A New National Park

I'm sure many of you are thinking, what is this guy talking about?  A new national park?  Yes!  It's true!  There is a new national park in California!  A little over a year ago Pinnacles was upgraded from a national monument to become the 59th National Park in the United States.  Pinnacles is a hidden gem and is now the closest national park to the San Francisco Bay Area.  It's right in my very own backyard and I can't even begin to explain how lucky us Californians are.  

Recently I made two day trips to this park and I have fallen in love with it. This park was first protected by Teddy Roosevelt in 1908.  I'm sure glad our adventure driven president decided to set this place aside for us!  You're probably wondering what the major draws of this park are.  I'll sum Pinnacles into a few word: rocks, caves, and condors.  Ancient volcanos helped create this place and the rock formations are just amazing.  This place is super popular among climbers.  Everywhere I looked I saw climbers, ropes, and people scaling boulders.  Thousands of years ago seismic activity created massive boulders which resulted in beautiful cave formations. These cave systems are my absolute favorite part of the park.  These caves are home to some awesome pockets of light and have become one of my favorite places to shoot. The cave system is a must see and don't forget your flashlight!  Lastly this place is worth visiting just to catch a glimpse of the beautiful California Condor!  Our native condor was on the brink of extinction and is now thriving at this park. 

Pinnacles offers some great hikes and there are trails for everyone.  I myself have only explored a small part of this park.  Each time I've gone I have gotten caught up shooting the caves, or taking in the natural beauty of the reservoir which sits up above them. Another thing I love about this park is the lack of crowds.  Yosemite gets millions of tourist a year, while Pinnacles still gets under 200,000 guests a year.  There are some differences when visiting a smaller and newer park. There aren't as many facilities and parking is definitely more limited.  There is a shuttle system, but it is in limited run.  Come here knowing that if it is busy you will have to walk some distance to your hiking start point.  Even if the signs say that parking is full at the main locations, I think it is worth driving to them to at least get to know the layout of the park and I have also noticed parking becoming available from people finishing up there day.  Also, I would recommend bringing your own food.  This park doesn't offer a cafe and doesn't have any hotels like some of the larger national parks.  It does have a small visitor center that has a very small store connected to it that offers the basics.  One thing the park does offer are some nice campgrounds, but I have yet to take advantage of them.  Another thing to keep in mind is the weather.  I have a feeling that this park gets HOT in the summer, so bring plenty of water and dress in layers.  

I definitely recommend a visit to this wonderful national park!  I actually recommend you visit this park sooner rather than later.  With its geographical location so close to San Francisco and Monterey this place will gain popularity quickly.  Also driving through the old towns on the way to this park only helps add to the charm of a road trip.  It's almost like discovering a forgotten part of California.  A forgotten part of this state that begs to be discovered again.  Being a Bay Area native I will take advantage of this place many times in the future.  Heck, it's not everyday that you can hop in your car and be hiking in a national park in just a couple of hours.  This place is easy to get to and is just a bit off the beaten path.  Pack your day pack, grab your camera and hit the road.  An adventure is waiting for you!

#thePostCardDiary

Roughly two months ago I came up with an idea to help me get to know those in the Instagram community on a more personal level.  I had recently become a suggested user and all the sudden I had people from all over the world following me.  I was receiving likes from people who I had never met and comments on my photos from more people than I could keep up with. I wanted to be able to reach out to some of these new people and decided that I would start up a project involving postcards and my followers on Instagram.  

I've always had a love of postcards.  There is something about their vintage feel and the story that comes with these cards.  I loved receiving cards in the mail from people traveling the world and having the ability to see where people were from.  It is like a way to see a small glimpse of some place you have only dreamed of visiting.   I loved the different stamps, postmarks, and art on each card.  The creases, rips, and tears the cards received while traveling from point A to point B only added to the fascination and always made me wonder how did this card get here.  Was it dropped in a mailbox or taken into a post office, or maybe somebody left it at the front desk of a hotel?  How many planes, trains, and delivery trucks were used to get this card to its final destination?  If the postcard itself could talk and tell its story it might even be more intriguing than the travels of the person mailing it.  

