The Independent Says Goodbye to 2007:
The Year in Photographs

There’s no doubt about it: 2007 was one of the more photograph-friendly years in recent memory here in Santa Barbara.

The perilous Zaca Fire cast a symbolic shadow on the county all summer long, and a very real one, too, such as during those many times when the blaze’s plume towered over town (pictured above). It afforded some of the more dramatic scenes ever in our backcountry as the firefighters worked hard to save the forest and put many mountain dwellers on edge when it threatened to crest the ridgeline and explode into town.

Then there was the stabbing murder in broad daylight of a teenager by teens in the middle of town, perhaps the most shocking crime of the 21st century in Santa Barbara. A teenage lineup on State Street? A cop pulling a knife from a trashcan? Police tape blocking off the swanky Saks Fifth Avenue? Albeit a tragic afternoon, you couldn’t design a more camera-ready scene.