An easy day, an easy camera

Orrick, near Forest Creek

I set off this afternoon for Orrick with my Minolta, my Holga, and (of course) my trusty camera phone.  I had the Minolta loaded with cheap, commercial ISO 400 Fujifilm, and had brought along some E-100 color film for the Holga.  I had two goals – the first was to find access to the beach on the north side of Forest Creek, and the second was to do some Freeman Patterson exercises.

Finding access to the beach was simple, but hair raising.  The road was small and heavily rutted, and the various holes were full of water which made it difficult to judge their depth.  I poked along in 3rd gear, hoping fervently that I would not discover a hole deep enough to crack an axle on the Saturn, but eventually reached a parking area on the north side of the creek.  The beach itself turned out to be absolutely glorious.  It was covered in driftwood near the bluffs, and the sand was for the most part hard packed and easy to walk on.  There were few human tracks, and I spent the majority of my time there out of site of any other human beings, totally alone.

I hiked north all the way to the next headland, which was a fair strole through thin mist.  The bluffs were heavily covered with brush, but occasionally I could hear the trickle of water down the rocks beneath – only if I had an ear pointing in that direction.  If I turned my head to look for the water I would lose the sound in the wind.

The ocean was lovely and lively, rushing energetically up the beach, or forming broad shallow inlets that proved perfect for reflective photography.

I discovered that I had chosen poorly for my exercise for the day.  The plan was to set the camera on a slow shutter speed and swing it with the timer on until the shutter tripped, but with 400 film it was impossible for me to get to a slow shutter speed even with the aperture cranked to f16.  So instead I just concentrated on taking shots of the surf, of the sun, of the sea stacks, and of course of the metamorphic rock so common in this area.

Coming back near sunset I met a Yurok woman heading out to Mussel Rock (which, I discovered, is the name of the headland) to gather – mussels.  That was my only human contact while I was there.

I shot a roll of the fujifilm, and a roll of color 120 film from the Holga.  I also got a bunch of camera phone shots, which I have put up on my flickr site.  You can find them here.

DAY TRIP The UC Riverside California Museum of Photography

Link to source

Updated: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 10:49 PM PDT

The UC Riverside California Museum of Photography describes itself as an “intellectual meeting ground” for the university and the general public. The museum puts photography at the forefront through various exhibitions, a multitude of collections and various publications of which it is a part. As media change, the museum has also dedicated itself to examining the changing face of photography, its role in the media and the relationship it holds with its traditional role of expression and how that role has shifted to contemporary practice. The museum is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. The museum was founded in 1973 and carries with it a record of its history, which serves well as a record of those decades. One of the major achievements has been the museum’s ability to move with changing media. It celebrates itself as one of the first public institutions to integrate public web access into its gallery programs.

The museum hopes to continue that tradition of carrying the future of media and photography by displaying the marvels of today.

GETTING THERE

Take the CA-55 North for about 12 miles. Exit onto the CA-91 East toward Riverside for about 30 miles. Exit Downtown/University Avenue and merge onto Mulberry Street. Turn left at University Avenue.

If you want to avoid the CA-55 North and catch the CA-91 a little further east, take the I-405 South to the CA-133 North and merge onto CA-241 North to the CA-91 East.

The CA-133 and CA-241 are toll roads.

HOURS

The Gallery and Museum Store are open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Both are closed Sunday, Monday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence and New Year’s Day.

The museum is open and admission is free on the first Sunday of February, March, April, May, October, September, November and December.

The museum extends its hours from 6 to 9 p.m. the first Thursday of every month, and admission is free during that time.

ADMISSION

General admission to the museum is $3, but it is free to members, students and seniors.

Children 14 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.

WALKER EVANS

One of the featured exhibits at the museum is the Walker Evans selection. The exhibit includes 61 photographs and covers the breadth of his career, including his portraiture and work with architectural interiors and exteriors.

— Daniel Tedford