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Just a brief notice that I am currently reviewing/organizing my photography and other arts from the past ~5 years or so and working to finally--finally--update my website thoroughly. You'll see some changes and things moving around over the next month or so. So as they say, please pardon my dust.
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Abloom within reach; When time tenders its trial, Wilt in autumn's dusk. © Kirstin Adams 2019.
The valley has been suffering some nasty air quality the past week or so as a result of the massive fires up north, the Carr Fire in Redding and the Mendocino Complex Fires (River and Ranch)--and perhaps the Ferguson fire in Yosemite as well--have been sending smoke our way making the days hazy and gray. A few nights ago when I went out for a walk, the smell of smoke was thick in the air and the moon was orange from the smoke still lingering in the sky.  Some shots I took on a camping trip to Point Reyes National Seashore a few years back. Completely forgot to post these.   
Sunflower season is here again, and the blooms are big and bright along Poleline Road. Though my car is proving too unreliable to risk heading to the volatile County Fire (which I had rather wanted to shoot), I contented myself today shooting the sunflowers in Davis against a smoky sunset backdrop.     Part of the nationwide day of action, Sacramento participated in the "Families Belong Together" protest on Saturday, June 30th to speak out against Trump's zero tolerance policy and the separation of children from their families and their subsequent inhumane detention in ICE detention centers.
 
If you are a news agency and would be interested in using any of these photos, please contact me.
It's been a while since I've posted anything. The holidays kept me busy, and so far this month I've been trying to get myself oriented for the new year--cleaning out my office so I can make better use of it, organizing my gear, stuff like that. But I wanted to keep in the habit of posting at least somewhat regularly, so I dug through my files and found this.  This is my sister. Throughout the course of my photographic career she has been my go-to model, dating all the way back to my first at-home jerry-rigged photo studio in eighth grade. Whenever I wanted to try out some new technique or simply had itchy shutter finger, she'd make herself available–sometimes eagerly, sometimes reluctantly at my request.
It was early fall of 2015 and this was one of those days in the middle where I'd asked and she'd sort of shrugged and said okay. There isn't necessarily anything particularly special about the photo itself; the composition is adequate, the lighting as well, focus is mediocre, and the background has only the barest complementary value. From a critical perspective it's mostly uninteresting. That is, except for her–and her jacket. Now, something you should know about my sister: she is fierce, she is willful, and she is kind. She always has been, and perhaps that is what I've loved so much about using her as a subject over the years. I don't actually have very many photos of her in this jacket, and this is likely one of the best I do have. It was her favorite. We picked it up on a summer shopping spree at the thrift store and it sort of became a constant around the house. If you saw her passing through the kitchen on her way to work or the store, it was the one she was always wearing. She wore it when she went to counter-protest the Nazi rally at the California state Capitol as well; and it was there that she let it go. Most know about that rally in June 2016–it made national and international headlines. It was violent and it was horrifying; an omen of what was to come. Seven were stabbed by Nazi and white nationalist demonstrators, suffering far more than the trauma of their physical wounds. And she was there, wearing that jacket as she watched a man get stabbed in the shoulder, eyes going wide as pain and shock and unreality struck him. Once the aggressor had moved on, he was swarmed by other counter-protesters, including my sister, who tried to assess the situation and help the man who was stumbling and tripping over himself, face white as blood pooled from his wound and soaked his clothes. My sister is a caregiver. In the two years leading up to this moment she'd been the full-time nanny to an eight year old girl in town. She is first-aid trained and certified, as any good caregiver should be, and so when the moment came she ripped off that jacket without a moment's hesitation and used it to apply pressure to the man's shoulder as he collapsed to the ground, white and trembling and still as wide-eyed as when he watched that switchblade embed itself in his body. It took some time before EMT's were able to reach him, and when they carted him off on a gurney to a waiting ambulance, her jacket went with him, nearly soaked through. I was told all of this later that evening over lemonade when she returned home. She, myself, and my partner sat in the backyard soaking up the early-summer heat as she explained, in response to our query, why she had a sunburn on her bared shoulders when she left for the counter-demonstration with a light jacket for the very purpose of preventing such a thing. When I came across this photo a few years later, though hardly my best work or my best photo of her, I knew it was one I needed to share, along with its story. I sometimes find myself in awe of her strength and moral conviction. Such action as I described above is no easy feat, and does not come without cost. Yet amidst the horrors that consume our daily reality, such strength is desperately needed to push back against the encroaching darkness. When I look at photos like this one, I am reminded of what that kind of strength can look like. These ones are big. The Atlas fire (east and south of Napa, currently moving towards the outskirts of Fairfield), the Nuns fire (between Sonoma and Santa Rosa, eating up Annadel State Park), and the Patrick fire (not pictured here), have all been grouped into the Southern LNU Complex fire as they're burning simultaneously and starting to merge together. I also shot what remains of the Coffey Park neighborhood in Northern Santa Rosa, destroyed by the Tubbs Fire. These were taken between about 11am and 6pm. The early afternoon seemed a bit more controlled, but things started jumping around by late afternoon. Its a very fluid situation--a lot is happening quickly, some of it anticipated, some of it not. Road closures were constantly shifting all day as a result of fickle winds and rapidly changing conditions. By the time I headed home after sunset things were heating up again. The Atlas fire seems to be the most active if my drive through Fairfield and Vacaville was any indication. We're due for more dry, windy conditions tomorrow, so we shall see what the day brings.  The view from Skyline Park in Napa. Smoke from the Atlas fire here was thick as mud, settling into the valleys between the hills.
 What remains of the Iconic Stornetta Dairy on Highway 12 isn't much. People pulled over frequently to stop, stare, and photograph.   Major activity in the hills north of Highway 12 in the early afternoon; here, as seen through vineyards.  Always a good thing to see: PG&E hard at work repairing power lines along highway 12, where many lines were downed by flames.  Pockets of heavy smoke reduced visibility to a half mile in places along the highway, like this vineyard along highway 12.
A lot of the prominent Highway 12 wineries are going to have some smoky grapes this year. To my knowledge, both of these have remained safe, despite backing up to the hills where there was prominent activity this afternoon.
The Nuns fire started burning on the other side of the ridge, prompting evacuations in both the Oakmont and Bennet Valley neighborhoods. Shots taken at the start of the evac order, as officers drove up into the valley to knock on doors.   This is the Coffey Park neighborhood in Northern Santa Rosa. Most have seen it as that aerial shot of a flattened neighborhood. This is it. The aerial photo is astounding in its own right, but even still it doesn't quite prepare you for how VAST this area is, when you're there on foot. As much as I tried I really don't think I did it justice. I was there around sunset, and with the extra yellow golden glow it really looked like a the fringes of a nuclear blast zone.
Here we have the rear windshield of a blown-out car, shattered from the heat, then melted together on the rear of the vehicle (L/T). Then we have the melted metal refuse of a blown-out car--not the same one--which pooled on the sidewalk in the heat of the fire (R/B).  People were just starting to come back through the neighborhood in the evening to dig through rubble and assess damage (as these two were).
Detail shots of the damage in Coffey Park. Its eerie how certain things that survive--like this flamingo statue--speak so strongly of the life that was once there, and yet still you're forced to face the reality of the level of destruction by virtue of what surrounds you. It's uncanny.  As Curfew nears, evacuees gather in the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, which has been transformed into an evacuation shelter by the Red Cross. Bit jarring to see it juxtaposed with fair banners. If you are a news agency and would be interested in using any of these photos, please contact me, or visit my editorial gallery.
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