Searching for Water

Yesterday I was on a little quest for running water to experiment/play with my Quantum Elements series and I was surprised not to find any. The reason I thought I would find some is that Trabuco Creek that runs through Trabuco Arroyo near me has moving water, so I figured that if I were to go further upstream toward the source (the local mountain), there would be some running water there as well. Nope.

So when I checked in at the OC Park Ranger station and they confirmed that water was not in the creek right now and yes, there is water in the creek further downstream, but they are not sure why. My guess is that the water is running underground until the ground slope towards the ocean encounters a change in the terrain that forcing the water to the surface near me. It works for me.

The photograph above is an urban landscape that I photographed during my search, which includes the dry-bed of the Trabuco Creek situated within the Trabuco Arroyo. No water right now. Not a drone photo, but looking down from a roadway overpass, a viewpoint which I find interesting, but not so much that I am going to go out and invest in a drone camera system.

This could also be an interesting series that investigates climate change, but anyone familiar with the western landscape will know that most small creek and arroyo beds are dry during much of the year. And it has been that way for many, many, many years.

So perhaps my Quantum Elements series is also a result of chance and serendipity, that if I was investigating this creek bed upstream where it is normally dry, I would not have observed the amazing resulting visual effects of sunlight and water that relate to particle physics. Such is fate, eh?

Cheers

Doug

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Book workshops:

I will be leading a Creative Photo Book workshop with the Southeast Center of Photography (SEC4P), a virtual event on Zoom; November 6 & 7th and 13 & 14th, 2021, 10 AM – 1 PM, EST (3 hour session each day, with a week between the weekend sessions to work your book-dummy). Registration is now open, and there is a SEC4P membership discount. It is SOLD OUT & wait-list has been started.

New dates for another SEC4P Creative PhotoBook workshop just announced (and already almost sold out), a virtual event on Zoom; January 22 & 23 and 29 & 30, 2022, 10 AM – 1 PM, EST (3 hour session each day, with a week between the weekend sessions to work your book-dummy). The SEC4P membership discount is also available.

Developing a Creative Photo Book, a virtual (Zoom) workshop I will be leading again in conjunction with Medium Photo with New dates: March 5 – 6, 12 – 13, 2022 More details and sign-up available now at Medium Photo.