Stars, Engines, Lighthouses,
Beauty, Monks… And More!

Last I left you, I’d just got my car running… Barely.
It coughed, sputtered, and complained it’s way to Cambria, CA
where I finally found a safe place to sleep.

And boy, oh boy was it lovely!

There’s nothing like listening to the rushing roar of the Ocean, smoking
a fabulous cigar and feeling the chill of the night wind; all as you capture
bits of the beauty God’s put before you.

The stars that night were absolutely INCREDIBLE… The only light came from
the dim row of bed and breakfast’s that flanked the cliff and they left plenty
of room for the Milky Way’s glory to shine through.

Oh, the surf was definitely “up” as well… 6′-10′ high and positively CRASHING
onto the rocks just below where I shot that image.

After an hour or so of positively freezing my fingers off attempting to capture
some crazy long exposures (I really need to buy a cable release) I called it
a night and curled up in my sleeping bag beside the bug.

Morning…

You can’t quite see where I slept, on the other side of that log barrier
but I must admit… It was one of the loveliest rests I had!! The only problem?
DEW… Everything was SO wet!

MY sleeping bag was soaked, pillow was drenched, and my car had an 1/8th
of an inch of STANDING water all over it! Soooo wet.

Oh, did I mention that it was bloody cold too? I was frigid from the moment
I summoned up enough courage to get out of my sleeping bag.

Regardless, I quickly warmed after my drive back into town was greeted by a
delicious cup of espresso, a mango juice and an incredibly good fresh donut

After wandering around Historic Cambria a bit in my ailing, backfiring Bug,
I headed North again on Hwy 1… About to cover some of the most beautiful
country of my entire trip.

I remembered this countryside well, it was where Ethan and I finally began
to cross back into civilization again after our Alaska trip, where we paid 3x
more than we should have for fuel, and where we both admitted that though
the countryside was beautiful, we were simply too jaded by Canada and
Alaska’s ruggedly Utopian atmosphere to even notice.

This time though, things were very different…

(Not sure which one I like better… What’s your opinion?)

Everywhere, the beauty surrounded me… To my left, the mighty Pacific
who only yesterday reminded me of it’s great power by attempting to sink
my car… To my right, the hills and mountains rose above me and before me.

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!
I was constantly blown away by what an incredible State I live in.
These are some of the very reasons I chose to move to California in the
first place… SO glad I did

Admittedly, I didn’t stop as much on this drive as I might’ve… My poor little
Bug was running like absolute trash, backfiring, squealing, shaking, and
just generally reminding me how angry she was that I’d allowed her to be
drenched by the Pacific the day before.

That didn’t stop me however, from flipping a quick u-turn (have to love the
turning radius on that lil’ VW!) and heading back toward a sign I’d seen
by a narrow little lane that heralded a Hermitage somewhere up on the hillside.

I turned onto the road blindly and began a trek that I wasn’t quite certain
my car would survive… But boy did it pay off.

http://www.bigsurhermitage.com/

The monks had a lovely bookshop where I met a fellow photographer who
was there to spend a couple of weeks in solace and offered me a hose to
help wash some of the leftover salt off my car.

After stopping by their incredible chapel for a few quiet prayers I washed
my car, took some pictures of the view (to follow) and headed back North

The View From The Top…

Large Version HERE

If you’re a photographer, you know that image breaks a plethora of “rules”
but you can probably also figure out why I adore it so much

The land behind my car, off in the distance had almost all been burned
in the fires from earlier this year, in fact they burnt right up to within about
10′ of where the little Bug is parked… Wild.

Funny Face…

I’ve always thought my little Bug had some delightfully silly angles…
I’m sure you can agree!

After snapping the above photos, I took off back down the mountainside,
headed North once again, toward Big Sur, and onward to Santa Cruz
where I knew I could have a roof over my head, and possibly even a mechanic
to work on my car further.

Coast Highway…

Shockingly enough, I didn’t even stop to take a single photo when I was
actually IN the Big Sur… I was too busy trying to get my poor car to run properly
enough to take me all the way up to Santa Cruz.

