Malibu Longboarding Contest

On Sunday morning at 6am, I got in my car with a nice full mug of coffee and drove up to Malibu. Sunday was the finals for the Malibu Surfing Association longboarding contest. This was my first surf contest, so I was anxious to see what it would be like.

When I arrived at 8:30 am, the heats had already begun. The best surfers were left on Sunday- after winning all of their heats the day before. There were men and women of all ages, the youngest being about 4 and the oldest, 85. Sitting on the beach, it felt like a family. Many of the spectators and surfers have grown up surfing together and competing against each other. It was a beautiful day. The waves were small, but everyone made the best of it.

Sycuan Traditional Powwow Gathering

Last week the t.v. was on and a commercial came on advertising the annual Sycuan Powwow Gathering in El Cajon, CA - only 30 miles from San Diego. I have always wanted to go to a traditional Powwow. Since I have been out on the west coast, I have been flooded with creativity. I feel so inpspired by the landscape and culture out here. Every weekend, somewhere within a 4 hour drive is a surf contest, rodeo queen pageant, or a powwow. All are diversely cultural events with incredible subject matter for portraiture.

I knew that the powwow could be a pathway to another potential project. I decided to go there and focus on using my digital camera. I really want to get comfortable with it. I may never be as comfortable and satisfied as I am using film- but it may just be a matter of time.

I spent almost the entire day at the powwow. It was a wonderful day. I spoke to families that had driven over 10 hours- from Arizona, New Mexico, California, Washington- all over the west.

Life in San Diego, CA

I have been in San Diego since early September. I am staying with a my brother's best friend's family, the Winetrouts. The Winetrouts used to live in Eugene and I have faint memories of being with them when I was three and four years old.

They have been incredibly generous having me stay with them in San Diego. I have a wonderful little bedroom. They treat me as if I were their own daughter. I can come and go as I please, and they are always there to welcome me home with open arms.

In San Diego, I have mainly been focused on my girl surfer project. I have had a few meetings with Roxy/Quiksilver, who have given me many contacts with sponsored surfers. I have also just been going to the beaches and looking for the right subjects. Right now the project has such a nice mix of regular girls that love to surf, and pro short and long boarders.

I leave for New York in a week. There, I will be spending a solid week printing everything that I have been shooting for the last 3 months. I am so anxious to see everything and begin editing it. I want to make several new portfolios to add to my website. I am anxious to put the surfer project together and figure out it's right destination.

Right now I am really torn about where I want to settle for the next year. I have fallen in love with a little town called Encinitas in North San Diego County. It's about 20 miles north of downtown San Diego- and about an hour and a half south of Los Angeles. I have met amazing people there, they have a little capoeira group, yoga studios, and coffee houses. People are laid back and open- and it's right on the beach.

But I also love Venice Beach. I think Venice is the only neighborhood in LA where I could really live. It's funky, creative, on the beach, and full of galleries, bars and restaurants. It's going to be a really tough decision- but it may also become a decision that I will make over time. Luckily I have places I can crash so that I can give the decision some time. But sometimes it's also really important to just make a commitment to a place one way or another. I could drive myself crazy moving from place to place and back and forth. Hopefully my time in New York will bring some clarity.........

The Harley Ride, Pheonix, AZ

I had to peel myself away from the rocks in Sedona. I left after the sunset and started my drive to Pheonix. As I headed down the highway, a full moon was rising behind one of the famous rock formations.

I was headed to Phoenix to visit the Barnwell's, my stepmom's son and his family. They live in Mesa, Arizona, a suburb of Pheonix. As soon as I got up the next morning, Kevin told me to get dressed, we were going on a motorcycle ride.

And that we did. We headed out of Mesa on a backroad towards Apache Junction. It was fantastic. I have been on a few motorcyle rides, and each one, I will never forget. One was on a little moped in Hanoi, Vietnam with my older brother. Another was on the back of a crotch rocket, on my birthday in Miami, with a hot French guy. And now on the back of a Harley with my step brother, winding through the canyons outside of Phoenix.

By the time we got home 4 hours later, my butt was in so much pain. But it was well worth it.

Sedona

After the Grand Canyon, I decided to drive to Sedona. I know that I already partially covered the trip to Sedona in a previous blog entry, but I feel the need to go back to it. Sedona is one of the most spiritually powerful places I have been in my life. The earth there seems to be charged with an energy that is not found in many places in the world. I felt calm and at ease there. I only stayed one night, I wanted to stay longer but I needed to continue to Pheonix.

I shot a lot in Sedona. I photographed Slide Rock- which I posted in a previous blog entry. I drove through Oak Canyon on the way to Sedona. Oak Canyon is just outside of Sedona, and Slide Rock is only about 3 miles from the little town. On my way in, I stopped at Slide Rock to shoot a 4x5 from the bridge. It was a Saturday and there were about a hundred people swimming in the creek at Slide. I found this out the next morning, but many times in the summer, the city has to close the creek because tests indicate that there is an unhealthy amount of urine in the water. Ewwwwww. Luckily I had no idea as I splashed around the creek with all of the other tourists and Sedona locals.

When I went to photograph Slide Rock, I had to park about a half mile from the bridge. After parking, I walked on a pathway tucked in the trees along the highway. I was there in the late afternoon, and there were plenty of cars on the highway, and people in the river below the path. But the path was strangely secluded and devoid of any people.
As I walked down the path, weighed down by three cameras and a heavy tripod, I approached a woman. As she came closer, I noticed she was in her mid fifties or early sixties. She looked beautiful. She had long blonde hair. Her skin was tan and glowing. Here eyes were blue, and her clothes were clean and pressed. But there was something about her and the way she carried her that told me she lived on the road, and she didn't carry much to her name. As I approached her, I got a very cold feeling. We passed one another and a few seconds later, I could hear her yelling to get my attention. I turned around to see that she was talking to me, walking towards me. She was telling this story about her apartment getting broken into, her car getting stolen, she had no phone and needed money. As she spoke to me, she came closer and closer to me. Out of no where, a chill started at my scalp and washed through my entire body like a wave. I felt fear. I was holding my tripod on my shoulder, but I calmly pulled it in front of me to set a distance between us. I was unsure of what she would do, and the fear told me that she could physically come after me, even though she was clearly in her late fifties. I calmly interrupted her and removed myself from the situation as quickly as possible. As I walked away, the fear continued to wash through me, and I was scared.
I found it so interesting because I lived in New York City for three years, and never felt the fear that I felt when I was in her presence. I think that my body sensed something that my mind could not understand. It was beyond any physical or real comprehension. I just wonder what that something was- but thank goodness nothing happened. I will never forget that experience. I also think that my sense were heightened because Sedona is such an energetic place.