"We could ride the surf together
While our love would grow
In my woody I would take you everywhere I go
So I say from me to you
I will make your dreams come true
Do you love me do you surfer girl."
- Beach Boys
My Dad started a business restoring the wood on these cars when I was a child. I have such fond memories of riding around in these woodies, listening toThe Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. It's really not difficult to imagine why I am such a beach bum.
I have definitely been enjoying all the landscape shooting I've been doing lately, but I really miss photographing abandoned buildings.
Solana Beach Sunset, 12/29/12.
Went down to the beach with my Dad, while visiting for the holidays, to watch the sunset and wound up spending most of the shoot dodging sneaky waves. It was worth it.
Living quarters beside a former fish hatchery near Mono Lake.
Within the first 3 years of operation, 11,000 tons of ore, comprised of 15% lead, was mined here in Death Valley and hauled by tractor-drawn trucks for 45 miles, before being transported by rail. After dumping the ore, the trucks brought water back to the mine.
The mine remained in operation for another 46 years, but only yielded another 5,000 tons during that time.
Recently I've been experimenting with different processing techniques. While editing this image, I added the 'Spring' filter from the Landscape tab in +onOne Software's Perfect Effects 4, which added a slight glow on the dunes.
These patient room doors are inside the Babcock Building at the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum and were shot with a 24-105 zoom.
Before and during dawn inside buildings, I generally shoot with my 17mm tilt-shift or a 17-40, because I want wide angle shots of the space glowing blue from twilight. After the best light subsides (or once I've made a full pass through the building) I usually put on a 50mm or 24-105 to get in tighter with some detail shots.
This doesn't always work, because sometimes I'm limited to the amount of time I have to shoot somewhere, but when I have ample time, it's my favorite way to shoot.
Yerba Buena Island, 1/20/13
The trek to this beach was one of the most difficult hikes I've done, but the sunset was also one of the most beautiful ones I've seen.
In the past three years, I took my first trip to the East Coast (and returned six more times), took my first trip to the Southern US, Portland and made two trips to Death Valley all in the name of photography. I have traveled with friends I've known for years and sometimes jumped in the car to drive hundreds of miles to hang out with dozens of people I've never met before. I can honestly say, I have been incredibly lucky to find such awesome travel companions.
On the most recent trip to Death Valley, I travelled for the first time with Brian Matiash, Brian Bonham, Ricardo Lagos and Matt Kloskowski (whom I met when we arrived.) Over the last year, I have developed friendships with them online and in person, so I knew this trip would be a blast. The reason it worked so well had to do with us having a similar sense of humor and not taking anything too seriously. I find that to be a very important aspect of the relationships I create. If we don't laugh together, it just won't work.
Life is far too short to spend time not hanging out with the people who make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts.
Dental Clinic on the upper floor of the former U.S. Marine Hospital. The hospital campus was originally constructed in the late 1800's on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, but this building was replaced in the 1930's and remained in operation until 1965.
On this particular morning, we made the trek out to the dunes, despite the lack of clouds. For some reason, though I shot here during my last trip in 2010, I forgot how long the hike to the untouched dunes actually took. (Most are covered in footprints.) After walking for around 30 minutes, I decided to stop and take a shot here I blue hour was over. Shortly after I finished the final shot, the sun was up and lighting the dunes with an amber glow.
A plant breaks through the rubble in a patient room at the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, leaning towards the light seeping in from the collapsed ceiling.
This was the sunset from Yerba Buena Island last night. It was definitely the most amazing sunset I've photographed.
Tech:
60 seconds, f/11, ISO 200
Big Stopper + 3 stop soft grad
San Francisco shot from Treasure Island.
December 2012
On this particular night, a few days before the beacon on the Trans America Building turns off for the season, the bay was fairly calm and the city lights were reflecting beautifully in the water.
Technical:
To capture this shot, I used a 70-200mm lens at f/22 (to capture the starburst on the beacon) and opened the shutter for 60 seconds.
Tunnels, South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.
The Babcock Building was constructed in four stages between 1857 and 1885.
