Cody Duncan Photography: Travel, Landscape, Climbing and Life

Lake Crescent, Washington.

I had been up long before sunrise, photographing out on the coast.  As the sky lightened into another typical gray morning I noticed a faint bit of coloring which I thought a bit odd.  I didn’t make much note of it the time but as soon as I came across this sight, it popped back into my mind as I recognized that it had been smoke.  Only one thing turns the sun that color in the middle of the day.  Not sure where the fire was, but there were numerous fires in the area at the time.

Rialto Beach, Olympic national park, Washington.

Netarts Bay and Cape Lookout state park, Oregon

Heavy, drizzly clouds around 6am on the second morning of the trip.  Was amazingly quiet, only a few birds screeching in the distance.

Long Beach, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Probably the only interesting clouds of the whole trip.  Last day on Vancouver Islands while heading back to catch a ferry to the mainland.  Just happed to stop by the beach to check things out and it looked pretty cool.  Brutal contrast though, with the sun in and out of the clouds.  And windy.

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Photo’s from out standing on some rocks at Mackenzie beach, a little south of Tofino, on Vancouver island, British Columbia.  You know you’re at a cool place when the signs on the beach aren’t warning  about pollution (southern California) or Waves (northern California), but of bears, mountain lions, and wolves.   My 6 and 10 stop neutral density filters were some of my best friends up in the north.

Parliament Building, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Second Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington.

Typical gray sky of the the Pacific Northwest.

For the last 10 days I was away on a road trip up to Vancouver Island, Canada.  It doesn’t look so far on a map, but it took many long days of driving to get there and home again, plus a couple detours.  Most mornings began before 5am and didn’t end until late in the night.  Made it as far north as Tofino, Vancouver island before heading back.  Weather was hit and miss, zero rain though.  I seem to have been cursed by ‘hazy blue sky’ weather lately.  While it’s nice weather to travel and ‘do stuff’ in, it is probably about the worst I can think of photographically; I even prefer fog.  A couple good sunsets presented themselves anyhow and a I spent an amazingly warm and sunny day cruising around the streets of Victoria, quite a wonderful town – which means a lot from a person who generally dislikes cities.

Most of the trip was along the coast, covering the entire coasts of Oregon and Washington, but only the northern part of California.

Sunset Cove, Oregon.

Today (Friday) at noon was the annual Fiesta parade here in Santa Barbara.  It is mostly an equestrian parade riders from different organizations from around the area taking part, many dressed in traditional Spanish or Mexican costumes.  Only a couple photos for now.  I’ve made a Fiesta photo gallery: HERE, which I’ll add photos to during the next days.

La Fiesta Pequeña ( the little Fiesta) On Wednesday night marks the beginning of Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days, otherwise known simply as ‘Fiesta.’  Fiesta occurs every August here in Santa Barbara and is the biggest festival of the year.  Traditional music and dancing combined with open air markets and parades attract thousands of people from the world over.  I’ll be out and about taking photos during the next days…

Images from tonight of dancers on the steps of the Santa Barbara mission at La Fiesta Pequeña: