has much more depth. I’m putting larger versions on my Photo Page, if like us you enjoy the effect and want to see more detail. Meanwhile here’s another small version that’s easier to see in 3D.

2665-3D Cliff Cave

2665-3D Cliff Cave

This cave is on a textured cliff high on the slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains facing the Channel Islands, and I like how the sunset colors make it surreal. The 3D depth of the cave and rock texture is accented by the soft touches of scrub growing out of crevices.

After you look at the center line and cross your eyes to get three images, it may help to tilt your head slightly to one side or the other so that the two caves in the middle image line up horizontally. I love how the human brain “locks” the image into 3D. Hope you can “see” the effect, and that if you don’t it’s at least fun to look at half of the pic. 🙂

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