Nature

Santa Cruz Is Still My Happy Place

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It’s no secret that I got my start with photography in and around the Santa Cruz area in California. I think it is fair to say that sometimes a place can have just as much influence on a person’s artistic expression as anything else. Had I been born in New York or Paris or the wilderness of Australia my photography would be an entirely different thing today. The salty sea air and long stretches of highway hugging the Pacific Ocean were back in my youth an early source of inspiration and they very much still are today. Not much has changed there. It is still a place filled with the sound of sea birds and populated by people looking to ride a wave, write poetry in the sand, or just experience some silence while looking at the great expanding sea.

Photographed with a Sony A7iii.

At the beginning of this past summer I took a trip back to my roots, exploring the coastline up and down California Highway One (California State Highway 1 technically). It felt really good going back there and making images with the eyes I have today, as opposed to the eyes of my much younger self. I definitely see the world much differently now. A little less whimsical, and yet also little more optimistic if that makes any sense at all. I was also very fortunate that one of my favorite collaborators, Vivian Cove, loves the California coast as much as I do. Spending a day hiking among the rocks and cliffs, marching on dry sand, and dodging potential onlookers is a lot more exhausting than one might think.

Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford Delta 120 film.

I won’t deny I was feeling slightly overwhelmed when these images were made. There is just so much to see and visit there and only so much film I can carry with me. I brought my digital camera with me as well as a backup for when my film stock ran dry but I wanted to capture the bulk of the work I did that day on film. After all, digital cameras didn’t really exist in any sort of quality form back when I was learning the ropes of photography in the California Bay Area studying at UC Santa Cruz and Foothill College. I don’t even think the first DSLR had been produced yet in any sort of form that was affordable to the average person.

Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford Delta 120 film.

Every so often I contemplate moving back to the Santa Cruz area. It’s a place that has never really left me and continues to influence who I am as a person today. More than likely that will never happen and perhaps that is for the best. After all, it is far healthier to look to the future rather than linger forever in the past. Still, it is fun to visit sometimes and even more fun when I have the opportunity to make photographs while doing so.

Journey To Northern California

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I recently found myself on a trip to North California to visit family and like every time I journey outside the comforts of Portland I brought a camera with me. It was fitting I brought my Minolta SRT-101 with me on this particular trip. The Minolta SRT-101 was the first “professional” camera I ever used as it was gifted to me by my parents on my 16th birthday. Just a few short weeks ago I turned 46, which means the Minolta has been going strong in my life for exactly three decades. That is quite remarkable when you think about it. I can’t recall of many things that stay consistent in one’s life for that long.

Photographed with a Minolta SRT-101 and Ilford HP5 film.

During that time I’ve only sent it in for repair once, a good old fashion CLA, and quite frankly it didn’t even need it. I only did so because a local shop was holding a discount and I figured why not?

Photographed with a Minolta SRT-101 and Ilford HP5 35mm film.

I traveled to an area just outside of Nevada City California. It’s an area of the Golden State that still feels like a bit of a boom town, attracting people who want warm weather and who want to forge their own path with maximum autonomy. It’s a different vibe than I’m used to in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s good to be in a new environment every so often. I can appreciate the fresh air to be found there, the horses that trot around fenced pastures, and the rivers with shallow shores that were once lined with panhandlers searching for gold.

Photographed with a Minolta SRT-101 and Ilford HP5 35mm film.

I only went through a couple rolls of film while on the trip because I had other business to take care of. Still, some pictures are always better than no pictures at all and it was refreshing to just wander about a bit capturing whatever caught my fancy.

Reflections On The Columbia River

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Typically I associate the summer months here in the Pacific Northwest as a time with bright light that can be a challenge in the best of times to work with. I’m spoiled in that for most of the years I get to work with nice subdued overcast lighting that looks good from pretty much any angle at any time of the day. For two or three months in the summer however, I actually have to be careful when selecting the time of day I go out because the light can become quite harsh, bright, and full of unflattering shadows or highlights.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 medium format film.

