9.22
Pursued fishing endeavors with Jon down the coastline towards Big Sur, stopping at Andrew Molera State Park. Realizing that the only way to effectively ocean fish was from a raft--as we have done in the past (yes it is fun being a mile or two offshore in a 4 person (really a two-person) raft in 8-10 foot swells. Kind of like a smooth roller coaster ride that doesn't stop. We've actually caught a lot of fish that way in the past) we spent several hours perusing Big 5 Sporting Goods, Outdoor World, Target, Costco, Kmart and others for a certain raft at the right price--but most stores had converted from their summer stock to holiday and winter stock--so no luck.
9.23
Church in Carmel (adjacent to Monterey). Saw a good friend from my graduating class ('01 Principia College) at church--Rebecca Maurer. She was as surprised to see me there as I was her. She is from Kansas City, and was just there briefly on business. She will probably be an astronaut or President someday--she has that kind of drive, good-heartedness and charisma.
Shot in Palo Colorado Canyon, which can be found along the coast, just south of Point Lobos. It is a beautiful canyon filled with redwoods and ferns, steep canyon slopes, and a quaint little creek. The houses along this tiny road are built into the hillside and over the creek. It's almost a mystical place. Where I worked was actually just up and out of the initial canyon, along a creek that is in a few miles further into the Los Padres National forest.
There was a sign up saying that no one was permitted along the creek, probably because of excessive wear or erosion, but I have a different opinion on the concept of land ownership--which is outside of being self-serving. "And the sign says all trespassers, will be shot on sight. So I jumped the fence and yelled at the house hey, what gives you the right? To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in, if God were here he'd tell it to your face, man you're some kind of sinner." -Tesla.
I just believe that this earth is here for all to use, and shouldn't be limited through bureaucracy. That said, ownership is somewhat valuable for purposes of order in society--but it shouldn't be the bottom line--especially for someone just photographing the landscape and not disturbing a thing (by means of using rocks to walk up the creek). So yes, I have my own ideas of Law--mostly in a higher sense of law--in that which is important, but I also respect most laws put forth by those we entrust as lawmakers. Except for completely stopping at stop signs now and then when no one is coming.
Also slipped again, donking my head again with the camera, and my shin. One might start to think that I am a bit clumsy. On the contrary, I have an exceptional sense of balance, but I work in places that don't have paths, but are just raw and rugged nature, and thus encounter terrain that is sometimes harder to negotiate--especially with 60 pounds of gear. Glad that my head was there to break the fall of the camera again. Could it be karma?!
9.24
Shot on the rocks along the coastline, just past the turnoff for Palo Colorado Canyon. We were lucky to find it mostly empty of people. I was intimidated at first by the rock formations, as there was mostly confusion, and no order. But after studying it for a bit, I found these wonderful, diagonal lines that ran through the rock. So I decided to work with these lines and the lines of the figure, bringing harmony out of the chaos.
In the evening, I shot a lightning storm that came over Monterey bay--shooting a half block from my dad's house, as they live on a hill overlooking the Bay. Unfortunately, by the time I got out of the hot tub (I knew I should have gotten out earlier when the bolts were closer) the storm had moved further away, leaving a shot that had many bolts, but not close enough to be impressive. I experimented with a little red key-chain light, by 'painting' a cactus in the foreground of the shot. When you have an open shutter--like a time exposure, which I was using to capture the lightning, you can 'paint' objects that have no light on them with a flashlight or such, and can use colored gels over the light for different colors. The effect came out interesting, with a red cactus--and would have been better if I had been out there with my camera a half-hour earlier. In photography, timing is of great importance.
I am grateful that at 24 years of age, I have finally learned proper control and restraint over my sexual urges and impulses (I think 'hormones' are just a scapegoat for people that lack self-control), keeping a professional relationship with Cassandra, even though we are the same age, relate to one another and sleep next to each other every night. I think it helps that we talk openly and frankly about everything from menstruation to morning wood, and am comfortable around each other. It's when feelings and assumptions get built up inside people that emotions can get built up and explode. I'm also starting to feel more confident about my ability to execute my artistic vision and intention. Both Casey and I are growing in ways that help one another. She's learning to become more comfortable with her figure--which helps the quality of the photographs, and I am learning to work faster (helping her to be more comfortable in the typically unpleasant landscape) and to have more direction with my ideas (helping her to pose and work better with and for me). I realized today that I need to more aggressively pursue my artistic vision--and to doubt less.
9.25
Shot again in Palo Colorado Canyon, working this time in some places in the lower canyon (where the houses are) in some locations I had spotted last time. Worked with some burnt out redwood trunks that had wonderful angles to them, in addition to the nice contrast between the black char and the light figure.
The negatives were put aside for N+1 development of the 400 speed film, to increase the contrast between the two subjects, and because we were working in very flat light. Even though the conditions were pleasant, Casey still managed to complain. She said "you come down here and do this." I do not subject my models to anything that I would not subject myself to, so I readied the camera, undressed and she took a few shots of me. Actually I have found that it is easier for me, while not practical, to model myself, for the sole reason that I know what kind of pose expresses what I am trying to convey--and it is often hard for others to get down what it is I have in my head. The exposures came out nice, and I was even able to take direction well from her in terms of what she was trying to do with the pose.
