I visit a location I've been neglecting, despite being not too far from where I live: Bodega Bay and the Sonoma Coast. I was expecting some weather and I got plenty of it. Rain, mist, wind, and high surf. I loved it.
Oregon, December 2016.
San Francisco, December 2024.
Borrego Springs, California, December 2024.
From the video From foggy cemeteries to slot canyons in the American Southwest.
I like to say that instead of photographing a location, I capture the conditions. That’s why I often don’t go somewhere, I go there when something is happening.
That was the case for my last trip to Lake Tahoe. I had been there a few years ago, and struggled with the image-making. I knew the place had potential; I just needed the conditions that work best for me.
Several days before the trip, I noticed the forecast: up to a foot of snow in the Tahoe area. I have some of my favorite spots in the weather app, so I’m almost constantly checking the conditions around me.
Of course, long-term forecasts can be little more than educated guesses, especially when it comes to predicting the weather up in the mountains. So, I waited until the last minute to book a room, once it was pretty clear the snow was coming.
Luckily, prices not only didn’t go up... they dropped. Mid-December is low season in Tahoe. It’s cold for swimming and hiking, but too early for skiing and the holidays. I find that when conditions are bad for crowds, they usually make for good photography… and for finding relatively affordable lodging.
I am so glad I gave Tahoe another chance. After all, there are no bad places to photograph, only bad conditions.
California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
South Lake Tahoe, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Tahoe, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Tahoe, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Lake Tahoe, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
My search for bad weather takes me to Lake Tahoe this time, where up to a foot of snow is expected. An adventure full of struggles, good moments, frustrating times, and some nice images.
Salton Sea, California, December 2024.
San Francisco, December 2024.
California, December 2024.
San Francisco, December 2024.
It’s kind of embarrassing that I never thought of using this Lightroom’s feature until this week…
You might have noticed I have an archive here on my website. Sadly, it’s lagging behind what I share on the blog and on social media. Many of my best images aren’t there yet, and that’s a shame. Anyway, I finally got to upload some of the photos I made this year, so at least the archives for San Francisco, Southern California, and Yosemite are pretty much up to date.
I still have so much work to do to get the archive to be what is supposed to be: a truthful representation of my photography.
The process of updating my archive would’ve been much easier and faster if I had tagged my photos properly after making them. You see, I give every single one of my images a title, but I never wrote them down anywhere other than the blog or social media post where I shared them. So when the time comes to upload a photograph to the archive, I have to look it up. A waste of time.
Why would I care about the title? Well, it’s important to me to keep those titles consistent between platforms because I get many emails with references to some of my images by title. I also use them in books and prints.
Well, turns out, Lightroom has always had a useful field in the info tab appropriately called Title. I knew this, but for whatever reason, I never thought of using it. It is a lot of work, but it would have saved me so much time now. So little by little, photo by photo, I’m starting to populate that field.
I’ve been updating other fields with the location information as well because you never know when that is going to come in handy. Just trying to save some time for my future self.
An extra bonus I get from having the title in Lightroom: I can now look up a photograph by title and find it instantly!
San Francisco, December 2024.
When we walk with a camera in hand, we tend to focus on what's in front of us, to the sides as we pass by, or up and down for the more observants among us. But rarely do we look back.
No matter which direction we’re walking, the light is always different behind us. Something we might have dismissed at first glance could reveal itself as extraordinary when viewed from the opposite angle.
Looking back isn’t an easy habit to develop, but it's one that will pay off.
You might be wondering if this will make our walks longer. Absolutely. Much longer. But that’s the point.
Scotland, August 2023.
From the video Isle of Skye.
Galicia, February 2024.
