1.14.06 Window and Two Oaks

I felt this image was worthy of a cross post between my blog and my google group 'Image of the Week'.

Greetings to all,

My poor car. It wants to please me so much, but I abuse her immensely. I bought her back in February of 1992. Brand new, 52 miles on the odometer. Black paint, black interior, a perfect Honda Prelude. She has transported me hundreds of thousands of miles, all without complaint, all without stranding me anywhere. Amazing really. I abuse her, because I take this beautiful made for highway machine and I take her off road. It is surprising the places I have managed to take my car without getting stuck. I remember one time out in California Valley after a rainfall, in the mud… we escaped after a period of time.

Satuday, I was sitting at my favorite coffee shop admiring the beautiful clouds in the sky. I decided to go photograph chasing, regardless at the possibility of rain. I drove up the 101 to the 58 and drove out toward Pozo. The rain came and went, heavy and brutal at times, but my tires stuck to the pavement well. I drove through Pozo, home of the famous saloon and off into the storm that was sitting on the hilltops to the east. I found a road that went up into the hills, narrow and foreboding. The clouds hung thick amongst the folds of the land, but I was betting that they would rise and give me a glorious view of… something. It was a one lane road, rocks all over the place. I had to guess which would not hit the undercarriage of my car, and when I guessed one would, I got out and kicked it out of the road. I wound up into the clouds, wondering all the way if I was stupid or crazy to take my little car up a road that needed really a four wheel drive. It was paved, but neglected. The wind whipped up, the clouds became more thick, and I pressed on. I arrived at an intersection where three motorcycle riders were sitting. They looked upon me as if I were crazy, my gaze back was one of intent. I would see what there was to see. Period. After some time of driving I came upon a strange outpost at the end of the road, a large sphere with spikes, and some out buildings. The wind was whipping like a hurricane in the making, the rain fell sideways. It was a FAA radar station, disguised as an alien landing site. The weather was quite uncooperative, I left the dead end with no photographs, but with and idea for something in the future. I drove back down to Pozo, carefully. I stopped outside the little town, if it can be called that and I began taking pictures of an abandoned school house and an abandoned house. I photographed this and that, and eventually toodled down the road to some more sights.

Back to the 101 I drove, taking pictures of oak trees, fences, and whatever I came across. I got back on the freeway and decided that I would try to the road to the top of Cuesta Grade. I successfully drove to the top of the pummeled road, and was yet again amazed by the sight. I was not so amazed when I got back home and saw the images. The eye sees so much more than what the camera can capture. Ten years from now, high dynamic range images will be the norm, and the modern idea of a photograph today will be considered very limiting. Then again, there will always be the attaction of the human eye to high contrast images that are quite unreal relative to what one really sees.

This image below is a high contrast image of the abandoned house in Pozo, along with two interesting oak trees. Window and the Oaks.

Prints are available of this image, drop me a line if you are interested.