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Last Sunset of the Year 2011

It has been a great year for me and I hope everyone else has had a great year as well. Thank you all for checking in and seeing what I have been up to. Happy New Year!

Stranded

Living in California has its benefits, world-class climbing, incredible backpacking, great fishing (fresh and saltwater,) and your choice of landscapes to mention a few. But I want to talk about its surfing, not the epic waves of mavericks or even the great winter surf in San Diego. Nope I just want to talk about how I surf. Yep I surf well I paddle out every so often, maybe once or twice a year. In fact it’s kind of hard to even call me a surfer, none of my surfer friends would. Still I understand a few things about it, the desire to be out there floating looking back in on the world feeling completely detached from everything except the moment. I acquaint that feeling with being in the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada’s. Free to be alive. When it comes to surfing I fall a lot and I don’t mind it, it can be fun. But I hate when your leash comes off or breaks and the board makes it way back to land, it just kind of sucks. I knew just how the owner of this board must have felt as it waited for him to come retrieve it….. Now if I could get my backpack to find its way back to the car without me carrying it back down the trail I wouldn’t mind a broken leash now and then.

Water Drop

Last week I headed out to The Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College to photograph a sculpture by Benjamin Lavender. Benjamin created a piece for a special show there earlier this year and it found a permanent home hanging in the garden. For those that don’t know Benjamin and I are working on a book of his sculptures. The premise is to take these pieces out into the world and photograph them. But some of them have already found homes, like the one at the garden. This makes creating the image easier and harder at the same time. Easier because we don’t have to carry it anywhere and his work can be heavy, harder because I don’t get to choose the location to set the mood/feeling of the photograph. However I am lucky that Benjamin’s work doesn’t need to be in a special setting to be great.
If you want to see the Water Drop take a look at the garden’s website www.thegarden.org for directions and hours of operation.

Old Man on the Beach

I was up early yesterday morning standing on a foggy beach. Why a foggy beach, well to photograph another creation by sculptor Benjamin Lavender. To be honest I was planning on it being a clear morning and photographing under the pier but Mother Nature said “Nope.” So I did what I could and created these. I couldn't help but feel like I was looking at an old man standing motionlessly on the beach.
I can photograph Benjamin’s sculptures against white or black backdrops and they would look great. In fact I have done that many times. But as a photographer that can get boring. So I approached Benjamin with an idea. The idea was to allow me to take his sculptures out to different places and photograph them. He said yes and we decided to collaborate on the creation of a book feature my photographs of his sculptures. We have a few done now and many more to come. So keep your eyes peeled for the next ones.

I swear it was this big!

When an artist releases a creation they are giving the world, or maybe just the few that see it, the license to interpret the work. The viewers can now give their own voice to it. I know this is not news and we do it all the time, we even pay people to do it for us. I wonder how long ago it was that the first person did this. I find myself doing to my own work (I know its my work I should be giving it meaning) especially with images of animals. Take this image above or the Egrets I took here in San Diego, how many different comments can you come up with about this scene? For me the obvious is “I swear the fish was this big” or “Walk this way.” I even like the idea of the two in the back saying “Oh no it’s a dance off!” Humor is all around us and I hope you found at least one thing to laugh at today.

The shadows of Giants

Recently I spent a day near the Giant Redwoods along the coast of Northern California. Early morning fog is the norm for the coast and can make it a bit tough to create a great photograph. But the dense canopy can transport your imagination into a Grimm's fairy tale. The light at the end of trail just might save you from the lurking beast.

Sculptures in the Woods

I just returned from a nice trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. I wanted to check in on the fall colors and get one last warm trip in before the cold weather settles in. As usual it was beautiful and my secluded spot was empty. But I brought something different with me this time. Good friend and incredible sculptor Benjamin Lavender lent me two of his pieces to photograph. It wasn’t the first time I’ve taken his work out to photograph but it was the first time I brought his work to the Sierras.

Lone Pine California

I took a little drive up to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine California today to play around with my new mountain bike. This was break in the bike trip but I had to bring my camera gear just in case, after all its the Sierras. The bike was great the rider (thats me) was well how would I say it nicely without hurting my feelings? "You didn't fall off!" While I sat taking a break from riding I watched the clouds come up over Mount Whitney disappear reform and move on. Nature usually puts on the best magic shows. The entire sky was perfect!

