Reunited and Rerouted
Th3Roadtrip crew (Eric, Noel and myself) reunited for something a little bit different. We took a detour from the quiet and stillness of nature and ventured into the bustling streets of Downtown Los Angeles. Our tripods and large kits were left at home and instead went with lightweight setups. For me, it was the Fuji XT30 and a pancake lens for majority of the day. Creatively, we all agreed it would be good for us to mix it up a bit and get out of our comfort zone. I for one, had been in a bit of a rut creatively and thought this would be a nice break to freely make images and simply have fun.
To make the trip even more interesting, Noel and Eric had a great idea to incorporate a themed photo challenge for the day. We used a number randomizer to select (1) out of (10) theme options to ensure we’d all have different themes. There were only 3 rules: You had to stick to your theme, you had to use the provided disposable film camera (that Noel provided) and you had to finish the roll before the days end. I have to say, it was such a fun photo challenge. It was freeing experimenting without any expectations.
At 9am our train arrived at Union Station and we were off. It had been awhile since the three of us were together making images, let alone in a non-nature environment. We roamed for hours on foot simply taking it all in and making images when it felt right. We ate some good food along the way and as per usual many laughs were had. The change in scenery made the trip enjoyable. It had been a long time since we last did an urban photography trip. It couldn’t have been better from a soulful and creative perspective. We agreed It’s what we all needed. At 8pm our train arrived back in San Diego and we went our separate ways. It was great seeing the crew again. Hoping to get a chance to do another roadtrip later this year.
Each of us did complete the photo challenge by the end of the day. Those rolls of film are now at the lab being developed. Once they’re ready, i’ll be sure to share them here. Until then, below are some images I made that day on the Fuji in the order at which they were taken. Thanks for reading. Until next time. - Marco