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One of my favorite postcards to date, sent from China by @cadams623.

A feature of the postcards I received during a week.

When I intially announced the project I was a bit worried that people wouldn't mail cards to me, but they would only request postcards.  I decided that I would showcase all the cards I would receive on my Instagram account as a motivation for people to send me cards.  After two months I have already received more than 95 postcards, compared to the 60 or so cards I have been able to send out.  I am nearing about 200 requests for cards and that number continues to grow every week.  

There are a couple of things that I ask of the people who join the project.  One is to make sure they include their Instagram account information on the cards they send to me.  Another is that they post up a photo of the card they receive from me and use #thePostCardDiary hashtag.  Probably the neatest thing about the project is that I'm not only hearing from my original followers, but as people post up the cards and use the hashtag it brings their followers over to the project.  I believe that this cycle of growth will make the project turn more into a long term art project.

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The projects first post on my Instagram @mrbrock21 and @thePostCardDiary

I have had several people who have joined the project send multiple cards.  I even had one follower of the project send me a card from each country she traveled too, which was beyond amazing.  Some of the distances that these cards have traveled are incredible.  I have received cards from around the globe, including Malaysia, Thailand, Romania, China, Czech Republic, Dubai, and Aruba. It blows my mind that people out there would take their time to write cards to me and tell me about their lives.  It really has been an amazing experience and I can't wait to see what the project brings next!

For those of you who want to participate in the project you can contact me on Instagram, @mrbrock21, using the Instagram Direct Message service.  You can also follow along with the project over at Instgram @thePostCardDiary and check out #thePostCardDiary hashtag to see all the amazing cards that have been mailed out and received from this project.  Please keep in mind that I am sending cards out in roughly the order that I have received the request and I can only send out one card to each person in order to keep things fair.   

Photo that @tamikeehn took of the postcard I sent her and tagged with #thePostCardDiary

Selvaged is Denim

A couple weeks ago I had the amazing opportunity to tour a local based clothing factory in San Francisco.  Copin denim invited me to visit the factory where their jeans are manufactured, so I could see the work put into their product.  I must say this was an amazing experience.  As a daily jean wearer I never took into consideration how much work is put into making a pair of jeans. The very unique thing about Copin denim jeans is that they are made of selvage raw denim. This denim is a speciality fabric which is woven on a shuttle loom and is often referred to as dry or raw denim.  The term dry or raw refers to the denim being a bit stiffer because it is not washed or treated after the dye process.  Selvage denim is considered a premium denim because not only does the fabric cost more, but selvage denim is about about half as wide as mass-produced denim, so the fabric yield in a pair of selvage jeans is double.  At first I wondered why would someone want to pay more money for a pair of selvaged raw denim jeans than a pair of mass-produced denim jeans.  Well the answer is in the quality and uniqueness of the denim.  Not only is the fabric of selvage raw denim a higher quality, but raw denim fades, softens, and molds to your body.  Depending on what you do in your jeans and how you go about your day, your jeans will wear and fade in a way to make them unique to you. 

The thing that amazed me most about the production of Copin jeans is they are all handmade. There are no large scale production lines with machines making jeans.  There are actual workers cutting fabric, stitching thread, steam pressing, stamping buttons.  The best part of this process is that they are locally made!  It's not everyday you can find a product that you love and it's handmade right where you live.  

I have been waring a pair of Copin Denim jeans for the past 2 months and they are absolutely amazing.  The quality of them is just phenomenal.  The thing I like most about these jeans is the continual process of them forming to my body. The jeans keep a perfect fit in places, but after wearing them for some time they stretch a bit where it is needed.  I can notice them fading into my own unique style.  Another thing I love about the selvaged denim is that the jeans will last much longer then a mass-produced denim.  When you buy selvaged you can expect to keep your jeans for many years.  As someone who is practicing becoming a minimalist, these are the perfect fit.  

If you are in the market for raw denim jeans I would  recommend checking out Copin Denim.  I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.  Plus it's awesome to be able to support small businesses and especially ones where the product is manufactured in the states.  Copin currently only makes jeans for men, but they are working on a female line.  I got a sneak peak of these jeans and I must say the female product seems amazing.  Give them a look!

