Asma | San Pedro Beach | California

“We can experience nothing but the present moment, live in no other second of time, and to understand this is as close as we can get to eternal life.”

— P.D JAMES, The Children Of Men

 

 

Have you been to White Cove Beach in San Pedro?! No?! You should. Its amazing.

Amazing in the fact that there is plenty of parking and the water is still and shallow. Its quiet. Either not a lot of people know about it yet or it's far away enough where nobody wants to commit to the long drive there. It has been on my "have to go to" list for a long time ( its a loooong list and I feel like I might not have enough lives to cover all the ground listed in there...).

When Asma contacted me for a photo shoot and mentioned the beach as a possible place to get together and play, San Pedro made top of the list for that weekend.

In all honesty, I could have done a better job scheduling this shoot. Between the make up and picking an outfit, I had about 15min to shoot before the sun went away. Deceiving little one... You feel like there is enough time, but really, when you are taking pictures in that beautiful creamy gold light, you feel the burn. The light is just right for about 5 seconds. Erika did a great job putting on the make up as fast as humanly possible ( thank you!). While she was doing that, I was pretty much sending mental sun salutations to all the Gods and the Sun himself, hoping to prolong that fabulous light. I wasn't able to. The Sun was hiding behind the ocean at first slow and at the end, it felt like it just dropped in the water from a million miles away. No warning. 

The close up portraits you see here I took in near darkness--- With this opportunity I would like to extend thanks to my camera for not letting me down and performing like a champ... Also, Caroline  for holding that pocket flashlight like a true professional :)

 

There is a certain rush that comes with overcoming situations like that. It could have been bad. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I knew it the moment I saw that first close up on the back screen of my camera. The golden light, the beautiful sunset, the water, nothing even mattered. I had the shot. It wasn't what I thought I went there to do, it was better. It was true to me and my soul. I appreciate the light filled, ethereal pictures I see from other photographers. I can take them but for some reason, as soon as they hit my computer screen they feel wrong. They make me feel like an impostor.

I love how this set turned out. Its dark, heavy and gritty.

Press play :)

Tickle time!

““I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again…””

— The Amber Spyglass By Philip Pullman

These two amazing humans are my favorites in the whole wide world. I don't know what I would do without them… (most likely take a nap). They brighten my day even when I can't imagine my day brighter. They are my everything...

Press play, life is better with a soundtrack

Sweet As Cherry Wine...

““He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.””

— Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina

Happy New Year! ...

Another year gone and done with. Time is moving by so freakin’ fast lately. I would give anything to make it slow down. I have been trying lately to really slow myself down once in a while. To not care as much about the dishes in the sink and crap piling up everywhere. Its hard. Its hard work to let your mind rest. I have about 1 million thoughts a second. There is so much I want to do and at the same time do absolutely nothing. This coming year, I want to be more careful with my words, especially with criticism. I want to listen to what I m going to say with intention, with kindness.  And I want to be more understanding. And I could also be more generous with my time and with myself while I am at it!

Some other goals for 2016: print my photos, stay up to date with editing (I am currently 2 years behind on personal projects and that freaks my over controlling self out), do more storytelling sessions and improve my skill. I would also love to travel more and see this amazing planet we call home.

Cheers to a year of learning and growing!

Idena

Technology Blows My Mind

You know what absolutely blows my mind sometimes? The fact that not too long ago it was our grandparents that were teaching us about the world. They still do, don’t get me wrong. There is a river of knowledge and wisdom and calmness that only old age gives you. But really, think about it. Everything is flipped now. It is the younger generation teaching the older one about how to log in, log out, stay connected, set up accounts, order online. I grew up in a time that allowed me to keep pace and I still feel left behind sometimes. As much as i try limiting screen time for Enso he still manages to amaze me with how much he knows and how fast he catches on.What a crazy crazy time we live in...

Home is where your nose tells you it is

““Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.”
”

— Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Seeing home after being gone for so long is emotional. Its hard work. 

It makes me cry every single time. The air smells a certain way there.  In winter time, it’s a mix of potato stew and burnt Christmas trees. Everything is so familiar and friendly yet so different and distant. There is a unmeasurable joy in my heart to find the things and people that I love still there. The things that are unchanged. The things that did change I find frustrating. Its almost like someone came into my home and re arranged my cupboards and now I cant find my favorite coffee mug. Every time I go back something else changes. Little by little the place that was once so familiar to me is now a mystery.The air smells the same. That smell is where all my memories dance together. Smell and taste are really the most comforting of senses. When you miss something dearly, like I miss home sometimes, you can smell it. You can taste it. That never changes.

I smell my morning walk to school sometimes. I have several different days in memory that I rotate according to season. The one I am most fond of, is a late fall day. The air is fresh and cold and it smells like piles of burned leaves on the side of the road. I can see my breath so I borrow my nose deeper in my scarf.  I close my eyes and take a deep warm breath...

Clearly, home is where your nose tells you it is.