Kurt M Lawson Photography »

After a long week, I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and add a few more photos from the Station Fire shoot last weekend. Fortunately the fire no longer threatens any homes. Thinking about the fire I have realized that the station fire has burned through areas I hiked just a few months back. I have several GPS tagged photographs from various parts of Josephine Peak, Strawberry Peak, and Colby Canyon. Perhaps when the area is made accessible again I can return and take “after” photographs of the burn area, matching location, lens and views of my earlier photographs. I expect the result will be incredibly dramatic. I have no idea if the area will be reopened for hiking anytime soon.

In the meantime though, here are a few more photos from the Station fire.

The smoke plume looked like a volcano erupting

The setting sun casts an eerily beautiful orange glow onto the plume

Backlit photographer sticking out of the grass

The extent of the fire is revealed at dusk as onlookers gaze and snap photos

A part of the fire flares up at dusk

Firefighters on the hillside above the JPL

Here is a 100% size crop showing the firetrucks

The next post will focus on some less destructive images.

Day two of fire chasing kept me far away from the actual flames. Instead I headed over to the new Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City to do some time lapse photography on the smoke movement. I set up in a shady spot and let the camera go for some 40 minutes. Here is the result:

Parking there is the rather steep $8. Having paid that I decided to wait it out till sunset which was about two hours away. I discreetly shot a few pictures of the people around the overlook as well as views away from the fire.

The glint of the Pacific Ocean silhouettes Santa Monica

A couple takes in the ominous sight

People rest and take in the sights from the overlook as the sun sets on a smoky LA Basin

The sun nears the horizon over a very orange and smoky Santa Monica

I set up for another timelapse, this time as the sun set:

As darkness fell the fire lines became visible over the city

Once it became dark I finished up a few shots and called it a day. I hope the fire gets contained soon. I can’t recall ever seeing such a massive fire here. Best of luck to the firefighters.

This weekend I headed out around town to take pictures of the “Station Fire” near La Cañada Flintridge. This is an area that I became familiar with earlier in the year with several hiking trips including the summit of Josephine Peak and Strawberry Peak. The landscape will be dramatically different when I next return there, as these peaks are within the fire area.

My photographic mission started Friday night as I headed to Pasadena to see what I could find. The results were surreal.

The Station Fire rages in the distance behind the Colorado Bridge

Rose Bowl and Fire

Station Fire and the Colorado Bridge

Fire behind the NASA JPL

Eerie patterns appear in the smoke