1 June 2018

I haven't done a good job posting this month. It's not that I didn't shoot I have been shooting a lot of film so the turn around on that makes it considerably slower and the more time that occurs between posting and being on my computer makes me less likely to post an image or so it seems. The following images are some of what I've shot this month. 

 

On May 23 I shot with the crew at Eastside Barbell. As usual they are a wonderful crowd to hang with. Some of my favorite weightlifters to be around. 

Murph is one of the most well known workouts in Crossfit. Named for LT Michael Patrick Murphy USN who was killed in action in 2005 the workout, as well as it's namesake, have expanded into the popular culture. In 2013 the film Lone Survivor brought the workout into the public sphere telling moviegoers everywhere of an infamous workout Murph used to do consisting of a one mile run, one hundred pull ups, two hundred push ups, and three hundred squats followed by a second mile run. Every Memorial Day crossfitters everywhere as well as celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson and John Krasinski undertake the challenge. 

This year instead of doing the workout as I might have been persuaded to as I have in years past I had the opportunity to shoot it at CFI West. 

I've also been enjoying shooting some Kodak Ektar. I like shooting with Portra as well but something about Ektar just feels right for this town.

18 April 2018

“At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California, level and flowery, like a lake of pure sunshine...And from the eastern boundary of this vast golden flower-bed rose the mighty Sierra, miles in height, and so gloriously colored and so radiant,…

“At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California, level and flowery, like a lake of pure sunshine...And from the eastern boundary of this vast golden flower-bed rose the mighty Sierra, miles in height, and so gloriously colored and so radiant, it seemed not clothed with light but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city...Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light. And after ten years of wandering and wondering in the heart of it, rejoicing in its glorious floods of light, the white beams of the morning streaming through the passes, the noonday radiance on the crystal rocks, the flush of the alpenglow, and the irised spray of countless waterfalls, it still seems above all others the Range of Light." John Muir, The Yosemite, 1912. 

I posted this quote earlier on instagram with a different picture but I wanted to also use it with this specific photograph. Kim bought me The Yosemite on our first day in the park when we went to the Ansel Adams Gallery and it was not a disappointment. I need to spend more time in this place. It is inspirational and leaves me awestruck at every turn.

This photograph really wasn't anything special. It was taken from Tunnel View—an incredibly popular spot for anyone with a camera—there are likely 50+ photos from this exact moment. The view from here is so oft photographed some consider it cliche. But long before it was cliche this view was accessible known as Artist's Point and was a source of inspiration for artists of all sorts, painters, photographers, poets, etc., in the days of the park when Muir still roamed the woods. It's a view that is so frequently photographed not because of it's accessibility but because of its power. Granite faces extending miles into the distance tower thousands of feet above the valley floor painted with trees which might easily be mistaken for grass at a moment's glance.

Our first day in the park looked a lot like this. Clouds of cotton above us cast beautiful shadows on the landscape in every direction. The same day I first read Muir describing the "Range of Light" was the same day I saw this view. When I read those words this was what came to mind and in that instant I understood completely. 

Keep places like this accessible. Protect them with everything. They are finite resources. 

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save our environment."-Ansel Adams

23 March 2018

The moment I got out of the car I saw 1970s VW Beetle cruising down the road. I bumbled my camera but I'm pretty sure I got it. Even though I was relatively confident I decided to stick around for a while and try and get some more with both my 6d an…

The moment I got out of the car I saw 1970s VW Beetle cruising down the road. I bumbled my camera but I'm pretty sure I got it. Even though I was relatively confident I decided to stick around for a while and try and get some more with both my 6d and my AE-1 just because whenever I shoot film there's always a bit of doubt. Unfortunately when I was unloading the film I discovered I had failed to load it properly so we'll never know. Fortunately I still have these.

If anyone owns a VW Beetle or other interesting car and wants to take a trip to the coast I'd love to shoot it a bit. 

22 March 2018

I had the day off so I grabbed my camera and hopped in my car. I didn't really have any plan but I ended up taking 36 out to Florence. I've never been that way before and it was really a pleasant drive. Lots of rural communities along the way that s…

I had the day off so I grabbed my camera and hopped in my car. I didn't really have any plan but I ended up taking 36 out to Florence. I've never been that way before and it was really a pleasant drive. Lots of rural communities along the way that seem to have gotten left behind as the rest of the world progressed forward. I'll definitely be making more trips that direction.