{"id":203,"date":"2009-05-26T23:00:32","date_gmt":"2009-05-27T06:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/?p=203"},"modified":"2009-05-27T01:33:10","modified_gmt":"2009-05-27T08:33:10","slug":"lost-and-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/05\/lost-and-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost and Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was that time of the month again – searching for the new moon.\u00a0 The conjunction took place on Sunday May 24th and on that evening, even though it was cloudy and overcast in my area, the moon was too small to be seen with the naked eyes.\u00a0 With Sunday being the 29th day since the last time the moon was seen, the descision of when the next new month, Jamad Ath-Thaani, would start was by default on Tuesday, completing the previous month as a 30 day month.\u00a0 This made searching for it on Monday not as critical.\u00a0 But that never stopped me.<\/p>\n

This time around I was very excited to try and photograph the new moon using the large format 4×5 camera.\u00a0 Two weeks ago I found a Nikon 500mm f\/11 Telephoto lens.\u00a0 A lens that I have been trying to find for almost three years.\u00a0 Nikon of course discontinued making that lens years ago and it rarely turns up on the used market, but two weeks ago chance would have it that I was searching for it and found one in near mint condition, for nearly 50% of what it goes for new!\u00a0 So I had always wanted this lens to allow me to include the moon, especially the new moon, in my landscape photos.\u00a0 So this new moon was going to be that lens’ maiden voyage in moon photography.<\/p>\n

I decided I would spend the day out with my four kids, aka photo assistants, bumping around the coast giving their mother the day off.\u00a0 Destination – Point Lobos State Reserve on the Big Sur Coast.\u00a0 The day was clear and sunny until we reached Monterey and then the skies became overcast and gloomy.\u00a0 Upon our arrival, I realized that I had forgotten to bring along my photo vest.\u00a0 No big deal right?\u00a0 Wrong.\u00a0 For in it was my light meter, color meter, ND filters, and focusing loupe.\u00a0 Oops – No large format photography today.\u00a0 How was I to photograph the moon later?\u00a0 So I took a deep breath and decided that today was a day off, no serious photography.\u00a0 Yeah right.<\/p>\n

With a small DSLR in hand the kids and I explored Point Lobos.\u00a0 It is a very intricate piece of the coast.\u00a0 The rocks are contorted in places, stratified in others, and conglomerate everywhere else.\u00a0 It is a very difficult place to capture in a photo.\u00a0 The light needs to be just right, and I still have not been there when it was just\u00a0right.\u00a0 To add insult to injury the reserve is in full bloom right now.\u00a0 California Poppies,\u00a0Coast Paintbrush, Dudleas, and Seaside Daisies to name just a few.<\/p>\n

\"Point

Point Lobos in Bloom<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0It takes time to get a feel for Point Lobos.\u00a0 It is a slow moving place.\u00a0 The sea does not churn with great waves rather slow moving turbulent waters sloshing in and out of the rocky cliffs.\u00a0 Capturing this water action is another matter altogether.\u00a0 Timing is everything with these conditions.\u00a0 Clearly a digital camera makes this endeavor less painful to the pocket and much more enjoyable knowing you got the\u00a0action at its peak.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Water

Water Action at Point Lobos<\/p><\/div>\n

At the same time however, when working with the big camera and film, there is a certain connection that is made between you and the ocean.\u00a0 You spend more time studying the water.\u00a0 You watch the waves, not one or two, but tens of waves until you start seeing the attributes in the wave that are needed to create the perfect water action.\u00a0 Such was the case when Controlled Chaos<\/a>, Rush Hour <\/a>and Mist-erious Seas <\/a>were made.\u00a0 But this time, it was kind of nice having the digital camera to see the results right away.\u00a0 It allowed me to capture something nice and still keep my attention on my four intrepid explorers.<\/p>\n

\"Rough

Rough Runners<\/p><\/div>\n

Theodore Roosevelt<\/a>, known as the “Rough Rider”,\u00a0was once quoted as saying “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span>“.\u00a0 Well I think my kids are taking that to heart in a very serious way.\u00a0 Its as if they don’t know that there are limits to how daring one can be.\u00a0 Put a camera in their hands and they stop at almost nothing to capture what they see.<\/p>\n

\"On

On The Edge<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0And if I had let her, my three year old would have have followed them out onto that rock.\u00a0 In time.\u00a0 Her ambition preceeds her sure footedness for now, and even though she is gung-ho to follow her siblings, she readily accepts a fatherly hand or a ride on the shoulders to get to where she wants.\u00a0 But once there, she gets into the thick of it in a serious way.\u00a0 I think that is what makes the magic of childhood so grand.\u00a0 They don’t know their own limits and so they are willing to try everything.\u00a0 Sometimes however, it is to their own demise and detrement, especially if the wisdom of the parents is not there to keep their foolhardiness in check, inspite of the dissenting voices insisting that they can do it.\u00a0 But caution aside, and they find the most amazing places.<\/p>\n

