From Frustration to Elation - Photography Therapy

Just another small reminder that patience, adaptation, and going-with-the-flow can pay off. Finished a gig yesterday and turned to get on the freeway to get home. It was packed. Nothing but an endless sea of red brake lights. My only other option was to add an extra 15 miles to my trip by driving through the hills on a side road that runs parallel to the freeway. So I said screw it…that's what I'm doing. Would rather look at the hills than a million other cars on the 101. Not only that, but the sun was getting ready to drop behind the mountains…and that's enough to turn on any photographer.

So there I go, drove past the freeway entrance and into the hills. As soon as I was out of sight of the freeway madness, the initial frustration of adding time and distance to my drive home melted away…immediately! And when I say immediately, I mean IMMEDIATELY - I went from frustrated and tense, to calm and relaxed in significantly less than an instant. Told myself that I had to somehow document the day and moment with an image to remind me of that mental transformation and how powerful a simple trigger can be to the mind.

So with that...this is what I found just as the sun was getting ready to drop behind the hill. I know it's nothing special, and hell, I don't know what Fox Creek Farms even does, but the lighting, the fence, and the situation made it seductively charming to me. And taking that picture made me smile. And standing outside in that sunlight made me smile. And quite honestly, that's what this photography thing is to me - a reliable impetus to get in a good headspace, no matter what's going on outside that viewfinder. Sometimes it's the process, and not the image, that's important.

Plus, sure as hell beats sitting in traffic.

From 'Up There' to 'Out There'

Sometimes you just have to do it. The head won't stop and you need to get outside of it to regain your sanity. Last Friday was one of those days. So like most times, a good personal photo session was in order. I hopped in my car, and drove up the coast, out of Los Angeles, through Santa Barbara, over the hills, and into the Santa Ynez Valley.

Oaks, rolling hills, vineyards, and more oaks, rolling hills, and vineyards. One of my favorite spots on the planet.

It was a bit cathartic in the sense that I've spent a lot of time up in that area, and therefore I have many memories from that area, and many of them are a bit hard to deal with…so figured perhaps I'll try to replace those ones with newer ones…and it worked. Helped remind me why photography has become such an important and essential piece of my life's puzzle. No matter what's going on 'up there,' it's that viewfinder that helps you remember and appreciate what's 'out there'…

I won't say much here, I'll just sort of let some of the photos (hopefully) do the talking.