Apocalypse Santa Barbara

The fire took a major turn for the worse this afternoon. I could see houses burning as I was driving away from my brother’s house, which is now perilously close to the western line of the fire. The entire city is completely covered in smoke. Large sections of town have now been evacuated. Looks like a war zone.

This afternoon, before we decided it would be best to get out of there.

Photo of thick smoke from Jesusita fire, may 6 2009, santa barbara, california

Photo of thick smoke from Jesusita fire, may 6 2009, santa barbara, california

Good luck out there everyone…

Jesusita Fire: Wednesday

Things look a lot better this morning.  Lots of helicopters flying around and a big fire-retardant dropping plane is also on the scene.  A couple of the helicopter crews are using a field at one of the local schools to fill up with water via a hose and fire hydrant.

Photo of jesusita fire wednesday may 6, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA. Cody Duncan photography

Photo of jesusita fire wednesday may 6, 2009, Santa Barbara, CA. Cody Duncan photography

LA county fire helicopter filling with water at Santa Barbara Jr. High School during Jesusita fire, May 6 2009

LA county fire helicopter lifting off from Santa Barbara Jr. High School during Jesusita fire, May 6 2009

Jesusita Fire Update: 10:30pm

Been a busy afternoon.  My brother’s house and neighborhood was put on mandatory evacuation around 4:30 this afternoon, so we were kept busy getting everything loaded into trucks and vans to move to a safer place.  There is a small reservoir over the hill from his house where the fire fighting helicopters have been picking up water all afternoon, often circling low over his house.  Still at 10:30 at night, 5-6 helicopters are still flying around in the sky.  After it got dark I went to a view point a couple miles west and the wind was blasting and I could see huge flare ups in the fire every few minutes.  Luckily the winds aren’t as bad as they could be though. Going to be a long night for a lot of people.

first photo: view from the Santa Barbara Courthouse around 4:30 this afternoon.

Cloud of smoke from Jesusita fire on afteroon of May 5, 2009 as seen from Santa Barbara courthouse. Cody Duncan photography

Van packed for mandatory evacuation from Jesusita fire, Santa Barbara, CA. May 5, 2009

Motorcycles loaded on truck for mandatory evacuation from Jesusita fire, Santa Barbara, CA. May 5, 2009

jesusita-fire-santa-barbara4

Fire fighting helicopter flying in sky above santa barbara, CA

Jesusita fire at night, Santa Barbara, CA. May 5, 2009

Jesusita Fire Santa Barbara

Seems all to early in the year for this to be happening already!  A bit before 2pm fire was reported in the foothills above Santa Barbara in the Jeusita area, no roads but several hiking trails pass through the area.

Current temp is about 83˚ F (28˚ C) with winds about 20-25 mph (30-40 kmh).

2:15 pm

Jesusita fire santa barbara, May 5, 2009, 2:15pm viewed from Loma Alta dr. Cody Duncan Photography

3:40 pm

Jesusita fire santa barbara, May 5, 2009, 3:40pm viewed from Loma Alta dr. Cody Duncan Photography

Northern Elephant Seals at San Simeon

This past weekend I rented the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 lens and drove a couple hours up the coast to the San Simeon area along highway 1 to photograph the Northern Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), which are now on the beaches in good numbers while moulting.  The weather was quite dissapointing with rain on Friday and thick fog (typical for the area, but I’m often lucky and have clear skies) on Saturday and Sunday.  The fog lifted from time to time, but for the most part, it was so thick that even being no more than 5-10 meters from the seals a visible haze would be present between the animals and myself.  And not much chance of any landscape type shots of the seal covered beaches.  Though as long as I was pretty close, the fog provided a nice soft light, like a giant soft box in the sky (and I got pretty sunburnt as well).   I’ll also say that I’m glad that wildlife photography doesn’t interest me all that much, as I would hate to have to carry a lens like that on a regular basis.  Totally defeats my ideas of traveling “fast and light.”  Though the lens is beautifully sharp and a pleasure to work with, just not carry.

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography

As the seals are mostly quite still while sleeping I tried throwing on a 6 stop neutral density filter to get some blur in the water and see how things looked.  A few of the seals moved a bit, but for the most part they remained still for the 8 second exposure.  Just wish it hadn’t been so foggy.  The seals will be around for another month of so, so maybe I’ll go back again, with a better weather forecast.

Northern elephant seals - Mirounga angustirostris - on beach at Piedras Blancas north of San Simeon, California. Cody Duncan photography