Last Shoot

My last shoot for 2011 was very special.

It had been 1 year, 10 months and 3 days since I last saw Mila, far, far, far too long to go without an adventure together! We had made attempts to get together sooner but one thing or another always seemed to keep it from happening ...until this past weekend!

While she was here visiting friends and family she graciously set aside a day for me. The weather cooperated and we were able to run out to the desert for a few hours, it was a beautiful day and being with her again was unbelievably amazing.

It is days like this I feel so very blessed and what an incredible way to end the year.

If I could, I would shoot her every day.

"You're suddenly seeing the coherence and the interconnectedness of everything, left to right, top to bottom, front to back. It's all connected, and, somehow, it's all in balance. And that's, of course, when you go, 'Yes!'." ~Henry Wessel

Sunday afternoon in Victorville

It was too cold to run out to the desert with night time temps in the 20's, so I met Pearl on Sunday afternoon and we just wandered in and around town for a bit.

These Days

We didn't spend too much time on 7th Street in Old Town, almost everything there is now closed and boarded up, it's so desolate it resembles a movie set. We also drove down Route 66 and failed in an attempt to get down to the creek from Oro Grande, had a brief conversation with a guy on a dirt bike looking for the same, then we stopped by a short row of trees in the sunlight before heading back to town.

Last night while looking over the images from this shoot I got this feeling of evolution, because regardless of how many photos I take of Pearl there is always something new in the very next one, not simply a new pose or new location, something more, something never seen before. 

Maybe it is the evolution of our vision more than a change in style or a deviation in our work, it is the story moving forward, time moves on and things change perhaps this is the photographic equivalent.

On Sunday Pearl told me she sometimes enjoys looking back at our earliest work and watching the progression from those first photo shoots and how the images have changed over time. I think each photo shoot has in some way helped to shape the next one, and so on in an ever evolving process of refining and seeking to explore and share that which we experience. 

I Tried To Call

What's going to happen in 2012 who knows, my hope is I can keep telling the stories, taking the photos and going on adventures, because there is still so much to say and we've barely scratched the surface, and besides, everything is possible.

Together

"The world is one huge canvas, find your location and expose your film passionately!" ~Steve Denby

Happy Holidays

Whatever your tradition, philosophy, belief or political persuasion, my best wishes to you and yours.

Merry Christmas

"Photography is a love affair with life." ~Burk Uzzle

David's Girls

2011 Was a very good year for my work, I received a bit of recognition, made some new friends, traveled all over southern California taking pictures and even revived some work in film.

But no one knows better than me I didn't do it alone, these absolutely phenomenal and very talented individuals made it all possible and without them, I would be out there shooting landscapes and cactus. These girls got up early, suffered my company on long drives to remote areas of desert, hiked, climbed rocks and braved cold, wind, rain and heat just to create these images.

All I can say is each of them deserves serious kudos, each of them has my deepest respect, gratitude and love because they are what art is made of. And I'm not the only photographer they work with so you really ought to be watching them! The incredible people I had the privilege and honor of working with in 2011, in order of appearance...

Pearl Pardo...

Electric Blue

Rebel Smith...

Or Bust

Sunshine In The Desert...

Dreamstate

Conundra...

If You Could Only

NevaehLleh...

Waterfront

Rebelflowers...

The Illusion Of Light

Madrid...

Lost At Sea

Greenbirdgirl...

Will The Sun Come Up Tomorrow

Sasha L...

Of Moments

Plus someone who will be coming back to California at the end of December to shoot with me, this has been a very blessed year and I am so very humbled by the people who have shared it with me, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

 "It's the spirit of a person, that really creates something worthwhile." NevaehLleh