Lessons from Baja

I learned lots of important lessons as a photographer on my recent trip to Baja California.  I figure I’d share some of these mistakes with you because I didn’t think I was capable of such incompetence. 

While packing for my holiday vacation in Baja, I was paranoid by the numerous carjacking stories I heard in the media, so I decided to keep my photography equipment simple in case I had the misfortune of encountering trouble on my drive to Mexico.  I packed one old camera, one lens, one portable flash, and the radios to trigger the flash. 

My first big mistake?  I packed the wrong spare batteries for my old Canon 5D which I normally use only as a back-up camera.  I was upset with Canon for not developing batteries that were interchangeable with the Mark I and Mark II.   But of course I had no one to blame but myself. I had the foresight to bring the battery charger....just not the right one.  And, I didn’t put a fresh battery in the camera in the first place, so I only had 5% battery life to play with for my entire two week vacation.

With limited camera power,  I made a decision to skip photographing the gorgeous desert and ocean landscapes in Baja because landscapes are not my primary interest as a photographer. I invested whatever battery life I had left to shoot a portrait of each person I spent my vacation with in Punta San Carlos, a remote stretch of beach on the Pacific side of Baja.

My favorite method to shoot environmental portraits is to balance strobe light with ambient light. I generally never shoot with the Canon 580EX flash because it's not my favorite light source, but it’s small, portable and doesn't weigh as much as my regular strobe equipment. Once I turned on the flash, however, I knew I was in trouble.  The rechargeable batteries, which I’ve had for over a year, were no longer holding their charge so well.  And the cable connecting my radio to my flash was loose and unreliable. Sometimes the flash worked, but over half the time it failed me.

With the limited resources I had to work with,  I had to think like a film photographer and not waste any clicks of the camera.  I was forced to frame my images and set my camera and flash exposures more carefully without wasting precious battery.  Since I didn’t want to haul extra gear to Baja, I also had to think about the direction of the sun and the distance of my flash in relation to my subjects, lighting them without use of an umbrella, soft box or any diffusion material.

I shot between two and ten frames of each person to get these shots.   I’m quite pleased with the images.  Although I would have liked to take more photos, I learned how to make up for my limits and mistakes with my resourcefulness.   Batteries are important, but knowing how to improvise is the best skill a photographer can have.  Or so I tell myself.

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Post-holiday Stuff

 January has come and gone and I’ve procrastinated on posting recent work.  I can’t blame the holiday frenzy anymore because that’s now far behind me.  My task this morning was to clean off my desk, file away bills and put away holiday cards.  As I was handling one card in particular, I thought, “Why not show off some work?”  I took these images for a wonderful client for their holiday card.  I almost feel like I’m cheating when I'm hired to photograph super cute kids.

Here are also personal favorites from the same shoot:

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Happy Holidays!

Talk about holiday stress!  My husband and dogs are sitting in the packed van right now waiting for me to start our vacation while I remain at my desk tying up all the loose ends this year.

So I better make this quick.

For the first time ever, I decided to shoot my own Holiday card. 

Happy holidays to all, and may peace be with you!

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Day of the Dead

One can live in San Francisco for over 15 years and never fully experience the diversity and richness of this amazing city.  I admit, I’ve taken this city for granted, often choosing to stay home and watch television instead of going out and exploring the vibrant music, art and cultural scene.  Realizing I was becoming increasingly antisocial and boring in my “old age”, I decided to drag my ass off the couch and engage in a new meaningful experience that only a unique place like San Francisco can offer.

I’ve heard about the Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos Procession in the Mission District for years, but have never gotten around to attending the festivities until now.  This annual Meso-American holiday, held on November 2,  is dedicated to celebrating deceased ancestors, while honoring the cycle of life and death.  The event started off at Garfield Park where motivated individuals set up elaborate altars to honor friends and family who have moved on.  I was touched by the commitment of so many people to keep the memory of loved ones alive. As the evening progressed, thousands of adults and young children descended upon the crowded streets of the Mission, wearing elaborate lace and embroidered Mexican costumes.  While many danced joyfully behind an Afro-Brazilian drumming group, the majority of people walked contemplatively with their lit candles, in remembrance of loved ones.  Everywhere I turned, grim skeletal faces, painted black and white to mimic the deceased, looked back at me, and I was struck by the beauty of these anonymous participants.

 

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Occupying Oakland

I scanned the news this morning and was incredibly disappointed with the coverage of Occupy Oakland, which had taken place on November 2nd.  Images of vandalism, rioting, violence and police brutality once again dominated the news, despite the celebratory and peaceful event I had experienced yesterday.  Friends who weren’t from the Bay Area texted me all morning, concerned that I had been caught up in the mayhem.  Sadly, the rest of the world was viewing Oakland with a critical eye, distorted by the media’s focus on the anarchists actions of the few.

I spoke to my friend, Jessica, whom I attended Occupy Oakland with yesterday, expressing my disappointment, because I felt the riots that ensued that night undermined what I felt was incredible demonstration of grassroots action against corporate interests.  She reminded me that over 50,000 participated peacefully in the event, and that the actions of the 60 or so anarchists should not deflect from yesterday’s achievements.  The extreme actions of the few do not represent the noble intentions of the larger movement to highlight inequality and promote economic justice for 99% of Americans.

I decided to post my images from Occupy Oakland to remind folks that this movement is  about “real people” coming together to shift the status quo in a nonviolent way.  Please, don’t let the media hype distort your perception of what is really happening in Oakland.   

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