Earlier this week however I had a stroke of luck and found myself doing a photo session on a day with nothing but overcast and mild temperatures. Perfect!! I wish I could say I planned it, but really the weather just worked out in my favor by complete accident.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 medium format film.

To take advantage of the day I traveling out to Rooster Rock which is a stretch of beach along the Columbia River to the east of Portland that is officially sanctioned as clothing optional. On a weekend when the weather is nice I tend to avoid this spot at all costs because it can get incredibly crowded. However, on a weekend morning when the temperatures are mild the entire place is nearly deserted. It’s the perfect environment where Floofie and I could take our time, work on poses, explore the best angles to get a solid reflection in the water, and not at all worry about looking over our shoulders the entire session.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 medium format film.

As if I wasn’t lucky enough with the weather, it also happened to be low tide along the Columbia River which meant we could walk out quite a ways into the river and the water was only up to our ankles. Seriously, I’m not sure I could have asked for better conditions.

World Pinhole Photography Day (on 4x5 film!)

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Well, it looks like another World Pinhole Photography Day has come and gone. I certainly can’t be the only one when I say that it is hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that it is currently the year 2023. Where on earth did the last three or four years go? I suppose COVID happened. That accounts for some of the whiplash. But still… I guess I’m just quickly hitting that age when time speeds up and the world around you moves faster than you’d like it to.

Photographed with an Ilford Titan Pinhole camera and Ilford HP5 large format film.

Perhaps it is for that reason that pinhole photography feels more important than ever in my life, and why I made it a point to go out and make some pinhole photographs on World Pinhole Photography Day. I’m no different than most people in that I spend the vast majority of my day in front of a computer. I even use that term “computer” very loosely. In reality I spend my day in front of a laptop with three screens, two smart phones, and several televisions pumping out 24 hour cable news. It’s mind numbing to say the least. Would I prefer to have far less screen time? Absolutely yes! But alas, I need a paycheck just like everyone else.

The simplicity of pinhole photography feels like a natural reaction to that unfortunate fact. It is my opportunity to slow it all down. To turn off every single screen. To work with a basic tool that requires slow and methodical interactions. Measure the light. Make an exposure calculation with my notebook. Compose. Open the “shutter”. Wait. Sometimes wait for a long time. Breath the air. Take in the silence. Repeat. It’s a refreshing experience to say the least. There are times when it actually feels like magic.

This year I decided to take out my Ilford Titan Pinhole 4x5 camera loaded up with Ilford HP4 film. I’ve been really happy with that camera ever since I bought it. While it might not be the most elegant looking of cameras, in practice it operates perfectly. It’s nice and light weight which means more room in my pack for film backs. Anyone who has ever worked with sheet film out in the field can understand the value of keeping the weight you carry with you to a minimum. Plus I like the focal length quite a bit. Equivalent to about 20mm on a 35mm camera the angle is nice and wide which is great considering composition is a guessing game with pinhole cameras.

Exposure time on this image was about 25 seconds metered at ISO 400. Negative was developed in Rodinal with a ratio 1:50 at 20C for 11 minutes.

When Figures and Landscapes Merge Together

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Lately I’ve been far more interested in landscape and nature photography over figure studies and portraits. I suppose it is normal for any artist to go through phases in their work and I’m certainly no exception. There is something very appealing in this (sort of) post COVID world about taking a camera outdoors and just absorbing the silent stillness of nature. It’s nice to take my time with very little or absolutely no agenda at all and getting through a roll of film over the course of several hours as opposed to several minutes, which is the norm when I’m working with people.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Rollei RPX ISO 100 film in Medium Format.

I suppose it was inevitable when I was making this creative transition in my brain that I would create some images that merged the landscape and a nude together. I managed to find this spot at the perfect time. The weather was still fairly warm yet there was plenty of overcast and cloud cover to make the lighting very soft and even. Basically the kind of conditions the Pacific Northwest is famous for, though the extreme weather we’ve been having the past year or so has made less common. A tree on Sauvie Island had broken apart during a recent storm and made for a great piece of architecture for the model to pose on.

Looking at the final edited image, I feel confident that taking several steps back and capturing the entire scene was the right call here.