Greetings from California

Nostalgia alert. I’m locked in and miss road trips and hugs. Here’s a time you might have seen me post about. This is how it happened:

Last Autumn, I got frisked, sat on an airplane, and landed at the dilapidated old hotdog stand now referred to as the San Jose International Airport. As I exited what I could only assume used to be the multipurpose kitchen/restroom, I saw Dyllanger, a long time friend, full time liability, and loyal lover of all things camera, leaning on a 32 year old blonde BMW 325i E30 cabriolet. I was immediately lovestruck. 

Dyl and I embarked on a ridiculous, shirts-optional roadie through California, living off tacos and canned lentils. It was absolutely barbaric. It was a trip built on the type of juvenile immortality that I like to think middle aged dads look back on with a Panglossian envy. Optimizing a road trip for photography (let's be real; vanity & aesthetics) is an extremely effective way to make sure you see a lot of cool stuff and get yourself into a healthy amount of trouble. It’s also a cost efficient way to go. For example, you don’t spend a lot on fancy hotels, if light pollution is the opposite of what you’re goin’ for out there. The second thing that made our dirtbag friendly photo retreat so wallet-conscious  was by reaching out to our hosts with some brash confidence and Dyl’s killer portfolio, I talked our them into letting us stay in exchange for content of the place. 

neato lil AirBnB spot in ~the desert~

I love freelancing, but being your own boss is work and sometimes your boss is a bit of a dick. I found myself obsessing over every detail and I found myself in a rut where I had everything planned to the minute. Having a meticulous schedule means you see everything coming and it’s great to be prepared, especially in my line of work, but it got bland. Getting in that car, putting the top down, and going absolutely anywhere because “idk, feels good” was exactly what I needed to get my head back on my shoulders and get excited about the things I point my camera at. 

One of the things I want to see in my photography and videography in the coming years is establishing a clear call to action. It’s going to be a long process learning to understand tone in a tasteful way that gets viewers fired up, but I think this video was my first step in that direction. I hope you can watch this and it pushes you to go do something scary and original. I hope it nudges you to let go of a little bit of control and find that your morning routine and your calendar aren't going to make you feel more alive than a few well placed wrong turns and taking “why not” for a spin. Maybe don’t wait until retirement to have fun. And, if this vid doesn’t do that, that’s cool too. I had a fuckload of fun and now you have to look at it. 

Also the film boy went off. Here’s a few of Dyllanger’s photos captured over the trip:

Big canned chili boys.