SoCal Fires... again :-(

Nikolai

You know something is not right when the light from the window get this - otherwise very pretty - golden honey color:



At least you can get some non-trivial sun shots:



Conejo Valley between Malibu and Moorpark fires.


This is a handheld 14 shots pano, stitched in PS CS3. Larger 600px tall onscreen version is here

And here's a Smoky Moon shot for you:



A few more pics are here: http://nik.smugmug.com/gallery/3690086

Always look for the silver lining! :wink

aktse

I'm just so worried right now about SoCal. My parents are in LA, my sister is in SD and I have friends up and down the coast. One of the fires is currently hundreds of yards away from my sister's house and they don't know if it will still be standing in the morning. I have a ton of friends in SD and I can't get a hold of many them. :cry

In SD, they expect the fire to reach the Pacific Ocean... Crazy.

I think the silver lining is that the mandatory evacuations are working; the death rate is currently very low.

I wish for the best for SoCal.... they really need it.

BeachBill

Thanks for posting Nik. I think I got out of there just in time!

My employer closed the office I'm based out of in Irvine for the first time in the 13+ years I've been with the company due to smoke. I hear they also evacuated the Musack jail nearby too. I've been through some smokey times there, but I can't imagine how bad it is to cause these closures.

Looking at the weather it was 20 degrees hotter in Irvine than Las Vegas today!

aktse

Nik,

And I forgot to mention that your shots are amazing. The color of the sun and the moon are impressive and hard to image that those colors are produced by natural events. Well done.

snapapple

Watching the fire in SD
Hi Nikolai,

Great sunset shot! I saw a couple good ones myself. I was too nervous to even think of my camera. I'm still watching the flames from my deck. This is so scary. It seems like So. Cal. is all on fire. I do have a shot from this afternoon. I forgot to upload it to Smugmug although I did email it to my family. I'll upload it and then post it here. My camera is packed up and sitting by my front door with my other valuables waiting to be loaded in the car when we evacuate. I'm praying for all of us.

Awais Yaqub

Beautifull photos loved the colors

schmoo

As an East coaster, one thing I cannot wrap my head around
is how these things happen so regularly in a place as populated and modern as SoCal. Forgive me if this is just East Siiiiyyde ignorance.

Still, the important point of this right now is that the death rate stays low and everyone is safe.

Thanks for documenting and sharing, Nik!

JenGrace

Wow, amazing shots. That sun looks so alien.
I hope if anyone here is in SoCal or has friends and family in SoCal that they make it out of this okay.

Cuties02q

Very beautiful shots!!

Travis

I was watching the Today Show this morning and they were doing a segment fromoutside LA. Being on the east coast, I hadn't paid much attention to how it has gotten out there. Y'all are definitely in my thoughts now. I hope everyone is spared damage but at the very least and most important, be safe. Materials can be replaced andhouse rebuilt but the loss of a loved one is irreplaceable.

Marc Muench

Nothing new in the Golden State:cry

Early European explorer Cabrillo, stated that when his ship was anchored off shore of San Diago, "The land is all ablaze." This was on Sept 28th 1542 as ashes fell on the deck. The local vegitation here depends upon the heat from the fires to crack the seads which spawn new growth to the Chaparral
In addition to cleaning off the ash from the fires now burning I spent most of Sunday cleaning my house down from the soot that 80+mph winds kicked up and dropped over Santa Barbara on Sat. The land is truly ablaze!

RogersDA

Marc Muench wrote:

Nothing new in the Golden State:cry

Early European explorer Cabrillo, stated that when his ship was anchored off shore of San Diago, "The land is all ablaze." This was on Sept 28th 1542 as ashes fell on the deck. The local vegitation here depends upon the heat from the fires to crack the seads which spawn new growth to the Chaparral
In addition to cleaning off the ash from the fires now burning I spent most of Sunday cleaning my house down from the soot that 80+mph winds kicked up and dropped over Santa Barbara on Sat. The land is truly ablaze!

Your stuff/house is not at risk I hope, Marc.

wxwax

Link to a cool NASA image showing smoke over the Pacific.

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/193857main_wildfire_oct22_full.jpg

Nikolai

Thanks, guys!
Appreciate your kind wishes and comments!

Marc Muench

RogersDA wrote:

Your stuff/house is not at risk I hope, Marc.

