Beauty is found in many women all sizes, shapes and colors we can all agree on that certainly. I see true beauty as not so much on the surface but from within. There in lies the promise of something much more potent than common cover girl looks.
We all recognize the difference between a pretty to look at actress on the silver screen and a beautiful leading lady. So what does the leading lady have that the younger pretty actress doesn’t. It’s simple, her inner beauty!! A deep well of strength, confidence, love and caring not just for oneself but for all the people in her life this is the catalyst of inner beauty.
It’s the leading lady that glows inspiring a man’s heart keeping him waking each morning telling himself he’s the luckiest man alive. These aren’t just pretty words written down it is a simple fact my gentle reader. True it can’t be scientifically proven in the laboratory measured and calculated but is so obvious in real life no one can deny it. So for each of you reading this the question is, the pretty young actress or leading lady?
After weeks then months of living and working in “the city” and admittedly the most exciting city in the world. One can become burnt out no matter any amount of yoga, organic food and clean living can provide. It only takes a minute for me to look through the files of a recent shooting trip to Big Sur Cali and I can almost smell the clean cool pacific coast breezes. It may only be a trick of my imagination reliving the amazing vistas and clean air as I listen to the sirens passing by my Tribeca loft but I’ll take it in any form it comes in. It may just be time for another road trip… (sigh).
Still going through my Big Sur images this one was from the very beginning of my trip into Big Sur country. It was at this exact moment I felt a sense of awe and inspiration. The clouds floating by were only a 100 or 200 feet above me. You wanted to jump up and grab them. When I saw this view I pulled over almost to a screeching halt (don’t tell Dollar-Rent-A-Car).
Now the trip to this point was perfect. My plane landed on time and my rent a car worked as expected. I even had a chance to spend a few days with friends in Venice Beach when I first arrived. My hosts totally spoiled me with home cooked meals and intoxicating exotic concoctions made with fresh herbs from their garden. As most people living in the steamy broiling concrete jungle of NYC this was a welcome reprieve. Even with this and the chance to sleep with the windows open (man, I miss that) I couldn’t wait to begin my trip up north. I left Venice Beach a full day earlier than planned.
As I stood on the side of the road with this amazing view and the cool ocean breeze seeing the foot hills of Big Sur off in the distance I became truly inspired. There was no traffic, no noise, no sirens and air conditioners humming away in the background like I’m listening too as I write this. Experiencing this peaceful moment instantly alleviated my concerns about this trip and the maps I had laid out all over the passenger seat. Taking a long deep breath I got back into the car smiling heading directly up into the mountains of Big Sur quietly listening and watching.
Most experienced travel photographers know the challenges in packing for an extended trip. What to bring what can be left behind – do I really need the third lens. We’ve all been there and traveling in Europe the airlines are even stricter weight wise so it’s second nature pack, weigh the bag, repack, weigh the bag it’s almost comical.
The one thing more critical than anything in your bag you could remember to bring is simple curiosity. It weights nothing, costs nothing and is your single most important photography tool. The image above taken in Big Sur on route 101 in northern California. It’s a windy, switch back ridden, treacherous road that calls for two handed driving. Every 1/2 mile or so there’s a small spot you can pull over grab your camera get out and see the most beautiful vista’s.
One of these stops after hours of driving I saw a bunch of cars on the side of the road and pulled over. I walked a bit on a pathway that people were on but not much of a view. To get on the path was a five minute walk down the road and said to myself “I have to see what these people are doing”.
As my feet hit the dirt path I walked about 50 yards wondering what I’d see and soon saw a partial view of a cove. I took a frame or two and walked further not thinking there was much else. Then after rounding a bend in the path I saw something that just made me smile even though weary, tried and caffeine deprived. I saw a water fall crashing down on a deserted beach sweet!!
The moral and there is one, is always, always!! bring your curiosity cause you never know what is behind the next bend in the road or path taken.
What’s not to like… really these special people brighten up our would be mundane daily lives with humor, drama and romance. They are the alter ego’s to what we “normal folks” won’t, can’t or have the guts to do.
I mean really who does that!! To make you break out laughing from just a look or one liner it always rocked my world. What I never fully appreciated was how hard 99.9% of these living outside of normal society crazy people worked to finely hone their craft. The other 00.1% are the Jim Carey’s and Paul Newman’s of the world they were destined for this life.
I knew actors worked hard at what they do though I admit I kinda accepted most just woke up this way but that’s not the case. Years of school, training, heartache, humiliation, rejection all for their moments in the spot light, a chance to live their dream of entertaining others. Giving up careers, families, a home.
So this is me tipping my hat to all of you crazy wonderful people chasing your dream against your parents and friends wishes for the contrary. I greatly admire the courage and determination you posses. May your time come and remain in the spot light for as long as you wish… as you surely deserve it.
Each journey you take as an artist, your individual perception of what you see is unique to you. If another person were next to me at the exact moment shooting this exact same shot with the exact same equipment would this be the image they captured?
I see beauty and strength of what once was it helps me appreciate the moment I am in now. I think of the moment the caption and deck hands hit an unseen reef and the ship rocked as if hit by an earth quake people thrown to the ground and against walls throw from bed as you tried to grab a quick hour or two of sleep before your next shift. Life’s ruined, the captions career over in an instant, cargo spoiled, stores not receiving ordered goods and insurance companies across the globe soon in motion sizing up the liability.
There is much to be seen in an image photography is a great teacher.
