I have always felt an existential need to roam, purposefully unhindered, through the countryside. Growing up in the remote, rugged Trinity Alps of Northern California, I had all the freedom in the world to wander the mountainside I lived on. With a little thermos and a snack, I would set out at dawn for an all-day woodland adventure, often arriving home well after the crickets had started up and stars began to be visible in the twilight. Every outing brought moments of awe and astonishment: Stumbling upon a forest clearing carpeted in pale violet star-tulips or a sun-dappled stream lined with leopard lilies made it seem like anything could happen at any moment. Even small scenes like a crimson leaf in a light shaft on the dark forest floor, or a simple early dogwood bloom, seemed like entire wonderful stories in their own right.
I often feel like I’ve come full circle back to that childhood wandering habit, albeit now with a larger thermos – and of course a camera kit. My local range, broadly speaking, is Coastal California: shady redwood forests, the Diablo Range and its glorious rolling foothills, sculpted sandstone and tafoni coastline, and mirror-like wetland wildlife preserves. Through the viewfinder of my infrared camera, each of these varied terrains transforms into a dreamlike landscape of unusual light and color that takes my breath away.
My ideal is to share these fantastical landscapes through fine art photographs that invite the viewer to disengage from the sameness of everyday reality and step into another world.
