Art is Life is Art: Susan Reep Photo Art

As a photographer, one has to be alert at all times.  I’ve done a post on developing your eye and what to look for in a photo.  I’ve gotten pretty good at scanning the area around me when I drive and I can turn up all sorts of interesting things.  Of course, it helps to have an interesting road.  Interstate 5 doesn’t turn up that many possibilities, partly because you can’t really stop or pull over.  When I go to Pismo Beach, I take the long way.  Highway 58 from Bakersfield to the 101 is the long way, and what a splendid road it is.  Best of all, there is very little traffic.

First of all, there is beauty in the barren, dry hills.  Sure, they are great when lush with new, baby green.  But I like them like this too.  Tumbleweeds, fences, dry low hills, mountains, blue sky with clouds.

Look at this.  As I drove by I quickly pulled over.  The two fence posts, or rods, are bent in towards each other.  And the vapor trail in the sky is curved in the same way.  I happen to find this particularly interesting.  I should point out as I often do, that even though the purpose of this trip was to get to Pismo, not to take photographs, that doesn’t mean I can’t document interesting things.  Who knows what might turn out to be an inspriation for a collage or work of art?

I drove right on past this mail box and then it registered:  there was a dead bird draped over the post.  I backed up (safely, don’t worry), got out, and looked.  What the heck?  Someone must have put the bird there because I don’t see how a bird can fly into a mailbox and drape its wings over the post.  Bizarre.  Glad I was looking around!

I always keep a sharp eye out for wildlife but so far I’d managed squirrels (hard to get excited about squirrels) and dead skunks.  Now I had some dead wildlife – and it was pretty interesting.

Just to be clear, it was me in the car.  I’ve gotten pretty good at holding the camera in front of me and clicking.  I kind of like this picture.  I feel like a sophisticated lady or an angel, the way the headrest frames my head.  (I’m neither, really.)

So I continued in my quest for wildlife.  Other than me and dead things.

Buffalo qualify.  Sort of.  Not like Yellowstone, but it was a buffalo and I’d not previously seen them on this highway.  They must have been visiting a different part of their pasture.  But by keeping my eyes open I got to see this, and yes, buffalo still excite me.  I could have a “wide-open prairie” moment.

As I pulled away I passed a tree and did a double-take.  Stuffed wildlife?

Yes, there were stuffed animals in that tree arranged rather intricately.  There didn’t seem to be any roadside monuments or memorials – just some animals in a tree.  Never seen that before.  Being alert was producing all kinds of strange things.  But I finally got some real, honest-to-goodness wildlife.

Wild turkeys!  Just in time for Thanksgiving.  Mine are already ordered, but it was nice to see these guys.  I mean, I’m assuming they were wild turkeys because I’ve seen flocks of them in Glennville and in Colorado, and I don’t think a turkey farmer would have his birds wandering around at will.

All in all, I was satisfied.  It’d been an interesting drive and I reached my destination.  My true destination?  Not just the Kon Tiki, but the sand – actually getting down with the sand and water.  So I did, promptly underestimated the tide, got soaked (with my camera high above my head because salt water is a camera killer).

I saw pelicans.  Dozens and dozens of pelicans.

I saw seagull tracks in the sand.    Staying observant isn’t just about the big things like waves and masses of birds, it’s about the small treasures too.

I saw the mysterious blue patterns in the white cliffs.  Always wonder about that but I don’t really want to know.  I’d rather just marvel at it.

Looking at this seagull, I saw not only a seagull, but its shadow and reflection.  That’s a threefur!  I was pretty excited.

This was fun to discover also.  A sand dollar, a feather, and a line in the sand connecting them.  I chose to take the picture in a diagonal instead of lining them up.

I found myself on the beach also.  Whipped by the wind – it’s a wonder I have any hair left – but I took this into the sun so it was very dark and I didn’t show.  I lightened it on photoshop so I showed and the background disappeared.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset.

But since I stayed alert and open to possibility, I was ready to snap the shutter when this gull flew in front of the sun.

It was a day of hidden treasures on the back roads and beaches.

And the moon came out.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 4:34 PM and is filed under Art, Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.