This week marks more than four years of continuous daily blogging and by my count some 3,136 posts. When I began keeping this daily journal, I postulated that taking a photo every day would improve my photography. In point of fact, it has had the opposite effect. I am often hard pressed to come up with a photo each and every day and frequently settle for what I call a grab shot, one lacking much artistic or creative merit, but none the less freezing a moment in time.

Although my initial photographic goal was not realized through the blog, I feel like I have received a far greater benefit than I could have ever imagined. It generally takes me much longer to write the words that accompany each photo and somehow I have come to believe that a few well chosen words are often worth a thousand photos.

I look forward to keeping up my routine over the next four years and hope my children will one day look back upon this journal and enjoy sharing these memories with their own children.

Stanford is the size of a small city and I got a great shot of the entire campus. The image is far too detailed to post here so I settled on this more limited view of the sports complex.

Today is a travel day back to Boston. My flight was oversold, so I gave up my seat for a free ticket. My alternate flight took me to San Francisco, and on approach, we flew over my alma mater, Stanford University. This photo is of Stanford’s radio telescope, affectionately referred to as the dish.

Less than a mile from some of the worst destruction, the Santa Barbara Mission was spared and makes a nice reminder of the beauty that remains. Despite the terrible losses suffered, I saw and heard about many acts of compassion and generosity.

 
When a house burns to the ground the only thing which remains is usually the fire place and items made of brick or clay. Out of respect for the homeowners and their property all my photos of the fire aftermath were taken with a telephoto lens from a great distance away. I elected not to take pictues if family members were present. These would have been journalistically powerful but I am not a journalist and after this experience I am not sure I could be. I strive to make images which capture the spirit of the people in them. Taking a picture of someone who is suffering is something I am not now and may never be ready to do.

 
I am camping on the beach again so each morning I get up at about 3:30am and head into the office. I grab a shower and work for a couple of hours. After the sun comes up I head out for breakfast and a little photography. I was surprised to see so many burned up vehicles. A house made of wood I can understand but a machine made primarily of steel seems like a much less vulnerable target.

Helicopters, which looked more like hornets, are constantly picking up water and delivering it to the remaining hot spots.

Fire crews from all over the state and even neighboring states converged on Santa Barbara to help battle the blaze.

Everywhere you turn there are signs expressing deep appreciation for the firefighters, police and first responders whose heroic efforts saved many homes and many lives. Although something like 80 homes were lost, it was apparent to me that many hundreds more were saved. I often saw one house leveled to the ground with another standing 200 feet away without a hint of damage.

Today, I worked for 14 hours. That is nothing compared to this fire crew from Pasedena who has been on the scene for 5 days working around the clock. They informed me that the fire was well under control and that the weather was cooperating.

 
What you see here are the melted remains of the magnesium alloy wheels from this truck.

If

 
Volunteers have left a pair of gloves and a sifting screen for the family. Can you imagine having your entire home reduced to ash that will pass through a 1/4 inch wire mesh?

 
The family that lived here lost everything. Their house, in the background, has burned to the ground and their truck is nothing but a carcass. It was very sobering to view this scene and I can only begin to imagine the total sense of loss they must feel. Fortunately, despite the massive destruction, no one lost their life to the fire.

 
Another monthly trip to Santa Barbara today. Wake up at 4:30am, in the air by day break, land in LA at 10:30am (Pacific Time), drive to Santa Barbara, and then start an 8 hour work day. Still plenty of energy and almost an hour of sunlight to head up into the foothills to see first hand the aftermath of the Jesusita wildfire. It does not take long before I encounter the first signs. The fire is now largely contained due to favorable weather conditions but fire crews remain on site in the event hot spots reignite.