jessedrover

[jessedrover]

Since the end of wedding season I have been trying to dedicate my saturday mornings to location photography. And so far I have done a horrid part at beating the sunrise. The idea is to explore new areas, find some new perspectives, and form a new portfolio over the course of the next year. Going into it my main focus is really...scapes? Landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes. I really just want to create scenes that feel like someones explanation of a place they had once been. I love photographs that you just want to jump inside and explore -  so I am exploring new places in a place I have been my whole life.

I really ended up with very little usable material this time around. I did get the pretty header shot from westchester lagoon. The colors where very rich, and it inspired me to not stray away from natural landscape material. Landscapes are interesting. You are just this sort of non-natural observer, and it feels like you maybe could come back and get this same shot, but you really can’t. Everything changed in some way, be it obvious or tiny. You feel special, like earth painted a picture just for you as you press the shutter. I am not going to focus solely on going to the same spot and working a specific landscape image, but I definitely will be trying for some more photos of mt susitna. 

Oh, and I got this one overlooking the lagoon. A very october vibe going on here, thanks to that gnarly tree.

So, I headed home. But not really. I took the long way home in search of a “sapphire” lake I had heard about, and:

I found old rusty cars! Way better! Fyi, I did find the “lake”. It was more like a pretty blue pond. It would probably be good for a portrait background or something if I was shooting in the area. But dude. There are like 50 cars smashed into the bank here! It was kind of overwhelming for me honestly. Like when you throw too many toys out in front a puppy. But for my own sanity I simplified and edited only a few of my favorites.

And it got me thinking about all these old cars I keep running into, especially along the knik river. This crazy story (untold?) about hundreds of people mass abandoning their cars along these rivers. Does it have something to do with the 64 earthquake? Maybe there is a photo narrative there. Definitely something I will be looking into. Also, here is my nearly destroyed phone.

I understand that it appears I have shot it with a bb gun, but I swear to you the software within is depleting at conspiracy worthy rates. But it is hard to make a case when it looks like this.

Afterwards I stopped by the old old glenn bridge. The clouds were real low over the trees, which had this beautiful selective white coating. Like some of the trees had shaken off the most recent snowfall, while others were holding out for the next one.

I didn’t realize it until just now, but the pictures above and the one below are pretty much me looking forwards, right, and then left. That is how amazing this state really is sometimes. You can just be driving home, get out of the car, and be surrounded by it.

So that was my weekend...the weekend before last weekend. I swear I am going to catch up on this thing.

I am currently editing the next batch of photos from Selina and my road trip! The next post will include Yosemite and Las Vegas. My Yosemite pictures are definitely not your big mountain, holy shit yosemite pictures. They are more like your “we didn’t go the way we meant to because the road got shut down, but here are the pretty things we did see without screwing to much with traffic” shots.

Have a great week!

[jessedrover]

Day 2 photos from our road trip! From wine in Carmel to the beach in Santa Cruz. There is some great stuff I didn’t get photographs of, notably our intense table hockey match inside the boardwalk arcade. And being that it was in Santa Cruz, the table was San Jose Sharks home ice. As I type I am deeply regretting not taking photos. If I could have somehow stolen the 150 pound table hockey game and got it into our rental - I would have. 

Santa Cruz was easily one of my favorite days. The drive along the coast was fun, the traffic not to insane after getting north of LA, and of course beautiful. Santa Cruz was sunny, and our walk from the boardwalk to the lighthouse didn’t seem nearly as long as it was. There was a really local vibe about it, which was refreshing. Residing in Santa Cruz seems like living in a scenic paradise. I can’t begin to imagine how many sweet spots locals are aware of. And the light during golden hour is just plain cheating for photography.

When we went to Natural Bridges, we arrived the same time others were pulling up in vans. They sat in their trunks and prepared beers for the coming sunset. For me, it was like walking around a movie scene. Or maybe like falling into a postcard. If I was to spend another day there, I would’ve photographed the onlookers enjoying the incredible landscape. I don’t know anywhere in Alaska were people just gather to watch a sun set like that. 