I did however meet some interesting characters along the way.. The Scotsman in
his Miata (complete with a set of snow ski’s poking out from his passenger seat);
the German who was in search of the Hermitage I’d just visited, but had no clue
what the proper word was; and of course the hitchhiking family who nearly got
me run off the road by a motorcyclist.

Oh, and I bumped into a guy who yelled at me from across the gas station:
“Yo! Drowned Bug guy!” Apparently, he’d been at Pismo the day before and
had seen my Bug in the water… Even taken pictures! He promised to email
them to me and I’ve been waiting for them excitedly, ever since!

All good peoples…

The best was yet to come though, as would soon be stopping in with some
of my favorite people; “mommyfish” and her family. Ethan and I had actually
stopped by there on our trip down from Alaska also, and though it was a brief
visit, it left all of us with memories of great times.

This visit certainly didn’t disappoint…
The first item on the agenda when I arrived?

APPLE SAUCE!

(Photo By Barbara)

SO much fun
Then their family each had a turn first:

Tommy…

Barbara…

Then, Mommyfish (Nancy) herself:

Finally, it was the Patriarch’s turn (George):

And time for a quick family portrait…

…Before I’d shower up and head off to downtown Santa Cruz for some
killer hot chocolate and shopping with Barbara. A tremendous way to
unwind after some of the most incredibly stressful days EVER!

I planned to stay the night, and work on the car hard and heavy the next day…
Little did I know what would happen next, and just how insane it’d become
to work on my little 38 year old runt of a car.

Whew.
But that’s a story for another day!
For now, it’s 2:10AM and I’m desperately low on rest… Bedtime!

P.S. If you’re enjoying my adventure so far… Just you wait, it gets even better!
Also, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, digg, or recommend this post to your
friends… I figure that’s the least you can do for the crazy guy who’s busy sinking
his vehicles for your entertainment

Plus, as soon as I make it (fully intact, Lord willing) and get settled into my
destination in Seattle, I’ll be releasing some killer marketing techniques that
your friends may enjoy as well.. Again, just you wait!

Talk soon….

Proof Positive:
38 Year Old Volkswagen’s DON’T Float!!

So… When they were new, Bug’s could float… For a little while.
But after 38+ years of driving, rusting, and just generally becoming OLD,
I have PROOF that they simply don’t float at ALL any more.

(Which might be a good thing, or I’d probably have lost her forever!)

Wait a second, I’m getting ahead of myself again

______________________________________________________

Day Two: Breakfast, Murals, Freakouts,
and a Small Touch of Insanity
______________________________________________________

I woke up at a “Reasonable Hour” the sun beating down on me as I lay
outside by the Bug, near the entrance to a State Park (remind me to tell
you all the stories of the places I TRIED to sleep sometime).

After packing things up as well as I could, I swiftly set off to the North,
seeking coffee and breakfast. 40 miles later, I encountered the lovely
little town of Lompoc and my nifty Google Phone told me that there
was a coffee shop just South of my location.

“Southside Coffee”

After eating a ridiculously tasty bagel sandwich and beginning my mondo
size (quad) cappuccino I set out for a bit of a walk about to see what the town
had to offer… And did it ever offer!

They’re KNOWN for their murals there, DOZENS of them… Here are just a
few images, I haven’t taken the time to stitch any thus far, so you’re getting
them just about as raw as can be, I just want to share a bit of the feel Lompoc
has

Tributes to Troops…

Mural-In-A-Day!

(Apparently they have an annual contest for best mural in a day… Pretty Rad!)

A Bit of Lompoc History
(This was part of a laaaaaarge piece illustrating the story)

Such a beautiful street…

A Castle Inspired Church Is Always Nice…

*Time Warp*

Let me jump back about an hour… As I made my way toward Lompoc,
I encountered some BEAUTIFUL countryside… So, I took pictures of course

*Back To The Future*

After leaving Lompoc, I continued making my way up Hwy 101 past Vandeberg
Airforce Base, and onward to Hwy 1 and the Coast.

