“The Happiest Dog”

If you look closely into the center of this photo, you’ll see a dog joyfully leaping into the surf. I was out at sunrise in Half Moon Bay (near where the Mavericks Surf Competition is held), and enjoying photographing the surfers silhouetted against the morning fog and the haze kicked up by the ocean. I made a series of images, and it wasn’t until I was home and editing my photos on the big monitor that I noticed the dog in the shot. This one of course became the keeper from the morning.

This image has always felt so much like California to me, the warm morning tones, the bit of morning fog that you know is going to burn off into a beautiful sunny day, the people out enjoying themselves at the edge of the continent. You can almost taste the great cup of coffee and the farm fresh eggs after the morning beach walk.

“Best Fronds”

This image of little ferns holding hands (err, fronds?) is one that always makes my heart happy. It falls into the category of “intimate landscapes”- a style of photography I’d never heard of until recently, but that makes so much sense to my brain. It’s kind of the opposite of a BIG landscape (think: Yosemite, or Iceland), and feels more personal and thoughtful. Like it’s something you’d have missed if you weren’t looking closely.

I’m always looking closely. It’s just awful trying to hike in the woods with me, I’m always slowing down to look at things and poke behind trees and under bushes. These little ferns were halfway up the side of a small hill in the East Bay, along a seldom-used and kind of overgrown trail. There was barely enough light to make the photo since I don’t tend to hike with a tripod, but I couldn’t leave this one behind. I love translating a fleeting small moment of plant life into an image that can stick with me for years.