Found Objects

My four day tour of the central coast of California ended only yesterday and yet I feel a world away from it as I re-nest back here in Los Angeles. It was almost otherworldly how things just seemed to fall into place. I’d follow some vague instinctual compass toward a destination, then events would simply unfold as if I’d planned it that way from the beginning.

Now granted, driving aimlessly around an area such as San Luis Obispo won’t have you ending up anywhere too short of stunning but there is always a risk when flying blind.

Camping worked out better than I thought as well, though the only campground that could get into was surrounded by a National Guard base. Despite that geographic anomaly, it was quite a pleasant site that worked out well for my needs (i.e., fire pit, level ground, no one right next to me). I’m reserving a space at Montana de Oro state beach for next year, it’s quite a lovely spot.

As for the photographic side of my journey, I’ve included a few shots from my Canon 40D that I quickly ran through Lightroom to adjust some levels and though I hate to do it, I did crop a couple of shots.

It was a very inspiring landscape to take in viscerally but I often found myself struggling to connect photographically. It was in my calmer moments, the times I made time to sit and study my surrounding, that I found the most ease capturing what I felt and finding it in the lens.

I can see now why so many photographers I’ve respected revisit certain subjects over and over again. It’s not that they are out of ideas, it’s that they’ve had new thoughts and experiences since last seeing something a first, second or third time. They want to revisit something they have history with so as to paint it with a brush of new perspective. That kind of study can sometimes take years. This could serve me as a great exercise in patience.

Most of the places I went, I could find myself revisiting time and time again. It was four days and three rolls of quiet reflection and reflected light readings. I’ve now started my thirty-fifth year on this planet. I have no idea of where it will take me but I intend to use as much of it as I can to study things a bit closer.

Open Road

Tomorrow I’m heading out of town for my birthday. It’ll just be me, some camping gear, maybe my bike and a couple of cameras. This will be something of a first for me. Usually I spend my birthday with friends and whatnot, but this year is all about clearing out the cobwebs (creative and otherwise) so, I’ll be heading north with no set plans or destination.

Seems like a really chancy idea now that I write it down. The fact is though, most of the places that I’ve planned to be recently haven’t been that much fun, how bad could the ones I haven’t planned be?

I might cheat a bit and use the old iPhone to get some direction from time to time. Camping might be the biggest crux of the trip. I’m hoping the Jones family decides they’d rather play ski ball at the pier than commune with nature this weekend. You never know.

That’s kind of the point, right?

Walking into light…

I learned to shoot film at about 13. It was my first meditative experience and I’ve come to find that it is still the easiest way for me to focus. I have since moved to the seductive realm of digital photography and have been impressed with the speed and quality of the results. However, I am an analog person at heart. So, about two weeks ago I decided that it was time to take my grandfathers Leica R4s out of the closet and peer though the only lens that wasn’t stolen the year my life went to pot. A normal lens of course. The 50mm f/2.

It’ll serve as the one way I can view the world in my clearest state. I’ll buy other lenses of course, but this one was his. It has history. I won’t lose it sight of it.

As for this blog? Writing has always been something I’ve used to clear my mind but photography has been the thing that has sharpened it. I’m starting this record for me. It seems an odd thing to say about something so public, but for now it makes sense to keep it open.