Answers from the Sierra
Back in April, I had the idea of possibly making it out to the Eastern Sierra for a quick fall color trip. I thought it would be beneficial to breathe that fresh mountain air and stretch my creative legs in a different area. It had been about two years since I had been on a photography specific trip. I did miss it a bit, the adventure, the peaceful drive and not knowing what i’d see. I was excited about the idea but also torn. As much as I wanted to visit one of my favorite places, my priorities are first at home with my family. Kat and I discussed it over the next several weeks and we were able to make a plan. In order for this to work with our schedules, we agreed that given the small window of time available, I would go solo to maximize the time, create freely and then return home. Bringing Vincent and Kat along would introduce logistical and schedule changes that we didn’t want to put on them. The plan was set, I would leave San Diego approximately at 1:30am Saturday morning and arrive in Bishop for sunrise to explore shoot around, get a good night’s rest, wake up Sunday bright and early for sunrise, shoot through the morning light and head home around noon. I knew it would be a doozy of a trip and it’d take a lot out of me physically but it was the only way we could make it happen
Friday, October 11th arrived and I was having a bit of anxiety. I was still torn. I knew getting outside for creative time would help tame all the built up stress of work and life but the thought of being away from the family (even for 36-ish hours) made me sad. Kat assured me that it would be fine and that I should still go knowing all the benefits of the trip. So I finalized my bag and got some sleep
I was off. The drive towards Bishop was peaceful. As with all solo trips in the deep of the night, you hope that you don’t have any car issues or strange encounters in the middle of nowhere. Many genres of music and podcasts chased those thoughts away as I made the 5-hour drive. Somewhere between Independence and Big Pine the sky started turning that those wonderful twilight colors. It was then that the calm truly set it. It felt great to be back. As I got closer to Bishop, I text messaged Kat that I had safely arrived in the Eastern Sierra.
I spent the morning revisiting areas I had explored before to refamilarize myself. It was beautiful, the fall color was running a touch late but it was nice seeing more of the lime greens mixed in with the yellows for a change. I roamed freely. I was battling the pressure of being productive and making “good” images given the small window of opportunity I had. After firing a few morning images, I began to win that battle. As the morning went on, I felt more aligned with the images I had made. There were a few that I felt halfway happy about. Time would tell ultimately where my feelings would settle on them. I broke for a late lunch and facetimed the family. It was great to see their faces and see how their day was going. I was missing them already. The exhaustion was starting to kick in, it had been a long day. I decided to take a quick nap in the car before I could checkin into my hotel room.
After checking into my room, I decided to take a drive into the canyons to see what I could see. I was tired but it felt good to be out amongst the trees. I explored for a bit and made a few more sketches. Some of them were ok, some I took a chance on and some I knew would be deleting. As the sun faded towards the evening my body was hinting it was time to go. After I got my fill, I headed back to unwind and see how the family was doing. The exhaustion and missing the family was weighing heavy on me at this point. I filled my belly with some BBQ as I facetimed with the family. Seeing their faces were the best images I had seen all day; I was really missing home at this point. We talked for the rest of the evening until Vincent’s scheduled bedtime. I was pooped and got ready to knock out as it was going to be an early rise the next morning.
I woke up at about 4am, an hour earlier than my scheduled alarm clock time. It was nice getting some solid sleep as today was going to be a long day as I would have to make the drive back down to San Diego. As I got ready for the morning sunrise shoot, I also got ready to go home as well. Different from most if my photography roadtrips, I decided to leave immediately after the sunrise. Honestly, I missed the family and as much as I enjoy being outside in the Sierra for fall photography, I wanted to be with them.
Sunrise was beautiful. I took in the wonderful light. There really wasn’t too much pressure to make an image. Mentally and creatively, I had already gotten my fill. Everything from this point on was bonus time in nature. I did make a few sketches but nothing for the portfolio which was completely fine. It felt freeing honestly. I enjoyed the quiet time and chatted with a fisherman that were there at the lake. He was there with his two sons on their annual fall fishing trip. I thought was a really nice tradition that they had going. We continued to chat. He asked me how long I was in town and I mentioned I was heading back home right after I took a few more images to get back to my son and wife. He was like “You should have brought them along!” I agreed. It started to make more sense, moving forward it would be a better idea to bring the family with me. Photography specific trips like this one on paper sounded great but in reality it took a heavy toll on me physically and mentally. In ways, I couldn’t really enjoy it fully. It could have been because it was my first away from my family or me just getting into my own head and overthinking everything. My guess is that it was a little bit of both. I knew that I had to find a more balanced way to weave photography into my life. (shutter click sound).
After saying my goodbyes to the kind fisherman and his sons, I packed up headed back to the car. As I drove out of the forest, there was a sense of relief. I was happy that I was going to see my family soon enough. I felt better knowing I had found a plan to better balance photography and family time. As the years continue maybe we’ll continue to modify these plans but for now this plan feels good. My first photography specific trip in two years was short, filled with some challenges but still creatively meaningful. Not so much in the final images but in answers to questions about how to balance the important things in my life. It gave me peace but in a different way than I thought this trip would have.
I did walk away with a handful of images that I enjoyed. Below are a few sketches I made during the 24-ish hours I spent in the Eastern Sierra. I kept one or two of my favorites for a gallery i’m planning on releasing in early 2025. Thanks for reading along and taking a look. Hope you all are safe out there. - Marco
