I’m heading off to California on Monday for an extended three week long break. I’m not sure how much access or time I’m going to have to write in this blog so I figured I would make one last post before I hit the road. Who knows, I might have a lot of down time and will end up making posts a lot. Or it might be complete radio silence for the entire time I’m away. That is sort of the beauty of the way I like to take vacations. Pretty much anything can happen. Or nothing can happen at all.
Either way, I have my Hasselblad and my Minolta SRT-101 all packed up with a generous amount of film ready for some adventures. Anyone who is a film photographer knows that sometimes traveling with film gear can be a bit of a pain. That is one of the things I really envy about digital photographers. Media cards don’t take up a lot of room in a camera bag. Bricks of film however, not to mention a light meter, lens filters, etc. can make it pretty tough to get away with that one carry on bag you plan on stuff into the overhead compartment on the plane.
Still, it’s worth it. Documenting my travels on a medium I’m sure to go back and look at when I’m too old and tired to walk around is nice. Normally I’d be content to just travel with a 35mm camera but on this trip I’m going to do at least one serious shoot with a model and I want the Hasselblad for that.
Anyway, this particular image was done in San Francisco at Baker Beach, which is a well known clothing optional spot in the bay. I used to do sessions there all the time back when I lived in the area but I haven’t been back here in at least seven or so years. I’m curious if it is even still accessible. Back when I made this image the trail down to the beach was a bit sketchy due to mudslides and sections of the path being washed away. Maybe its been fixed, or maybe this entire section of beach is no longer an option to work with.
This image was photographed at about seven o’clock in the morning with my Mamiya C330 TLR. I believe that was the only medium format camera I owned at the time and it served me just as well back then as it does today.