Tiramisu, Santa Barbara

I was tempted to crop out the buildings in post-production, but I left them in, a bit ragged, to capture those three classic Santa Barbara layers: terra cotta/stucco roofline, sandstone mountain range, big blue sky above Camino Cielo.

I took this sweet shot downtown on Carrillo St. in early January, 2024, an iconic view of my hometown.

The mottled, beige triangle peak you see on the left side of the photo, rising up to the summit of the Santa Ynez coastal range, is actually a piece of ancient sea floor, pushed 2,500 feet skyward from tectonic plate activity, the geologic “folding” of two Southern California plates. This is a tranquil scene, until you imagine the day, the weeks, or centuries when the ocean floor was lifted violently into the air, broke into pieces and created a mountain range.

Growing up in Santa Barbara, you are always aware, though subtly, of the looming mountain range just out of view on one side, and the ocean/islands on the other side.

They are just the right distance apart, sea and peaks, and what’s in the middle in front of you is magical.