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California Impressions
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Golden Hollywood Freeway
Hollywood Freeway near Barham Blvd., Los Angeles, California. The setting sun projected silhouettes of vehicles, and their tinted glass, onto the wall.
Fuji GSW690 camera, 65mm Fujinon, Fuji 220 Provia film, drum scan.
Zabriskie Dawn
Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California
The rising sun and waning moon painted the tan sandstone bright orange. I stood alone in twilight darkness at the precipice overlooking Zabriskie Point jutting into the sky from the vast desert valley below. No air movement, just quiet.
Taking a deep breath, I wondered if the rumored "claustrophobia of absolute silence" could actually happen.
Carefully I picked my way down the escarpment. Dead silence amplified every loose rock that I sent clacking and cracking down the drop below me. But, above the noisy racket rose the bigger-than-life “zip-zup” sound of my nylon jacket with every step I took. Needing a breath of quiet, I froze still and waited for the silence to return.
A few seconds later, quiet returned, but only for a short respite.
The shocking truth about silence hit me square in the face.
With no other sound to mask it, my breathing hijacked my senses—heavy, loud, and oppressive, filling the world around me like a steam engine in my head. Desperate to choke out the sound, I held my breath. It worked until I finally exhaled and gasped for air. But then something worse replaced the steam. A loud, rhythmic roar filled the darkness: CHOO-sha, CHOO-sha, CHOO-sha.
"What the hell is that?" I asked no one out loud.
Horrified, I realized it was the relentless sound of blood in my veins pounding against my eardrums. Inescapable and deafening, the roar hijacked my entire consciousness.
The empty expanse of Death Valley wasn't spacious anymore, it was pressing-in, crushing me, suffocating me. I felt panic.
Claustrophobia had arrived.
“Enough!” I shouted. I spun around and scrambled up the escarpment, slamming my boots to the ground, kicking rocks, yelling curses and singing out loud—anything to drown out the sounds of my body.
Reaching the top of the escarpment, I lunged toward my car, flung open the door and blasted the radio full volume.
Finally, the internal raucous of "silence" began to fade.
Probably, I could "hear" it again now, but I don't dare try.
Nikon F camera, 24mm Nikkor lens, Kodachrome 25, drum scan.
Beach Runner
Near Big Sur, California. From the cliffs above the ocean, I was focused on the changing patterns of sea foam and beach tonalities. Suddenly this jogger ran through and gave the scene scale.
Hasselblad EL/M camera, 150mm Zeiss lens, Kodak TechnoPan 120 film, drum scan.
Hollywood Sunset
Hollywood Freeway at the Cahuenga/Gower exit to Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards.
Concrete, stucco, cars,
patches of Nature preserved.
Hollywood and Vine.
Fuji GSW690, 65mm Fujinon lens, Fuji 220 Provia film, drum scan.
Tilt-a-Whirl
Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California. These kids were on their third ride on this thing!
Nikon F camera, 24mm Nikkor lens, Kodak Ektachrome 64 film, drum scan.
Rapid Transit
Hollywood Freeway underpass bus stop. Like most things in Hollywood, paint covers reality.
Fuji GSW690 camera, 65mm Fujinon lens, Fuji 220 Provia film, drum scan.
Redwood Sunrise
Grizzly Creek Redwood State Park, Carlotta, CA. It's hard to believe, but this is exactly the way it looked... except for the colt who lived near the entrance to this old-growth redwood grove. I wanted to remember the grove and the colt in one image.
In this part of coastal northern California, foggy mornings are almost guaranteed.
Fuji GSW690 III camera, 65mm Fujinon lens, Fuji 220 Provia film, drum scan. I photographed the colt and gently placed him into position with Photoshop.
L.A.
Ventura Freeway over/under pass, Sherman Oaks, California.
Remember those children's books with cut-out images that unfolded in a 3-D effect as you opened the pages? That is "L.A."
Fuji GSW690 camera, 65mm Fujinon lens, Kodak Plus-X 220 black &white film, drum scan. Dimensional effects and coloring created with Photoshop.