Just about every major selvaged denim fabric under one roof.

Selvaged denim

Selvaged denim being hand cut.

Each person that works in a handmade factory has a specific job.  

Zippers ready to be stitched to denim.

Stitching the denim jeans together.

Ironing the inside looms of the denim.

Hand labeling denim size.

Stamping the buttons onto the pants.

Selection of thread which can be used to stitch the fabrics.

Twin Bridges Meet

This past weekend Instagram challenged Instagramers to it's eight World Wide Instameet.  The goal was to go out and find or organize an Instameet in your local community.   A couple days before this challenge was announced I was approached by a few instagramers in Europe who wondered if I would like to help with a simultaneous instameet that would be hosted in Lisbon and San Francisco.  Lisbon and San Francisco share a strong connection.  Both cities are famous for old style street cars, amazing hill top views, and there is a striking similarity between two bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, and Lisbon's Ponte 25 de Abril bridge.  These bridges are often refered as twin bridges.  

With the help of a couple people at Instagram, the foundation for this meet was born.  I was contacted, along with Jim Barcelona to see if I'd be interested in organizing and co-hosting the San Francisco side of the meet.  I knew this meet wouldn't be like any other instameet before and would be an amazing opportunity.  Two wonderful Instagramers in Portugal, Jose Lourenzo and Manuel Pita were the meat and potatoes of this global meet and were organizers and hosts in Lisbon.  Then Hannah Waldram, who works for Instagram in Europe, helped get us on the same page, so we could plan this Twin Bridges Meet. The five us us stayed in close contact through group chats, organizing and hashing out details.  It was decided we would use #twinbridgesmeet as a shared hashtag for both locations.  For our meets to be held in unison we would have to host one in the early morning and another in the evening because of the time differences.  The San Francisco meet would start at 7:30am while the meet in Lisbon would start at 3:30pm their time.  Jim and I made our announcements and created an event on Facebook in order to get a rough count of how many people would be attending.  We had a couple things working against us, first out meet would be at 7:30am and secondly we were asking people not only to get up early, but to get up early on a Saturday.  At best I hoped that we could get roughly 50 people to attend the meet.

The day of the meet I woke up at 5:30 and I begin to think no one else would be getting up this early for an instameet. As I headed out the door it was still quite dark and when I approached the city I noticed the fog was rolling in.  I must say the San Francisco Instagram community blew me away! The turnout was over 100 people who got up early and braved a cold, foggy, and drizzly day!  After everyone said their hellos we organized everyone for a  group picture in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately the fog had engulfed the bridge, which was nowhere in sight!  We began to photowalk our way to Fort Point and I was impressed that everyone stayed together.  It turned out to be a great place to hold the meet.  There was lots of open space for all the people to spread out.  The fort and bridge provided a great backdrop for photos.  It was fun to see everyones different styles all coming together.  Some people were taking landscapes, others were climbing steep cliffs to pose for photos, and people were taking tons of portraits.  We were all together doing what we love doing most, taking photos for Instagram!  One of the best parts of these instameets is seeing new friendships begin and hearing people planning to meet up again in the future. 

The San Francisco group photo

As I look back at this meet I am so glad I had the opportunity to help out!  Not only was it an amazing experience, but I made so many friendships between the organizers and many people who made it out for our gathering.  When I look at the shared hashtag I am blown away that so many people from two different parts of the globe joined together because of Instagram.  Even better was hearing all the feedback from the meet.  Many people contacted me to let me know that this was in fact their first meet and they couldn't believe how much fun an instameet could be.  Others messaged me asking me when the next meet was going to be held.  I will be honest, before I was asked to host this meet I had told myself I was going to take a break from hosting instameets.  I had decided that I was going to work more on my photography and building a career, but after hearing from many people I think I may have more instameets ahead of me.  There is just something about bringing people together that I enjoy to much to ever give up.  This community never ceases to surprise me and I am so fortunate to be a part of it!

