Around the Neighborhood

I sometimes get stuck in the mindset that I need to travel away from where I live to get into the zone of shooting decent landscape.  For myself, traveling abroad forces spontaneity of having to work with whatever mother nature throws my way, in many cases I won't have a second chance to get a particular scene.  At home, one can casually watch the weather and wait, and for me waiting equals boredom.  I need that uncertainty of todays conditions, that restriction of choice forcing me to make creative moves to work with the scene in its here and now.  But, my desire to shoot far outweighs my ability to travel as much as I'd like and thus I've been shooting a lot more within the vicinity of my home.

This week I had several rolls to develop, but still had a half shot roll buried in my camera back and unwilling to burn the un-shot film I headed off for the day to capture a few scenes on the last few frames of the roll.  My first stop was a little redwood grove just North of the city called Muir Woods.  It can get a bit crowded on the floor of the grove, so if you're willing to put in a little leg time you can get up and away from the crowds.  An old growth redwood forest is a magnificent symphony of interdependent species, each supporting the next in their individual quest to live, mature and eventually die in support of the next wave of plants and animals.

 

After a good long hike I ventured back toward the city, but still had a few frames to get off.  In the furtherest reach of the Northwestern most part of the peninsula there are several offshore seastacks called Seal Rock.  And surprisingly I've never photographed them, and giving my love of the seastack formations it's a little surprising I hadn't.  I perched myself up on a cliff side and photographed a few 5 minute exposures.

It was wonderful spending the day shooting within 30 miles of my home.  The limited film, and the need to finish it, gave me that spontaneity I crave.  It just goes to show you, it's good to look around your neighborhood for inspirations.