December 5, 2003 produced one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen — in Santa Barbara or any where. The whole sky was painted with color by the setting sun.

So I went up to the roof of the house we were renting at that time, and shot this series with the still camera in my Sony camcorder. The shots are only 1.5 megapixels, and the color is not good by Serious Camera standards. But the subject overcame the shortcomings of the camera.

So much has changed since then.  The house where we were staying has changed completely.  The tree that stars in these shots — a Canary Island Pine — is now gone.

But there are other new and beautiful features on the landscape. Including the house from which I shot so many of the other sunset shots in my many tabblos.

Still, I think this stands as the best sunset I've ever seen.

The two shots on the left were taken toward the south, and how how far the sunset spread away from straight west.

The next day, people around town kept saying "Did you see that amazing sunset last night?" I don't recall ever seeing a better one.

The shot on the left was taken in the opposite direction from the setting sun. That's how completely the sunset surrounded us.