Heading to Fort Point

Elizabeth Gilmore showing off her famous scarf

What I like to call the #twinbridgesmeetleftovers (those who stayed till the very end)

The Process of a Photograph

Photography isn't just taking pictures.  Most people believe a photographer spends their time looking through a viewfinder and traveling to exotic locations.  I've overheard people having conversations about how a photographer must be the easiest job in the world.  They travel, take pictures of beautiful women, and must have tons of free time. This is hardly the case!   A photographer spends most of their time scouting locations, editing photos, and getting there name out in the art world.  Actually, maybe almost all of their time is spent editing photos. 

I have had many friends and fellow photographers ask what my mobile photography process is and how much time I devote to photography.  A lot of my time as a photographer is spent on a computer, iPhone, and iPad.  I spend some of that time researching new locations to shoot.  I sometimes check hashtags on Instagram, but usually try to search for something that is original.  A good place to do this is to look through articles in magazines or journals that aren't centered around photography.    Besides researching the best way to really scout is to get out and about and explore.  This might be my favorite part of the photography process.  I just love getting into my car and setting off for unknown places in hopes of finding something new and beautiful.  Maybe I head out to a new spot based on a recommendation of a friend ,  or sometimes I stumble across photos taken from a location, but think maybe I can shoot it in a different perspective.  As an artist, I like the challenge of shooting a popular spot in hopes that maybe I can see it in a different way then others have.  After scouting a location I sometimes return to the same spot multiple times to shoot it.  It takes patience to find that perfect light and I always cross my fingers in hopes that mother nature will help out!

Edited with VSCOcam B5 preset

Edited with VSCOcam M3 preset

Even though I spend a lot of time researching places to shoot, I spend even more time editing photos.  I really enjoy editing photos on my iPhone using the VSCOcam app.  I would rate VSCO as one of the top editing tools for mobile photography.  My process is fairly simple.  I use my iPhone 5 native camera to take photos and I use VSCO to edit them.  I even enjoy uploading photos to my iPhone from my Fujifilm x100s, so I can edit them using VSCOcam, but the downside to doing this is that VSCO downsizes the image in order to edit it.  VSCO offers many filter presets which can be used to create unique edits. I start by upload photos from my iPhones camera roll into my VSCOcam library.  I usually begin by choosing a preset and then from there I will tweak the exposure and contrast a bit.  My favorite present would have to be F2.  I use it about 90% of the time when I decide to use a preset.  I also enjoy using M3 and for black and white I use the B5 preset.  From here it really depends on the image.  I shoot a lot of fog photography and I really love playing with the temperature of these shots.  I either try to make my images gloomy and mysterious or more enchanted and mystical.   I find that fog in itself almost acts as a natural filter in photos and when I combine this natural process with the F2 process, it just seems to make fog photos come to life.  Another great feature that VSCO offers is the ability to apply highlight tint and shadow tint.  I find adjusting the highlights in fog photography can really take an image to the next level.  When I'm editing photos that have other subjects then fog, I usually go for a more natural look and try not to apply much editing.  I'll play with exposure and contrast a bit, but other than that I might just apply a preset. 

Edited with VSCOcam F2 preset

While I use VSCO Cam to do most of my editing on my photos, I also use TouchReTouch on some of my images.  This is a great app used to remove unwanted things from a photo.  I don't use it as often as my editing app, but sometimes it's just a lifesaver when you need to remove something from a photograph that takes away from the image.  I find myself using this app to remove markers that are stuck out in the middle of nowhere and can make or break a landscape shot.  I have used this app to remove objects off a wall that distract from a beautiful portrait.  When using this process it greatly increases my time in editing photos.  

Before the retouch of the metal pole

After the retouch of the metal pole

While it only takes seconds to snap a photo,  the editing process takes extra work that the viewer of a photograph often does not take into consideration.  It's easy to look at a photograph and think you could have done the same.  This may be true in some regards, but most of the time you need mother nature on your side and that perfect timing.  Even after capturing that perfect shot, time is still needed to edit and bring that final image to life.  Photography isn't just about looking through a viewfinder and snapping a button.  It is a long process that takes patience, a bit of luck, and a lot of time behind a screen.