Zaca
Lake Image-
March 2002
Image A is a picture of the terrain surrounding Zaca Lake
which provides an indication of how difficult it is for
the firemen to battle these types of fires. This picture
was captured in March 2002 with an Olympus E-10 about the
time that I was getting interested in digital photography.
It is interesting to contemplate how much the art of photography
and its equipment have changed in five short years.
Figueroa
Mountain July 6, 2007
Images B and C are pictures of the Figueroa Mountain area
Friday evening the 6th when it looked like the fire might
break over the ridge. The shots were taken from the house
in Santa Ynez Oaks roughly 20 miles from Figueroa Mountain
peak. The camera was the Canon 5D with a 300 mm f/4 IS
lens. The images were captured handheld in aperture priority
using RAW format, converted in Photoshop CS3, sharpened
and saved as TIFF files. These images were converted from
TIFF to JPG and sized in Photoshop CS3.
Sedgwick
Preserve July 7, 2007
Image D was captured on Saturday the 7th from the Sedgwick
Preserve overlook looking back at the Figueroa Mountain
area. The only change from Images B and C is the use of
a 24-105 mm f/4 IS lens.
Helicopter
Base - Chamberlain Ranch July 7, 2007
Images E, F, G, and H were
also captured on Saturday the 7th from the helicopter
base on the Chamberlain Ranch. The helicopter is the
Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane which is the civilian version
of the military CH-54. These pictures show the skill
of the Skycrane pilots given the terrain, thermals and
sudden weight changes that they must manage.
Helicopter
Down!
Images I and J are “Helicopter
Down” pictures that were caught about five minutes after
one of the Skycrane helicopters crashed on take-off.
The downed helicopter can be seen at the left edge of
the picture near the shoulder of the road. I arrived
just after they closed off traffic on Figueroa Mountain
Road to allow access for emergency vehicles. These were
shot with the Canon 5D and the 70-200 mm f/4 IS lens.
