Blog #2: Fiesta in Santa Barbara

Every year in Santa Barbara, there is a week’s worth of festivities in the summer time called Old Spanish Days, also known simply as Fiesta. It’s a time of celebration and appreciation for the heritage and history of the town, and it always begins with Fiesta Pequeña in front of the Santa Barbara Mission. This photo, taken during one of the performances at Fiesta Pequeña, features dancers that are lit from the front by neutral white light that serves to provide visibility of the performers faces to the audience. While the light itself is very bright, it seems even brighter when reflected off of the vibrantly colored dresses the women are wearing, particularly the white dress. Since it’s much more reflective on the white fabric, the contrasting colors seem even more vibrant next to the white. Similarly, the lights projected on the exterior walls of the Mission next to and behind the dancers also seem to enhance the vibrancy of the costume colors. With the yellow, blue, pink, purple and green vertical strips of light on the wall next to the stage, the dresses seem twice as vibrant and it really enhances the hues of the costumes. Having been to fiesta many times, I can also attest that the use of colorful lighting during events such as Fiesta Pequeña really does set the tone for the rest of the week and invokes a sense of celebratory excitement for the coming events.