Yesterday, July 14th, I took another long hike down into Arroyo Trabuco to work on my pandemic project, or should I say, the series of artworks that coincided with the start of the COVID-19. This urban landscape photograph was made at the start of my journey and part of my ten-minute rule to become creatively engaged with my experimental/play process.
Although I am working on a different series during this hike unrelated to this photograph I can see how this photo could become part of at lest two other bodies of artwork; a collection of my ten-minute rule images and the urban landscape observed while walking Arroyo Trabuco. Since the later idea may be completed with expired medium format film, I cropped this digital image square to better visualize a what-if option. I also converted another version of this image to black & white to help previsualize this urban landscape when using a yellow filter in conjunction with some expired black & white 120 film that I have collected. More about that another day.
Oh, I hope that this photograph provides the impression that it was hot and dry, since the temperature in my car was indicating it was 92F at my return from this walk. Yes, a very hot day for a two-hour plus walk and anticipating these conditions; lots of sun-screen as well as a supply of drinking water. Both were needed as I was a hot-mess on my return. Of course what’s difficult to capture is the slightly fragrant smell of the dry brush and vegetation present during this time of year down in the arroyo. So perhaps this photograph will continue to trigger that aspect of memory for me.
I will be spending some time with the digital images from this hike later this afternoon. It will take me a while to go through these, but that’s part of the experimental/play process and I’m never sure where it will take me.
Regarding this image, I have noticed many times walking this pathway before how the foreground tree has been trimmed to accommodate this trail but in so doing it creates an interesting framing of the farther and smaller tree. The resulting composition for me is as though a parent of nature is embracing one of its children.
Cheers & stay safe,
Doug
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My other exhibitions and workshops:
The Photographers Eye’s gallery exhibition, Living and Photographing in the Time of COVID-19, group virtual exhibition that includes two of my diptychs from the series A Developing Crisis. This online exhibition is from May 8th through August 1st, 2020.
Medium Photo 2020 Workshop: Developing a Creative Book workshop that I will be leading, is now rescheduled for September 24 – 27th, 2020, a four-day extended weekend workshop in San Diego.
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Featured artwork; Untitled #8301 (Arroyo Trabuco series), copyright 2020, Douglas Stockdale
Singular Images 
Nice thinking😊