Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Carmel Trip, California Photographers

I can only be brief at the moment but let me just say that I am completely satisfied with the Carmel trip. Here's an overview.

Drove up leisurely stopping in Carpenteria (collected sand/shells/people watched on the beach) super relaxing.
Carpinteria Beach

Stopped in at the Santa Barbara mission to photograph and Deb met me there. That mission is gorgeous. It was my first time inside it on the tour.
f1 (2)
Lotus

Stayed the night in Pismo Beach. Ate Sushi, which was amazing. I'll be going back there for sure.
Yanagi


Got up early the next morning to shoot at Grover beach. We spent the entire morning there and it was magical. The light was beautiful; I couldn't put the camera down.
Grover Beach
Sand Dollars

Next, stopped further up the 101 at the San Miguel Mission. Photographed a little there. Made friends with a little kid who had a disposable camera. He kept smiling at me so I showed him my camera. He was probably around 9 years old.
Front



We got to Carmel midday and hung out at the cottage, then went out to watch and photograph the sunset at Carmel beach(incredible). Ate dinner at a Mexican food place in town with the whole gang.
Me, Running

First day out, we got up early to shoot at Point Lobos. I've been there before but it was lovely out and the waves were insane and made for some beautiful and active shots. I stayed on Weston Beach the entire morning.
Morning Sky
Weston Beach
My Abalone Shell

First photographer we saw was Kim Weston. He and his wife, Gina, were kind enough to let us into their home. I could not believe I was standing in Edward Weston's home. Seriously, who gets to do that?! Not many people I bet. It was awesome. He showed us original Weston prints and I was so elated all I could to was smile. I forgot to take notes but I do remember that Kim said simplicity is key. He also said, "If you don't know your craft, you cannot be creative." I agree that knowledge is the key. :)I love his work and up until that point had never seen much of it. He has some photographs that are painted over with oil paints. Amazing. We stood inside Edward's old darkroom too. How freaking cool.
Weston Visit
Pepper 30 and Tina Modotti

After that, it was off to Ambrosia in Monterey for Indian food and wandering around Cannery Row. It was Brian, Deb, Dora, Yvette and I. It was fun. :) The guy that worked at the restaurant recognized me and gave me extra food to take home. I can't believe I go there enough to be recognized! Deb got a good shot of a seagull trying to steal my food. Stupid bird...haha.
Ambrosia

We decided to spent sunset at Point Lobos and went off to shoot at Sea Lion Cove. The waves at this point were HUGE and Dora was scared I would get swept out to sea so I had to be careful not to give her a heart attack. I took along my binoculars and watch the sea lions on the rocks and some swimming about in the water. I got some incredible images there.
Sunset Waves

We left there are convened at Monastery Beach. As we were chatting, a backpacker came up to us and chatted us up. Turns out he's from Canada and is walking to Mexico. Incredible right?! He showed us his images and let us choose and keep one. The only thing he wanted in return was a photo of us holding the photo he gave us. I chose a photo of two young Indian girls in traditional garb, as they reminded me of photos that Mary Ellen Mark took on Faukland Road. I told him this and he said that was the nicest comment he's gotten because he loves Mary Ellen Mark. :) They were of people he met while backpacking in India and he wanted to go back and find each person and give them the photo of us holding their photo. His website: Jordan Bower - walkingtomexico.com. He was a cool guy, as are a lot of Canadians. :) He had fun talking to him.

Next morning was a cool little morning at the Carmel Mission. I have been there a bunch of times but somehow saw it different this trip. It was the light and the beautiful puffy clouds. First time shooting inside though, never done that before. I have a pretty haunting image of the inside of the church. Creeeeeepy. Hehe...
Cross
Haunting
Fountain

After that was the best part of the trip. John Sexton's house. He is an amazing photography, a sweet guy and a great educator. I was surprised that he remembered me from the Michael Kenna book signing. :)He spoke to us about his background and showed us some of his work. Then guess what? He took us INTO HIS DARKROOM where he proceeded to make a print in front of us!!!!!!!!!!! This was so unreal. Here we were WITH THE MASTER HIMSELF in HIS DARKROOM WATCHING him MAKE a print. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Really? He said it's the first time he's done that. I feel so honored and special. When he dodges and burns, it's like watching a dancer. Honestly, it was the highlight of the trip. We were at their house for about 5 hours or so. It was awesome. His wife Ana Larson is also a very accomplished photographer and showed us some of her work. How special to share that love with your counterpart. She is also very sweet and knowledgeable. I bought a couple books, one for me and one for my friend who couldn't join us on the trip. He gave us some incredible prices on those :)
Sexton Darkroom
Sexton Darkroom
Sexton Visit
Sexton Visit

Next stop, PHAT BURGER in Seaside. We were so famished after that, especially the girls...we were getting a little well, you know. Starts with a B. LOL... It hit the spot and after a bunch of us that we hung out in Brian's room. I brought the Ukulele and sang and two video cameras were on me. That better not end up on YouTube.
Phat Burger
Dora & Dana

Next morning was a nice one, 17 mile drive before our trip to the Monterey Museum of Modern Art. We saw some prints there from Sexton, Edward, Brett and Cole Weston, Rod Dresser, Ansel Adams and some others. It was a great exhibit and our docent, Katie, was very knowledgeable and well spoken about the images and history. I def took lots of notes on that one. There was also a cool exhibit of a local painter, Mari, who does oil on linen. She had some beautiful paintings of horses and one in particular which was so sweet of a dog and a horse together. Awwwwww...
17 Mile Drive
Masters
Mari Kloeppel Painting

For lunch, we ran up to Moss Landing and ate at the Haute Enchilada. The food was so good! Deb and split a Paella wet burrito as did Dora and Brian. Very different, but very yummy! We didn't have too much time for Elkhorn Slough due to all the hiking, so we settled on Kirby Park, not to much further down the road. Upon arrival, we saw a crop duster getting refueled and the train was doing some funky thing on the tracks. The light was a tad weird but I enjoyed photographing there. There were plenty of neat details in the water, etc. And boy was the sky beautiful! :)
Haute Enchilada
Brian
Dora
My Shadow
Deb
Old Boat 2
Helo!
Something Missing


After this it was back to the cottage to freshen up and then hit the road again to Lover's Point in Pacific Grove. Oh man, that's my first time there and it was incredible. Kinda reminded me of La Jolla a little, but with different rock formations. It was very relaxing. :)
Lover's Point Cypress Trees
Chucks at Lover's Point
Lover's Point 5
Lover's Point 4



Then off to Huntington Witherill's house. He was a nice guy and spoke to us about his work, his projects and how he tires of doing the same thing so he changes it up a lot. He creates projects for himself which I can def understand. He has gone completely digital so it was interesting to see that transition in his work. I got his new color book which is beautiful. They were already signed, but I got mine personalized :)
Huntington Witherill


El Torito for dinner and off to bed we went. Thank goodness because I thought Dora was going to kill somebody if she didn't eat soon...haha.

Woke up in the early morning to get ready to head out and stopped in at Carmel beach to say goodbye.
Carmel Beach Goodbye 7
Carmel Beach Goodbye 3

One the way back home I stopped on at SLO and photographed the mission and the creek below. My first time there and I loved it.
San Luis Obispo Mission
Creek SLO 2

Ended the night with a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's and visiting the kids. All in all, a very satisfying trip. :)

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