Storms a Comin'

Every year I create a calendar of my recent photos and give it to my family as a little holiday gift (it's too much effort for me to try to sell copies but if you'd like one, let me know and I can have one sent out!). This last year I realized I didn't go on a photo for 6 months between March and August! I've been trying to get out more frequently as sene by a few recent trips to Lassen, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. My weather forecasting service had predicted a number of beautiful Bay Area sunrises recently but I was fresh out of ideas on what to photograph that I ended up sleeping in. This weekend I had seen a number of news articles about how large the waves would be - in fact the annual Mavericks surfing event is scheduled to occur this week. Willie suggested we try to use the massive swells to catch a beautiful sunrise. We arrived in Santa Cruz and the sky to the east was already burning, an hour before the sun was scheduled to come up (we call this the "pre-burn"). After a short hike we arrived at this spot, looking back at the coast and directly into the burning clouds. The sky lit up 3 times as we spent over an hour taking pictures. After the pre-burn ended, this patch of clouds caught some light (the "first burn"). It faded, only for the sky to explode in even more color (the "second burn"). I loved how the big swells crashed against the rocks and created mini-waterfalls over. The craziest thing was hearing the "THUMP" as the waves crashed into the little coves. Creepy - and a reminder of the power of water! These clouds were the warning sign that we'd finally get another rain storm - and a few hours later the Bay was drenched in much needed rain! Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/7.1, 4.0 sec, ISO 400

The Fire is Burning Bright

"Now that the light is fading Silver and purple at twilight Scenes of the day remain with us Bright as the fire is burning bright Blue as the sky above the lake And blue the water flowing" -Maggie Rogers Just as I was trying to figure out what to title this photo, this song came on and it seemed like perfect inspiration as it captures this morning pretty perfectly! It's been a quiet year for me, photographically, as I haven't been out taking photos as much. The skies towards the end of the year started to explode and thanks to Escaype, I was able to get out on a number of occasions, this morning included. Willie and I arrived in Santa Cruz pretty early. The sky to the east was *burning* well before the sun even came up (we call this the "pre-burn"). It was purple for almost a full hour before sunrise. We walked out to the bluffs and spent the next hour shooting pre-burn, the first burn, and then a second burn. In between the light faded, the clouds turned grey, and then blew up in color again. This photo here was taken during the 3rd and final burn (the "2nd burn"). I loved how the water crashed around these cliffs, the rock out in the ocean, and the sky lit with color above. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/20, 0.6 sec, ISO 64