Before I talk more about the photos - I’ve been on a huge Adam Savage binge this week. If you have any interest in movie effects, fabricating, cosplay, or just general crafting, definitely check out his youtube channel and/or website:

https://www.youtube.com/user/testedcom www.tested.com

I already have a list of tools and tips going from watching (I literally watch with a small notebook and a pen). Besides taking you alongside him to visit special effects crews on sets like Blade Runner 2049, he spends a lot of time in his shop doing projects. You can tell he puts a lot of love into his craft. Every detail has  a meaning. Every piece he fabricates got there in a fictional world the same way my keyboard is here, right now, under fingers. Watching his videos is like watching a motivational speaker for me.

Here are the photos after sunset -

I want to apologize a little bit about such vague descriptions. I hate that I am starting this blog a month after I took these photos. The idea is that I post recently snapped and edited photographs so these adventures are fresh in my mind. This is for me too so I can journal my thought that accompanied these photographs.

That’s not to say these images are without an adventure. I’m incredibly fond of this entire set, especially the sunset ones at Natural Bridges and after sunset pics. This entire trip, Selina and I moved from state to state as we pleased, and I think the pictures here and the ones to come really project the laid back vibe we felt.

After sunset we walked along the beach. Within five minutes of our toes touching the sand we saw a group of neon balloons tumbling along the ocean. Selina yelped and chased them down, and soon she had all of them. Selina absolutely abhors littering, so the balloons not only gave her a mission, but were fun as well. After sneaking around the closed boardwalk and deflating the balloons, we headed back. 

I can say it was the first time I had ever walked along a beach were I couldn’t see the sand or see the ocean. It’s interesting, to hear the tide but only know where it starts by the moistness of your feet. It’s exactly the type of experience I was looking for.  

[jessedrover]

Alright, first real blog post. On my second monitor I am currently messaging hostgator tech support, and it’s obvious that “Jan” is not giving me his(or her) undivided attention. If a friend was to respond to me with this amount of latency I would assume I contacted them at a terrible time. I’m going to think Jan is crazy busy and not playing minecraft or worse.

Selina and I got back from a southwest road trip last month. We flew into San Diego and spent day 1 at their world renowned zoo, which was great and not so great. Great in the sense that I appreciate the opportunity to visit a massive zoo containing so many animals.

I guess when I visit a zoo I really want to be enthralled. I want to witness the the power of a tiger or the intelligence of a chimp. But you spend so much time being reminded you’re in the San Diego zoo (buildings, signs, massive open spaces, large construction projects, tons of people) that you see the small reserved area homing the animal and it’s just not spectacular at all. It was underwhelming almost every time. I can say I saw a snow leopard, but I don’t feel like I saw a snow leopard.

I’m of course not saying zoos are bad - I usually really enjoy them (cougar mtn zoo in Issaquah is fantastic). I was really excited to go the San Diego zoo. But it’s just way to theme parkie for me.

I had a good time though, Selina and I both. I tried to get some pics of how it felt to me. Like most of the trip I usually ended up taking pics of my beautiful girlfriend. Some of my best images are from Santa Cruz, which I plan on posting next week.I really do think Jan was busy. I just think it’s funny when it’s so obvious you have been tabbed conveniently away. But I suppose it’s incredible I have the ability to blog, edit the above photos, watch Mindhunter, and talk to tech support simultaneously. 

Looks like Jan transferred me up to Akwanzaa (I just watched MiB so I’m just thinking WANNNZAAAAA in my head). As soon as I get my domain transferred I’ll have this blog live. Peace.

[jessedrover]

2014. Justin Redington and I would go out late, almost always during snowstorms, attempting to hit the few scrappy spots in Wasilla. This was one of my personal favorites, tucked behind a strip mall. You could see the lights of residents uphill ticking off. Meanwhile, we would set up cheap flashes and Justin would shout curses into the night and sip PBR. Easily one of my favorite shots from that year.