Pixiq

For my Thanksgiving holiday week, I opted out of a few family events, loaded up my youngest son, Aiden, and good friend, Rob into my Prius and set off to create a few new images.  This is a detailed report of what 6 days on the road brought my portfolio.

 

My schedule for making personal images has decreased in the past months due to the fact I’ve been teaching a lot of workshops with the Aperture Academy (www.apertureacademy.com) I was looking forward to getting out and about with the camera.  To make life easier for my wife, I took my youngest son with me.  Not only is he the most likely to get into mischief, which makes solo parenting tougher (for her)…. he’s also a ‘gamer’ and ALWAYS up for whatever type of adventure I plan (as long as his brother isn’t there). 

When I undertake personal shoots I try to make a plan A and a plan B.    This gives me some flexibility to check weather forecasts and head in a direction I think will yield the best photography.    Usually the plans are as simple as:

 

PLAN A- Head North.

PLAN B- Head South.

 

I list a few of the places in those directions I might want to see, and go from there, checking the weather periodically to push myself in the best direction.   For me it’s all about the weather forecast and looking for the areas that will have the best chances of turning in a spectacular sky.

 

The day of the trip the final weather forecast showed huge storm systems pounding to the north bringing solid amounts of rain on the coast and snow in the mountains.   The southern weather forecast called for a few storms, but mostly partly cloudy skies….which looked much better for photography and made my decision easy - head south.

 

The first night's plan was shooting California’s Santa Cruz coast.  The weather looked good; partly cloudy with a storm system moving in later that evening bringing rain.  I wasn’t going to say it was PERFECT for a forecast…but it was making me a little giddy with the thought of a dramatic sunset on my first night out.

 

We arrived into the Bay Area to rain.  It appeared the weather forecasters weren’t quite accurate as to when the storm was arriving.  We pushed on towards Santa Cruz hoping for better.

We arrived at our shooting location an hour before sunset.  The rain had stopped, which was good…but the cloud layout looked dismal, and the chances of having any kind of sunset worth oohing and aaahing over was minimal.   We came to photograph though…so off we went to find our compositions and make some images.

 

A seven-year-old makes photography a lot more exciting.  They have no use in the actual photography portion of a day, yet they are the most important possession.   You can’t lose them, leave them on a rock, or send them off to play alone.   A seven-year-old requires constant care.    During one stretch of our approach to the area we were shooting I had to first climb up a small rocky area, find a safe spot for my gear, then lower myself into a position to grab my son and drag, er, hoist him up to a safe spot, before again climbing the rock myself.  My friend Rob is able to scamper about willy-nilly and set up where he chooses with little to no regard for his safety or the safety of his gear.  I need to find a perfect spot that is not only safe for ME but safe for my very kinesthetic son.   Once we find a spot, negotiations begin.

 

ME:  “OK stay RIGHT here next to me.  No moving.  None.”

Aiden: “Fine.”

ME:  ”I’m serious. You NEED to stay where I can touch you.”

Aiden:  “Ooooooh-kaay fiiiiine.”

ME:  “What did I say?”

Aiden:  “I know.”

ME:  “Tell me…what is the rule…”

Aiden:  “Stay here next to you….”

ME: “Ok if you can follow directions well we’ll stop and get a snack after…”

Aiden:  “What kind?”

ME:  “A healthy one…”

Aiden:  “I want a doughnut or a bag of candy…”

ME: “Maybe a doughnut….if you stay right by me.”

Aiden:   “OK.”

 

As we move around the rocky shoreline I constantly reevaluate the situation…finding spots where both of us can stand without the risk of slipping and falling on seaweed or slimy moss.  Shooting consists of taking a frame….checking the kid….taking a frame….checking the kid…taking a frame….checking the kid.

Even though he’s reluctant to keep to the Rules, Aiden does a very good job of helping me keep my neurotic parenting in check by listening to me.  Every so often we need to discuss the rules again.

 

ME: “Hey, too far buddy…TOO far…right here you need to be RIGHT here.”

Aiden:  “I am.”

ME:  “No…you’re THERE…I can’t grab you there…you need to be HERE.”

Aiden:  “I’m fine here…I’m just looking at this….”

ME: “Fine.  No doughnut.  We’re heading back to the car.”

 Aiden:  “Fiiiiiiiiiiiine I’m coming.”

 

I’m very careful with my gear anyway, which forces me to move very slowly.  With my son in tow I must’ve looked like a sloth oozing its way over the landscape.   Every time I look up to see Rob he’s in a different spot. 

 

The light is fading and the sunset stinks.  I make the call and Aiden and I head back to the car (while it’s still light enough to see).  Remember, we need to reverse negotiate all the ledges and rocks we scrambled over on our way to this spot.  This takes time.

 

Once safely back in the car we can rest and wait for Rob to return from his shooting.   Aiden decides to pick up his sticker book to work on.   A project my wife and I included in the trip to help him pass the time while driving.  This sticker book will be the straw that destroys the entire rest of the evening's drive as we head off into the night in search of our next shooting location