As you’re reading this, I’m traveling from San Francisco to Palo Alto today to hang out with my cousins. I’m really looking forward to seeing them and catching up. It is also the beginning of family time for the rest of this trip.
I spent the weekend to myself in San Francisco. I’m glad to have met up with photo friends along the way but for the most part I found myself wondering the city with just my camera. I’ve always heard that you should travel alone. It’s a great way to “discover” who you really are. But to be honest, I feel like I already have a good sense of who I am. It came to me when I was in college and really expanded from there. I’ve always been a really decisive person where I know I like or don’t like something after trying it for the first time. But to be honest there has been something that I’ve been keeping in the back of my mind since the Focus on the Story International Photo Festival.
The first talk that I listened to at the festival was by Maggie Steber and I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt more inspired in my life. Among the things that she had talked about was having a personal photo project. Sure, me taking pictures of cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument are all things that I love to do but what is that one thing that really resonates with me? What is that one thing that I feel so much that is just dying to come out? I knew what this personal project had to be ever since Maggie’s talk but I think I’ve just been too scared to start.
I’m writing this blog post in advance but I’m also writing it as a reminder to myself. Angela- just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect right now. Just start by writing down your ideas. While you’re away from everything familiar to you, jump out of your comfort zone.
My camera settings for this image is F8.0 at 1/8th of a second at ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.