Success Without Completion

It had been awhile since I headed out into the backcountry for more then just a long day. Since my achilles tendon surgery I have kept it to car camping. But this last week I finally strapped that heavy pack on my back and ventured out with fellow photographer Brett Holman in search of Mount Sill. I’ll spare you the long details and cut to the chase. I made it up over Bishop Pass and decided the best thing for me was to make camp just below in Dusy Basin. Although we didn’t make it to Mount Sill it was still worth the pain of the hike. With the entire basin to ourselves we accomplished just what we wanted, to get away. I hope you enjoy the photos. Oh and Mount Sill you aren’t off the hook yet I’ll be back soon enough!

A perfect spot!

I was out on location again with Center of the Universe productions (Michael Delano) and KBB to shoot a Car Review on the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG. What a beautiful car!

Its been awhile

Seems like a very long time since I posted and it has been. I have been busy. But I have a moment and an image from one of my favorite places Lundy Canyon in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Please enjoy and I'll do better at keeping everyone up to date. Be well.

Camping Near Zion

I travel alone quite a bit so when I have a fellow travel with me I enjoy the company. On this trip Juliet Hawk (my girl friend) came along and brought her wonderful voice and guitar. The night was perfect with a campfire blazing, good food, not a soul for miles and the little flies even disappeared with the sunset. After dinner I lit the campfire and stared up at the battle between the stars and the moon. As they competed to outshine each other Juliet sat down with her guitar and the night sky had another opponent. The night sky quickly faded to an afterthought and victory was claimed. Juliet paused for a moment grinned and shook her head as I snapped a photo to capture the moment. Company can be good but good company is great.

Mood

The mood of an image for me is directly related to my own personal mood. While I’m creating photographs I try to allow myself the freedom to create based on my mood much like a painter might do. When I’m shooting for a client I don’t always have that luxury. If they want bright and cheerful and I’m feeling dark and gloomy, I have to find a compromise within and shoot what they. However when I’m shooting for myself mood can also have a direct effect on editing my images and this is why I never throw slides, negatives or digital files away (unless they are just way off technically.) Again my mood plays a crucial roll in deciding which images I like and don’t like. Now just the other day I was doing a little organizing and I came across some images that didn’t make the cut the first time I viewed them. As I looked them over I thought ‘how did I miss these images.’ I knew I had viewed them multiple times and yet missed them up until now. I now realize the first time I was looking for photographs that calmed the power of the ocean. This time around I was feeling energetic so the images that stood out were the ones I found to mirror my current mood and that’s what these images were. I’m glad I forced myself to sit inside on a perfect San Diego day to edit!

Familiar Shapes

Inevitably you will find familiar shapes if you look long enough at the natural world. I did with these macro images of lichen. I couldn’t help but see the Angel that used to sit atop the family Christmas tree when I was a kid; or this dragon that reminded me of the cover of a Bruce Lee movie.

Macro at 1 PM

Normally 1:00 pm is the wrong time to break out the camera and start creating. But if the sky is filled with those fluffy white or grey clouds I say grab the tripod and find something small to photograph like lichen. If you are lucky and the clouds have been drizzling bring something to cover the camera gear but enjoy the saturated colors of a wet rainy day. Check back Friday for more Lichen fun

Sand Stone mornings

I enjoy finding turbulent places in mother nature and creating images that are serene. The ocean is a perfect spot to do just that. Long exposures can calm the explosives power of waves that bombard the shore line. Try cutting out the vastness of the ocean by zooming in and not showing the skyline. Watch for they rhythm of the waves as you compose your images, the waves won't hit exactly the same every time but you can learn to read them enough to time your shutter release.

Random splashes

Recently I found myself sitting on the California coast in San Diego. As the sun began to rise behind my shoulders I watched sets of waves crash energetically over rocks and create random works of art hung against the blue sky wall of morning. I couldn't resist the need to capture the skilled hand of mother nature at work. I hope you enjoy the random beauty of crashing waves. If you do or you don't either way get out there and experience it first hand.

Sunset Cliffs

If you spend long enough exploring a coastal city you can find some places that the masses stay away from. At Sunset Cliffs you can always find people walking, running and sitting on the top. But not everyone knows about the lower walk way that skirts the cliffs below the houses. Look north while down there and you can see the Ocean Beach Pier and all the way up to Mission and Pacific Beaches. But you better be careful during high tide because you will get wet and during storms you do face the potential to be swept away. Do yourself a favor don't just visit it during sunset get up early and check it out as the sun peaks over Point Loma and hits the water.

Cold and wet

It was cold the water was cold and wet and the rocks covered with a bit of ice. Note to self: hug a sheep next time you see one and thank them for their wool. And my foot slid into the drink, thank you for wool!!!!