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.