Monkey Face with Water
Upper Bidwell Park, Chico, CA
The Details in Representation:
I went to the park with high hopes and no real plan. It had been raining for what felt like 2 weeks. We were finally getting a break and like much of Chico, going to the park sounded like a great idea. I felt confident there would be water everywhere and if I was paying attention, nature would show me something cool or different.
Turns out I didn’t have to walk far. Right after I left the parking lot, this water was pouring across the trail. I only had to go up a few feet to find this perfect cascade of water over rocks. It turns out, finding this location and framing the shot was the easy part. The clouds were getting blown around with the sun coming in and out as a result. The true challenge was keeping my lens dry. It was just a few inches away from the water. After each series of images, I would have to wipe it off.
On top of all of that, I needed to get multiple images so everything would be in focus. All of that while shooting without a tripod. I was straddling the stream in a catcher’s squat using all my concentration to not move the camera. Yes, I ended up in the water several times. Nature ultimately dictated when this shoot was over. After completely soaking my lens cleaning cloth I had to move on to clothing. Inevitably, the lens got covered in oil and I was done.