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
Daybreak, alone at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California.
Rising sun and setting moon shared the sky. Colors and shadows changed continuously on the sandstone.I had heard that claustrophobia can be triggered by absolute silence, but in a huge wide open space like this? I wanted to find out for myself.
In the dawning light, I carefully climbed down the escarpment, my footsteps shattering the dead quiet. Loose rocks tumbled, clacked and crashed. "Zup-zip-zup-zip" amplified a hundred times by Nylon against Nylon.
I thought, "Enough noise! Stop walking!" and froze still, waiting for silence.
. . .
Half a minute passed, and then "Yes! Relief!"
It lasted only seconds when another irritating noise hijacked my brain... my steam-engine breathing!
"Okay, stop breathing!"
I held my breath and waited again - finally - quiet -
. . .
I couldn’t hold my breath any longer and it burst from my mouth. Immediately, I gulped-in another and held it again - but 15 seconds into it, "Oh, no, NOW what?!!” CHOOsha, CHOOsha, CHOOsha, CHOOsha!
Asking aloud to no one I said, ”What the heck is THAT?" Again, I held my breath, not moving an eyelash. I thought, ”Is that some enormous factory over the horizon in the middle of the desert? Why is holding my hands over my ears making it worse? How can that BE?"
Then I realized It was the blood vessels next to my eardrums pump-ing, pump-ing, pump-ing. CHOOsha, CHOOsha, CHOOsha became ev—ree—thing.
I could not escape it!
"Enough!” I yelled, and whipped around, and began climbing back up the escarpment, this time kicking hard, flinging rocks in every direction. I shouted, “C’mon noise!” Stones ricocheted, my jacket zupped and zipped like a washboard, steam-engine-breathing with my mouth wide open. I cursed. I yelled. I sang out loud.
By the time I got to my car, my own unstoppable noise,
finally became -
unnoticeable.
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
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.
