Tuesday, September 30, 2014

a thing that i do



"why do you like to take photos?"

i wasn't quite prepared to be asked that. something about the question felt dissonant. i definitely didn't have an answer to it.

i started by mumbling something evasive, but felt like i was being a lame human being by doing so. so i fumbled around a bit for some sort of response and said something like "uh... i guess it's because it sometimes feels like something that i'm good at.

i don't know why it was such a paralyzing question. maybe it's because i didn't feel like i was good at photography when i was asked the question. maybe it's because i didn't feel like i like to take photos when i was asked the question (notwithstanding my having taken 80 or 100 so far). it's been a long time since i felt any sort of genuine love for taking photos, and i'm not positive that i've ever felt some sort of ecstatic need to take photos, as if i were being carried along by the spirit or what have you. i guess i just try to take good photos when i feel like i can, and i guess i don't often really feel willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of a good photo except perhaps a little bit of social grace, which isn't really one of my strengths to begin with.

on saturday i went hiking in the wild basin area with a few friends. it was beautiful and people were doing something that aborbed their attention a bit, so i figured i'd try to take some photos. maybe some of them are interesting or beautiful or something to that effect.























Tuesday, September 23, 2014

we slept in hammocks



A few weeks ago Melanie and i went up to a nice quiet spot near gold hill and slept in hammocks. We took sunset photos and made a fire on which to cook dinner. We reclined in our respective hammocks and read books. There were stars and mountains and the moon.

Light changes so quickly in the morning and in the evening. A moment of red light blazed behind Mount Toll. We set our cameras on our tripods and photographed it. Then it was gone. We stood on an outcropping and gazed over the valley in twilight. Our fire was sometimes large and it was sometimes small.