Day 363 / 728 – This is what I would say is closer to my “style” than I’ve been able to create in the last several months. At least, in my “fields” work. I’m on the road, driving from San Francisco to Denver, and I have the luxury of time right now. I get to pull over wherever I want, whenever I want, and shoot whatever I want. I don’t have to be anywhere for a while. I can get out in the side roads a bit. I can do it on a whim, make that snap decision to go down a different road. I haven’t had that in a while. The main difference is, I’m doing the driving.
Not that I couldn’t ask Meg to pull over, and it’s not like she didn’t offer. But there is something about being alone that gives you a little more time to think, a little more space to feel, a bit more room to work. Someone telling you to take all the time you need isn’t the same as simply taking the time on your own. The space changes. Your attention is shared. There is a bit of pressure to make this shot work. It’s been great having someone along for the ride, and there is no one I would rather be with for a long drive (or a short one) than Meg, but sometimes, you have to make some space. For me, and hopefully for lots of photographers, feeling something about what you are shooting is paramount. Good shots don’t happen without it.
I probably sound like some tortured artist, who can’t work without solitude and loneliness. Not at all. It’s just that sometimes, you have to be out in the world, bored out of your mind, with nothing but the sound of the road, to really notice the things around you. It’s just different.
Mind you, without Meg, the shots of Yosemite wouldn’t have happened. Without her, the shot with both the upper and lower falls wouldn’t exist, which is one I really like. My nature stuff wouldn’t exist. And really, without her, none of this would have happened. None of these shots would exist. This project wouldn’t have happened, and I certainly wouldn’t have gone to all these places. She was behind me the whole way, and always has been. I don’t know a lot, but I do know this: find someone who is on your side and stick with them.
So as I wrap this up, this project is for her. It started out for me, but in the end, it’s for her. People say it all the time, but I truly mean it: I couldn’t have done it without her.