“Oil Is My Blood”

I popped into a little gas station for fuel, and to top off my ever needy oil tank
(these silly Volkswagen’s LOVE their oil, haha). While there, I met a young guy
driving an old Mustang who offered some funny comments, compliments, and
advice on where I should head to surf in the area.

That’s where things started to go wrong….

As I descended down the toward the ocean, I ecstatically spotted some
GORGEOUS dunes in the distance… I looked down at my phone and noticed
that they were in an area called “Pismo Beach State Park”.
Sweeet (Or Not)

See, I invested in an annual State Park pass earlier this year so I didn’t have
any excuses not to surf my favorite locations… This makes for a great thing
when you’re traveling and want to check out what the State deems beautiful
enough to be cared for, and a terrible thing when those locations deem it
necessary to do their best to destroy your trip.

This might well be my longest post ever.
There’s so much left to tell!

Above is one of my famous, expert graphs to show what the situation was.
Remember the one from my telephone pole motorcycle accident?
(It’s a bit of a prettier one, isn’t it?)

“The Shot”

…And this is where it gets interesting.

See that picture up there? That’s where it began.
I’m standing there, taking that picture… My car is parked a whopping
300′+ from the water and the largest wave that reached us is this one:

See that?
It’s a monster isn’t it? One entire half inch…
And if you know me at all, you know a bit of how my mind works.
The moment I saw that itty bitty little wave, I quickly calculated
the figures that mattered.

My car could easily withstand 12-15 of those itty waves before there
would even have a WORRY about getting stuck.

See, when a wave comes up, it washes away a little bit of the dirt
beneath the tires… So if my estimations were correct (and I have no
reason to doubt them, I had NOTHING to worry about at all.

Ya’ Right.

Moments after those photos were taken, I went to change my aperture
from F1.4 to F11 or so to capture the image in just a bit of a different manner.

The next thing I knew, I heard a crash… I jumped and looked up just as
a 3 FOOT TALL WAVE *SMASHED* into my Bug!

In case you haven’t noticed, my car is barely more than the size of a child’s
toy, so 3′ of water means that water was POURING into my passenger side
window (which is of course, where my laptop and camera gear were hanging out).

I sprinted… Or more accurately SLOGGED my way to the car; carefully
holding my camera above my head as I charged through the surf, desperate
to save my car, my lenses, and my laptop.

It seemed like it took me eternity to reach my car, I was soaked more than halfway
up my legs and that water was COLD!

When I finally got to the car I grabbed the door and pulled… Somehow knowing
that was a mistake. As I opened the door, water poured in… But there was already
6″ or so inside… I guess I forgot the holes in the floor board.

There was NO WAY that baby was going to float!

Desperate, I tried to start her.
No dice.

In my flying days I used to ferry light aircraft all over the country, and I’d alway
keep a can of ether / starting fluid “just in case” so I did the same thing on this
trip… Again, NO DICE.

I quickly rolled up the windows, grabbed my camera bag and computer, then made
a mad dash up toward the dry sand mark (and just a bit beyond it, for safety’s sake).

Then, I took off… 1/4 mile flat out.
Running like the friggin’ wind, through deep, silty sand
and in soaked jeans… I must have looked like an idiot, but at
that point my adreneline level was so high I could do nothing but
try my best not to fall and continue rushing on.

My goal? To reach the entrance to the State Park where I’d had a great conversation
with the ranger, just minutes before… He’d loved my car and thought I was crazy
for attempting such a long trip.

Now though, he was a JERK.
“I need a rope, a chain, SOMETHING to tow my car!” I said… He replied
deftly “I can’t help with that” ………… I stood there a bit shocked and asked again.
After another brief eternity, he gave me the card for a tow truck driving based about
15 minutes away.

I nearly slapped him in the face.
Surrounding us, EVERYWHERE were people driving big trucks.
I mean this is friggin’ Pismo Beach! ALL I needed was a rope or a chain, lol.

I took off again, running over to an ATV rental spot that ALSO looked at
me like I was crazy… Stalled, and then after about 90 seconds of watching
me squirm admitted to having a tow strap they could sell me.

