406 - Balboa Park
I'm going to start of this post by saying I wasn't exactly feeling today's shoot. Such is the case sometimes, but I shoot anyway. Today's location was Balboa Park, in San Diego.
And yes, before you say anything, I DID say in my last adventure (Scripps Pier,) that that was my final adventure in America. But hey, we're squeezing one more in because I want to shoot at minimum 5 days a week, and next week we'd only shoot 4 if I didn't shoot today.
Haley's parents were coming into town to cross the border with us and hang out for a few days, so I planned on a 3 day weekend.
While we're on the topic, I think the "discipline" of shooting photography when you don't want to is extremely important. However many photographers tend to disagree. I tend to view photography as a "skill set" that can slowly improve, while many view photography more as a tool to relax.
I'd argue it can be both, and the former helps improve the later.
Either way, I wasn't in the mood today. It was an early morning sunrise shoot, at a touristy park, and the clouds weren't shaping up at all.
The whole park is essentially a bunch of old buildings, full of museums. Despite the stunning architecture, I wasn't feeling ANY shots. Nothing was very exciting to me, and I was more or less wandering out just waiting for something to jump out at me.
It's days like today where I question my skill in photography. For some reason if I don't get a shot right away, I start to chalk myself up as an amateur. It's a difficult mental space to fall in, and I try my best to get out of it before I get too deep in it.
One tip to combat this negative type of mental space is to tell yourself that it's not that you're a bad photographer, it's that you haven't found something that inspires you yet.
Eventually, we stumbled upon this small corridor of the park called the Spanish Village Art Center. And I'll admit, it got me interested. It's this plaza full of Spanish style shops, and the ground is full of colored tiles.
It was at this point I realized my heart wasn't in America at the moment, because I was so amped for Mexico. This is what I ASSUMED Mexico would look like, so it did something for my inspiration meter.
Luckily none of the shops were open yet, so we had the entire place to ourselves to take photos at. I wanted to remember the colorful tiles, and eventually I found the perfect spot:
“Red Brick Road”
Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 1600 ~ 17mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/1600s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Nice arch to help frame the image, a sky begging for a replacement, and some nice orange glow to light the street up.
The shot cleaned up nicely, my only gripe was that I didn't have a wide enough of an angle lens. Even at 17mm, I couldn't fit the full arch in the shot, and I had to cut it off at the corner. Oh well... After scouting the area, it was the best I could do. I'd rather have a half-cut off arch then no framing arch at all.
At this point, I decided I needed a close-up shot of something, to help compliment the shot.
I ended up finding this poster board full of colorful stickiness, that went with the colorful tiles on the ground. I focused right in the center of it, and snagged this pic:
“Sticky Heart”
Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 250 ~ 17mm ~ f/2.8 ~ 1/500s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Since the photo didn't have an official "subject," I decided it needed something. When cropping, I found the blank white sticky note, and centered it. Then I found a small heart that was drawn on another sticky note, and copied it to the middle one. That gave the image a focal point, and made it feel more complete.
Which was another lesson I learned. Don't be afraid to "create" a subject for your photo in post-production if needed. That heart took the photo from meh, to wow.
And that's about it! We wandered through the nearby cactus and rose gardens, but I didn't find anything too inspirational there. Every ounce of my energy was dispensed on those two photos, and my excitement (and nervousness) for crossing into Mexico later in the day.
Moral the story, shoot anyway. Doesn't have to be big, epic, or insane... Even an intimate scene will do. Now I can always remember this day, and my excitement for heading into Mexico.
Now I can say for REAL... SEE YOU IN MEXICO, BITHCES!
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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