A couple of months ago (I believe...), I tagged along with a couple of friends to celebrate a couple of birthdays by way of camping in the beach town of Carpinteria, California. I was going through a pretty rough and stressful patch with the journalism work I was doing so this small vacation, getting out of Dodge so to speak, was a great release to me. You know, this past semester, all I did was shoot videos for my story assignments and didn't snap a single photo which is weird because I'm a photographer. It should be the other way around right? It wasn't until I got out of the newsroom to which I started shooting photos again. Ebb and flow? Whatever it's called, it was nice to pick up the camera again and capture life one frame at a time.
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| Some sort of BMW |
The very first morning of this trip, I decided to walk around town and see what's around the vicinity of the camp site. I must've woken up at 6am. Quite early per my usual life routine. I happened upon this cool looking BMW parked in a lot of some cafe. It's not everyday you get to see cool shit like this. The front portion of the vehicle is actually the door. It opens up and out and the driver and passenger get in. Then you're off on your cute and merry little way. I want one.
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| Restoration of an old house with that classic white picket fence |
As I continued on my exploration of town, I came across this cute, little, white picket fenced house being restored by some workers. I'm a fan of iconic American style or "Americana" for lack of a better word. There were a lot of old houses in and around the Carpinteria area. Some of them Victorian in style and grandeur but I'm a rather simple man and this house suits my style.
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| What's a beach town without a surf shop? |
I'm not a surfer by any means but I like classic surf culture and what drew me initially to this store was the bamboo framed sign and the all wood long board attached to the front of the store. The light was fairly harsh on this morning but I really dug the way the palm tree casted its shadow upon the store front which gives this image a bit of texture.
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| Breakfast around the campfire pit |
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| When at a beach, some beach laying will be done |
After I walked around what I could of the area, I headed back to the campsite only to find it devoid of campers. Naturally I walked over to the beach and found them all there laying in the sun and getting their tan on. Carpinteria is really a beautiful beach. The sunrises and sunsets I saw while I was there was breathtaking. I wouldn't mind going back there, or going to another beach, possibly more up north, and do some camping over there so I may see how the light breaks off the water during sunrise and sunset.
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| I totally forgot what this dog's name was but he was one of the coolest dogs I've met. I sat around with him and another dog while everyone else was still at the beach sun bathing. |
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| I merely wanted a simple sunset photo but I'll gladly take a photograph of a father trying to get a sunset photo of his "hard to keep still" son on the beach. |
On the last night of camping, I had to get that nice sunset shot on the beach. It's cliche but whatevers. I wanted it. I wanted a photograph of all the people I was camping with, watching the sunset together and for the most part it was a success. I love the photograph. It was a poignant, visual way to cap off and describe how relaxing the trip was.
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| Friends gathered around the beach to watch the sunset |
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| Money |
We're now into summer and I can't wait for the next excursions that'll take me to some place new and exciting. There are a couple of trips planned that I can't wait to go on. Getting away has always been a great form of release for me. Can't wait to capture all the new places and experiences in the weeks to come...