Foggy Ocean Contemplations

Last weekend I found myself in the Sunset District in San Francisco on a windy and foggy day. Days like that are, of course, my favorite, so I paid a visit to Ocean Beach. The beach was almost deserted and I was free to watch and photograph the waves while thinking about what draws me to the ocean.


I like the ocean because it makes me feel insignificant. It sounds strange, but I find it comforting to know that there are things out there that are so much bigger and stronger than me and my life. And I love visiting the ocean in the fog because the fog has this way of quieting everything and giving a sense of belonging and isolation. It makes me feel like I'm separate from everybody else while also a part of so many things.

Water and Rocks

This Sunday has been filled with practical things like studying for my French test but I took some time to reminisce about last Sunday's adventure when I took Highway 1 South down to photograph at Pigeon Point lighthouse and Pescadero State Beach. It was just before a storm was due to arrive and the tide was so high that there wasn't much beach to stand on but, luckily it wasn't too cold and I managed to get some good photographs. Take a look:

Rock Portraits

As promised, here are more photos from Sunday's photo shoot at Mile Rock Beach. I am quite pleased with the images I made that day. I think they show a distinct difference from the beach pictures I've made over the past few years.

Splash

Just one photo today, an action shot, taken at Mile Rock Beach. It was unexpectedly warm this morning, so I spent 2 hours crawling across the rocks at the wave line and taking photos. There will be more to come, but with 354(!) photos to go through, that will take a while. 

Screenprinted Sea Foam

I've been enamored with the newest technique I've learned: screenprinting, but, not being that great at drawing, I've been disappointed by the images I've been making. Last week, determined to get a result I'd be happy with, I looked to my photographs for inspiration. As you know, I've been photographing the ocean recently, so I decided to isolate the sea foam from some of those photos using Photoshop and then, using Illustrator, turned it into digital negative I could use to expose my screens.


Below are the source photos I used and the resulting prints. Some folks have asked if I want to do layering or add more colors to the prints because they are simple but, to be honest, I'm quite happy with them as they are. Perhaps I am just in the honeymoon period and will change my mind in the future...

Sea foam source photo 1

Sea foam study 1 (photo of screenprint)

sea foam source photo 2

sea foam study 2 (photo of screenprint) --this one is my favorite, I think

sea foam source photo 3

sea foam study 3 (photo of screenprint) (I ran out of grey ink)