\"Hidden

Hidden Beach<\/p><\/div>\n

We arrive at Hidden Beach.\u00a0 A small secluded cove beach on the south end of the more popular Weston Beach.\u00a0 Its a small beach no more than about 50 feet at its widest point and with a narrow opening to the sea.\u00a0 The beach itself is made up entirely of small rocks and pebbles in a rainbow of colors and hues.\u00a0 The kids quickly find the most dangerous place on the beach to explore, a small indentation in the rocks on the north side of the beach, a small cave of sorts that they quicky dub “The Cave of Terror”.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Cave Of Terror<\/p><\/div>\n

With each large wave a rush of water comes in and encircles the large rock on the north side of the beach and rushes around to fill in the “cave”.\u00a0 The only refuge from the rushing water is a small rise of rocks in the cave directly up against the wall.\u00a0 But once trapped in there, the sight of onrushing water is enough to elicit the squeals of doom from children who think the end is upon them!\u00a0 Then in a sudden rush of panic they dart out of the cave as the water subsides, proud in themselves thinking that they had just escaped a catastrophe of monumental proportions.\u00a0 Once they gleened all the thrill they could from the cave of terror, the fascination of minutia found on the beach quickly overtook them.\u00a0 For the next two hours, they combed that small beach for anything that did not resemble a rock or a pebble.\u00a0 And in some cases what they found was indeed fascinating.\u00a0 Suddenly a thought occured to me.\u00a0 I remembered a series of photographs made by Georg Popp <\/a>and his family during their outings at the seashore.\u00a0 So I looked around the pebbles for some likely Found object to be the base of an image.\u00a0 I then called my kids and explained what we were to do.\u00a0 Bring everything you find, everything.\u00a0 We’ll pick the best and put them together to make a photogrpah of our day at Point Lobos.\u00a0 So here over the course of two hours is a succession of photos resulting in “Lost and Found”.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Base<\/p><\/div>\n

The base context of the final image was this piece of kelp that had started to dry out.\u00a0 I positioned the camera directly over it and made this base photo.\u00a0 Then the first wave of interesting items started to appear.\u00a0 I widened the view a bit and started to arrange the items.<\/p>\n

\"Initial

Initial Items Placed<\/p><\/div>\n

At this point, I decided to start in the hunt of things as well.\u00a0 I brought in more than just the shells my kids found as there was more to be found on the beach than just that.\u00a0 I found blades of sea grass, other bits of kelp, pieces of coral, crab shells and other colorful pebbles and stones.\u00a0 Pieces of irridescient mother-of-pearl on the insides of broken scraps of abolone shells and animal’s teeth as well.\u00a0 We would probably still be there now finding stuff had it not been that high tide was threatening our “canvas”.<\/p>\n

\"Filling

Filling up the space<\/p><\/div>\n

With a few more items, like a blade of sea grass, an old sea-bleached crab pincer, a headless crab with legs still attached, a few more shells, and voila.\u00a0 Lost and Found.<\/p>\n

\"Lost

Lost And Found<\/p><\/div>\n

All these items were once alive.\u00a0 They lost their lives at sea and tossed and turned in the waves, carried for who knows how long and for how far, they managed to be washed ashore on Hidden Beach.\u00a0 Lost for countless time, unseen by untold numbers of visitors to this beach.\u00a0 A veritable cornicopia of visual delights found by four children and their child-hearted father and arranged together to give a picture of what diverse life exists under the sea.\u00a0 It is one of the most enjoyable photographs I have ever made during\u00a0one of the most memorable days I have ever had.\u00a0 You can be sure that Lost and Found will be hanging on one of our walls very shortly.<\/p>\n

Oh…and whatever happened with sighting the new moon.\u00a0 The skies in Big Sur stayed overcast the whole time.\u00a0 With just over one hour before sunset, we set out on the road in search of a place where the skies were clear.\u00a0 We dashed north along Highway 1 hoping to see some clear skies.\u00a0 The skies that were clear just a few short hours ago, were now gray and enshrouding.\u00a0 I began to think that we might not see it at all.\u00a0 Even as far north as Santa Cruz, the skies were still overcast.\u00a0 I figured I would need to be above the marine layer to even have a chance, but time was not on our side.\u00a0 As we neared the Highway 17 interchange that would lead us up into and over the Santa Cruz mountains, I spotted some color on the horizon just north of Santa Cruz.\u00a0 So we continued north until we reached Wilder Ranch State Park, and we made our stand there.\u00a0 There we were able to see clear sky and it remained so for about 20 minutes.\u00a0 Then no more than ten minutes after sunset, fairly high up in the sky, the fine feathery whisp of a crescent appeared.<\/p>\n

\"Jamad

Jamad Ath-Thaani, 1430<\/p><\/div>\n

And so what started out as a day of photography gone bad, turned out to be a day of interesting dichotomies.\u00a0 Abandon and Wisdom, Life and Death, Lost and Found, and Ending with a Beginning.\u00a0 But why should that surprise us?\u00a0 For has not this world been created with everything in it as pairs? From things to events to feelings, everything has its opposite and together they create a balance and harmony that keeps this world and everything in it going.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peace to All.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was that time of the month again – searching for the new moon.\u00a0 The conjunction took place on Sunday May 24th and on that evening, even though it was cloudy and overcast in my area, the moon was too small to be seen with the naked eyes.\u00a0 With Sunday being the 29th day since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[10],"tags":[138,139,491,125,49,137,140],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}