sandspit shredding and kelly slater

Continuation of an epic day…

After heading back from Rincon and dropping my self-employed buddy Tim (who does not have as much free time as a self-unemployed person like myself) off at his office, I was off to checkout sandspit, at the end of the breakwater in the Santa Barbara harbor. The parking lot was a total gnarled mess but I luckily pulled up just as someone was leaving, else I may have just gone home. While the waves were much smaller than Rincon there was still plenty of action to be seen. (note to self: put on sunblock tomorrow)

surfer arial action sequence, Sandspit, Santa Barbara december 2007

sandspit santa barbara

surfboard santa barbara 2007

surfer at sandspit, santa barbara large winter swell december 2007

surfer at sandspit, Santa Barbara, large swell december 2007

surfers and large wave crashing, Sandspit, Santa Barbara, large winter swell december 2007

surfer at Sandspit, Santa Barbara, december 2007

surfer in barrell, Sandspit, Santa Barbara. December 2007

I returned again in the afternoon, and Spotted Kelly Slater among the lineup.

Kelly Slater at Sandspit, Santa Barbara. December 2007

Kelly Slater at Sandspit, Santa Barbara. December 2007

And so the light faded…

surfer, Sandspit breakwater, Santa Barbara december 2007

crowd looking over breakwater, Sandspit, Santa Barbara

crowd looking over breakwater, Sandspit, Santa Barbara, December 2007

surf’s up

The storm that has been battering the Pacific north-west the last few days has sent a massive swell down to us. I didn’t get to the beach until near sunset, but the normally quite placid Ledbetter beach was breaking overhead. Tomorrow morning it’s an early 5:00am wakeup to head to either Jalama or Rincon for sunrise.

A couple pics from this evening, but the light was pretty much gone by the time I arrived. Better stuff tomorrow, with luck.

surfer at ledbetter beach

surfer at ledbetter beach

sunset

Normally I don’t take much interest in shooting sunsets, but sometimes I can’t resist. I took this shot about 4 years ago, and quite by accident. The previous day we had gotten some cool clouds in Santa Barbara (and for those of you not from Santa Barbara, it’s not too often that we get any sort of ‘interesting’ weather), so this day I had driven up to La Cumbre peak, as I had some old film and felt like taking some pictures to see how things would come out. As time progressed, the light got nicer and nicer. As I wasn’t planning on shooting anything serious, I was lucky I had a roll of film that wasn’t expired by 5+ years, and thus able to take a few decent shots. Just digging through some archives and came across this shot, perhaps a bit bored as well…

sunset2.jpg

Harbor Panos

To use my usual saying: Took a stroll down to the Santa Barbara harbor to take a few pics…

Maybe a few more words: Been working on some new ways of shooting panos, or at least new to me. I’ve got a few more ideas in the works, which should come out pretty cool if I can find the right conditions/subject.

Click on pics to view larger.

Cody Duncan Stock Photo: Panoramic Photograph of Santa Barbara Harbor, California.  © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photo: Panoramic Photograph of Santa Barbara Harbor, California.  © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photo: Panoramic Photograph of Santa Barbara Harbor, California.  © Cody Duncan Photography

Midnight Adventure

Santa Barbara got a pretty major thunderstorm last night. There was more lightning last night than I’ve seen in the past 10 years in total. Unfortunately I was in a good editing groove on my computer and wasn’t finally drawn out the door until past 11. At first I thought to head to the Santa Barbara Mission, to get some lightning in the background, but by this time the storm had already passed over the mountains. I next preceded to head up 154 to the lookout on the other side of the pass. One problem, I only had my 12-24mm lens with me, and the storm was moving away. It was still beautiful to watch even if I knew I wouldn’t get any good pics.

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: rare lightning storm over Santa Barbara, California. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: rare lightning storm over Santa Barbara, California. © Cody Duncan photography

Santa Barbara Triathlon 2007

Saturday could not have been a better day for the Santa Barbara Triathlon. I had been expecting a continuation of the fog and gloom that has seemed to be ever present this summer but was surprised to see clear skies as I walked to my truck at 6:15am. My cousin was competing for her first time so I had decided to go down and take some pics. The strength and endurance of these athletes is simply amazing, inspiring…

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Cody Duncan Photography: 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon

Fiesta Santa Barbara 2007

Took a quick stroll down to the fiesta parade to check things out and take a few pics. The light had a weird color due to the Zaca fire and it was literally ‘raining ash.’

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade 2007. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade 2007. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade 2007. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade 2007. © Cody Duncan Photography

Weekend Ride

4 miles up, 2 miles down. Not sure which hurt more.

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Mountain biking in Santa Barbara, California. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Mountain biking in Santa Barbara, California. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Mountain biking in Santa Barbara, California. © Cody Duncan Photography

Zaca Fire

Heavy smoke has been drifting over town for the last few days, and in combination with the full moon, I decided to see if I could get a good view of the fire from up on West Camino Cielo.

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: gaviota coast north of Santa Barbara and smoke from Zaca Fire, 2007. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Smoke rising over Santa Ynez valley from Zaca fire, 2007 . © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Stock Photography: Smoke blocking full moon over Santa Barbara from Zaca fire, 2007 . © Cody Duncan photography

Caught in the act

Digging through some old stuff today…

Photographer chimping view screen of digital camera.  © Cody Duncan Photography