David,

So far all the flames are a long ways away, just hope it stays so.

Nik,

I wish I was carrying my camera tonight as the orange sunball was setting over the freeway here in SB making a good shot with that incredible warm light.

BradfordBenn

Don't forget to stop and thank the fire fighters, especially those of us not in harm's way at the moment.

Nikolai

Marc Muench wrote:

Nik,
I wish I was carrying my camera tonight as the orange sunball was setting over the freeway here in SB making a good shot with that incredible warm light.

Marc,
judging by how things are going up north of us, we'll have this chance a few more days

Ann McRae

Stay safe everyone. Keeping you all in my thoughts. A couple of my customers and vendors are in San Diego, and have closed businesses to let their staff evacuate, etc.

Again, stay safe!!

ann

devbobo

Nikolai wrote:

Conejo Valley between Malibu and Moorpark fires.

Nik,

I love this pano, but what's with the 600px linked version, c'mon share the SmugMungous auto lightbox love

Nikolai

devbobo wrote:

Nik,

I love this pano, but what's with the 600px linked version, c'mon share the SmugMungous auto lightbox love

Thanks!
Hmm, I guess I need to learn how to do that

devbobo

Nikolai wrote:

Thanks!
Hmm, I guess I need to learn how to do that

Nik, looking at an image in the lightbox defaults to the auto mode now,

ie the extension -A-LB

so, just click the image...and copy the url

Nikolai

devbobo wrote:

Nik, looking at an image in the lightbox defaults to the auto mode now,

ie the extension -A-LB

so, just click the image...and copy the url

Thanks, David, I'll give it a try!

jdryan3

I knew there were several different fires again (Rice, Malibu, etc) but didn't realize Moorpark had one. My MIL said Sunday she could see the smoke but I thought she meant from Malibu across the SM Mountains - not across the 101!

Be safe.

ChatKat

Not Across the 101

jdryan3 wrote:

I knew there were several different fires again (Rice, Malibu, etc) but didn't realize Moorpark had one. My MIL said Sunday she could see the smoke but I thought she meant from Malibu across the SM Mountains - not across the 101!

Be safe.

The Fire in Malibu blew the smoke to Westlake/Thousand Oaks
There was a fire on Sunday, now out, in Santa Rosa Valley - between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. That's what Nik's image shows.
The fires were far enough away to be safe but we got all the soot, and gray air...this was in front of my house on Sunday

jziegler

I really like the pics. Such beauty in such an awful situation. The occasional wildfires in the NJ pine barrens are nothing to what you have out there. Stay safe everyone, and thank the firefighters. Let's hope the death counts stay low. Even on the other side of the country, thoughts are with people in CA dealing with these fires.

Regards,
James

BeachBill

schmoo wrote:

As an East coaster, one thing I cannot wrap my head around
is how these things happen so regularly in a place as populated and modern as SoCal. Forgive me if this is just East Siiiiyyde ignorance.

These fires are actually in the wilderness. Over the years the population has spread out from the cities up into the foothills, etc. New development is constantly being built on the edge of and in the middle of the wilderness. Another big factor is that southern California is basically a desert type environment with very little rainfall. Compare the lush green hillsides of the east coast with the brown dry brush of the west and add in 50+ MPH winds. One spark and you have an inferno.

Here is a good video about the fires for you east coasters.

BradfordBenn

That photo is amazing.

schmoo

BeachBill wrote:

These fires are actually in the wilderness. Over the years the population has spread out from the cities up into the foothills, etc. New development is constantly being built on the edge of and in the middle of the wilderness. Another big factor is that southern California is basically a desert type environment with very little rainfall. Compare the lush green hillsides of the east coast with the brown dry brush of the west and add in 50+ MPH winds. One spark and you have an inferno.

Here is a good video about the fires for you east coasters.

Gotcha. My knowledge of SoCal is limited to the LA area and the San Diego airport. I didn't know there was still a lot of wilderness around one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country.

jdryan3

I remember the last 2 big rounds of fires around Malibu and the canyons. All the brush burned away which led to erosion - aggravated by some serious rainfall later.

They put those enormous cable 'nets' over the rock to stop the landsides. And put those ocean freighter containers in the PCH to catch the rock as it fell so it wouldn't roll further into the highway. Not all of which was directly related to the fires, but wow. :wow