After working in the Canyon, we headed down the coastline to our next destination, making it about 30 miles past Big Sur before stopping for the night. Decided to shoot some nudes in the van--essentially studio space. I managed this by opening the back and working outside, with a longer lens.
9.26
Stepped on a few nerves this morning. Shot at a beach just past San Simeon, as I had not done any work yet on an actual beach, and knew that this would be the last viable and interesting place to work before going inland. Some great work came out of the shoot, and I was able to get across my ideas in the poses and compositions.
73 degrees at 9:53 p.m. in L.A. Cheapest gas was $1.49 a gallon. Ate at In & Out burgers, as they receive much acclaim--but I was not impressed. Sonic's has better burgers. Made it almost as far as Joshua Tree National Park before calling it a night. The change in heat was very noticeable as we moved away from the coast and towards Arizona along Interstate 10. It was difficult to sleep in the hot and dry night air in the desert.
9.27
Hotter than Hot. Probably 104 degrees. It took most of the day to drive the 180 miles to Phoenix, as I could only drive in 10-20 mile increments before having to let the van cool. Will have to drive at night from now on in this area. $1.29 a gallon in Phoenix. Ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant, and got to practice my Espanol. Very good Carne Asada tacos--but I was bummed that they were out of Horchata, my favorite Mexican drink. Luckily there was a trucker eating there that helped us to find a truck stop (good places to sleep, if you choose to sleep in your vehicle, as they are basically rest areas for truckers, and there is usually a place for cars).
Met some interesting people at the truck stop--a young gent about 23 living for the month out of his I-ROC, parking at the truck stop each night and working in town doing construction. Another guy that was staying with him (one slept in the driver's seat, one in the passenger--though I told him that I still had him beat as I lived in a similar car (2-door '78 Pontiac Grand Prix) with my step-dad, mother, brother, and cats) was nice enough to give Casey and I coupons for showers (another nice thing is that Truck stops usually have showers) that he had scored from truckers that weren't going to use them. So it was nice to have a shower after a day of driving through 104 degree dust with the heater cranked in the car (windows down of course--not that it helped much) to help cool the engine.
Sleeping was nearly impossible, as it only cooled to 98 degrees or so until morning. I had to sleep in my shimmies on top of the sleeping bag, with the sliding door ajar, and still had a pool of sweat beneath me where my skin touched the sleeping bag. Very unpleasant conditions--but made do.
9.28
Spent most of the day in the Phoenix Public Library--air-conditioned Internet access. They also have an excellent photography section. Met with Raye (the only one of 20 models along the way where there hasn't been a schedule conflict) at 5 p.m., and headed up 119 miles to Sedona to work--with several stops to let the van cool. I found it to be much more pleasant once we got up into the mountains out of Phoenix--probably 55 degrees--a nice break from the heat.
9.29
Worked at dawn with Raye along Owl Creek Canyon, just North of Sedona. She was fairly cold, as the 50-degree morning air was a bit colder than the 104 degrees she lives in.
After six exposures, I packed up and headed down the creek a bit to find that I had broken the ground glass on my camera (a piece of glass a little larger than 4x5" used to compose the image on a large format camera) in the camera bag. It turned out that it was not easy to find such a piece of glass, especially in a small tourist trap on a Saturday morning. With the 4x5 inoperable, I had to resort to my less favorable format of 35mm. Nice gear, just a limiting format--which is why I work almost exclusively with my 4x5. A note to large format photographers: if it hasn't already occurred to you, keep a spare piece of ground glass with you when you travel, because a camera is useless without it, and they are hard to come across. So with no luck in town, we went back out while the light was still decent and shot with the 35mm.
Headed back towards Phoenix around noon, after catching four trout for dinner. Driving back to Phoenix was hell. I believe the thermostat is broken, as the engine refuses to cool down--no matter how frequently I stop. Casey's griping and complaining became almost unbearable. While I don't blame her, for the van is like an oven on wheels, it bothers me that she can't make the best of the situation as I do. I not complain. I am hotter then she is, for the floor heater must run to cool the engine, and my legs and feet must remain there to drive, whereas she can keep her feet up. It's my car that's burning into a grave. It's my film and hard work that's turning to soup. It's my bank account that is being drained (I have assumed all expenses). Yet I do not complain--for what better would it make anything? Casey finally hitchhiked the remaining 40 miles to Phoenix after one more stop to let the van cool than she could deal with. I did not feel good about this, because I believe a team should stick together, even when the going gets tough. By leaving, she was risking the rest of the trip that I had sacrificed so much for, should something happen to her or should we not meet up for whatever reason. I finally find myself almost frustrated out of heat exhaustion and mental exhaustion--that I feel like canning the rest of the trip and scurrying back to a cool, quiet mountaintop in Colorado. Of course it probably has snow on it by now.
So I rethink plans and try to make it work as best I can. Things will work out--God willing. I was able to pick up 3 pieces of plate glass and three pieces of plexi-glass cut to the correct dimensions at Home Depot for $1.39. I put my frustrations into a poem as I waited for Casey to be dropped off by her hitchhiking friend at the Phoenix Public Library on this Saturday night (entitled "The devils home", found HERE). Casey's good, smart and a pain in the rear all wrapped up into one. And she's a good model.