2 minutes later and thanks to a very kind soul with a sweet Avalanche, I was
outta there… The car had filled with water up to the tops of the seat cushions
but somehow, nearly all my gear was safe and dry.

My Next 6 Hours…

Were spent right there on that street…
Covered in grease and desperately trying to make her run.
Others joined in, and after trying every possible way of wiring,
testing out spark plugs, and making sure water hadn’t made it’s way
into the block we finally got her running again.

VERY POORLY.

But then, with an engine bay that looked like this one, what can you expect?

This story continues on… Back firing and lurching to Napa Auto Parts, then on
to a mechanic who helped set the timing… Then further lurching and back firing
to where I finally slept (VERY WELL) on a cliff, overlooking the Ocean.

But this post has gone on long enough… And the adventure is outside my motel
door, desperately urging me to get on the road and head North!

And so I’ll leave you… With a poorly running Bug, barely saved from the Ocean
and somewhere North of Pismo Beach, CA with a very, VERY tired Eric at the
wheel… There is so much more to share… But that will come in the next post

Of Ballerinas and Road Cones….

Just got in a few days ago from a weekend trip to Atlanta, GA
to shoot Jeremy and Liz’s wedding… Shockingly enough, this was
my 9th weekend on the go with just a few days at home between
them. It’s been such a crazy summer!!

I’m home now for a few more days but I’m thinking seriously about
taking a car trip up the Coast toward Northern Cali, OR one down
South to Mexico… We shall see!

In the meantime… (And before I pass out from exhaustion)
Let me share a few images and a video from this weekend’s shooting.
It was SUCH a blast! Plus, some of the images I captured I’d have to
say are certainly in my list of all time favorites.

I liked them so much in fact, that I made my first EVER video slideshow…
I think I’ll be making a habit of this… Whaddya say, do you like it?

Pretty darn cool, eh?!

And now, the photo highlights for those of you who want to see
things a bit larger (in no particular order )

So Happy Together!!

All Smiles…
(And ready for her dress!)

See?
Told you she was ready….

And now for her close-up(s)…

Don’t you just love her pointe shoes?!
But wait.. Let’s see ‘em in action.

As you can see, the Church had an awesome parking garage
attached… AND it had reasonably good light that was just begging
for a little contrast / off camera flash work…

A Bride with Attitude…

Doesn’t she just look so stinkin’ saucy?!
(She really is a bit of a sharp one It’s awesome!)

As I looked around the garage we tried to find a few cool props
that might make for an interesting shot… We found ‘em, though
they came with their own complications

Push!

The golf cart… I had this great, crazy shot in mind, but ya’ see…
The Church was smart enough to pull the keys out of the carts
before they parked them, leaving our wedding party to push it up
the slope… (Luckily, they’re all incredibly good sports, haha!)

And this is what came of it…

Other fun props…
“Dunces?”

I absolutely love Andrew (the groomsman on the far left)’s expression…
Priceless!

Of course the girls loved the Groom as much as the guys liked the Bride:

*Time And Location Swap = Over*
And yet, a few of them got this wild idea that it might be “cool”
to climb on the wires (in their high heels) - Who ever could have
given them THAT thought?!

See it Larger.

*Time Shift*
The best man happened to be the Groom’s brother… Summarily:

“Brothers and Sisters - Husbands and Wives”

Pretty cool, eh?

Of course, I shot a bunch of headshots for everyone involved,
hmm let me pick a few:

Purty (and wonderful) people!

*Time And Location Jump*
The reception was held in a beautiful little art gallery in Marietta, GA.
Was a perfect venue for this crowd too

We had lots of fun
“Peanut Butter Jelly!”

Departure:

“Oh ya’ the rings”

And this was the first time I’ve ever been asked to shoot the Groom
carrying his new Bride across their threshold… Was a cool shot, and
well worth chasing the limo into Atlanta I think

(But then, I just love the mirror!)

And that’s all for now folks….
Could really use your prayers for Wisdom, endurance, love, hope and kindness
in my life right now… How can I be praying for you?

P.S. Alright… Fess up… Which was your favorite photo?!