Generally Happy

While sitting down with a pastry and hot cup of coffee this afternoon, I took a few minutes to listen to some new music and watch others go about their buisness. Everyone around me seems to be generally happy in their little phone worlds. Half smiles, heads cocked sideways, a table of prayer before eating their salads. Reflecting on life and people watching feels like a luxury and spending time like this to myself often makes me feel guilty because I immediately wonder, what else should I be doing right now that is surely more productive than this?

So I opened up my laptop and decided to pivot into sharing something new here with those of you still checking in on 50ft from time to time. I appreciate you, thanks for stopping by! Unless I’m just not paying enough attention, custom desktops and photography feels a little small in the grand scheme of things online these days. I figure that’s even more of a reason to keep doing what I do around here, carry on and share like I have been for so long. A day or two ago I dug out a few new images and readied them for sharing and I am happy to be here today doing just that.

Pulling from photos taken while in Iceland late last year I am struck by how dim and grey most of my images are from the trip. A thin layer of clouds were always drifting about overhead and the sun often only snuck out on rare occasions when it dipped low enough in the horizon to escape. So here in this moment the clouds won but the landscape there is beautiful no matter the circumstance so I tried to make the best of what I had to work with when given the opportunity to pull the camera out. I still enjoy shooting landscapes like these with a small aperture and a focus on where I stood rather than the grand whatever beyond in an effort to leave that grander for daydreams and whimsy rather than being so on the nose all the time.

At any rate, thats all for today, download links below, I hope to see you again soon!

Cursory

Last November I was lucky enough to be in Iceland for just over a week. I had been invited there to photograph a wedding which was a lovely experience, pushing through frigid wind to seek out quick moments of beauty before our faces started to freeze and otherwise mirroring a couple as they explored. I felt blessed to have been asked along but I also figured I should take at least a couple of days to explore on my own so I chose to reserve a bed in a hostel and simply wander mapless through the streets of Reykjavík to see what I could find.

During this time I found myself reconnecting with a side of myself that only manages to come out when I have a clear mind and somewhere new to wander. Camera in hand I walked for miles over the course of those couple of days and enjoyed every moment of it.

Details around me have a way of glowing in my vision when I have the mental freedom to seek them out and among them was this one tiny leaf covered in dew off the side of the road along the edge of someones property. The smallest of cursory glances can lead us to such modest details full of understated beauty, and I feel as though I have nearly lost this sense lately so it was really nice to reconnect with this side of myself, even if only for a short while.

If you find solace in these little drops of water, there is of course a desktop version of it waiting on you to enjoy along with a second take of the scene. HD versions will be up on the Gumroad page for members (which has reduced price this year by the way but more on that when I have time to get to it). Links below, enjoy!

Object No. 16

Afternoon Spin

I’m Still Here

Note: iPad download link is a universal mobile wallpaper size will work both on iPads as well as iPhones. I’ll get the link text fixed up down the line. Wanting to make it easier to get back to posting desktops so I’m looking to streamline.

Fall Bloom

Note: iPad download link is a universal mobile wallpaper size will work both on iPads as well as iPhones. I’ll get the link text fixed up down the line. Wanting to make it easier to get back to posting desktops so I’m looking to streamline.

Checkers

Note: iPad download link is a universal mobile wallpaper size will work both on iPads as well as iPhones. I’ll get the link text fixed up down the line. Wanting to make it easier to get back to posting desktops so I’m looking to streamline.

Max

On one hand I have been nothing but quiet on the internet front lately but in general I have been nothing but. Finalizing details of a new album of music and moving into how to package it as well as writing, and searching for new material for desktop posts it’s just been a lot of behind the scenes work at play lately.

It hit me though that I have a few new wallpapers as well as a new 50ft Radio mix completely ready to go so I thought I would start a few new posts off with this lovely, minimal image shot while on a weekend camping trip with the family. We made a stop at Max Patch which is a famous spot along the Appalachian Trail to soak in the view and Its impossible not to take photos like this while there. The landscape is a unique patch of grassy land at high elevation giving visitors a really lovely 360 degree view of the mountains around the space. Links below for a wallpaper, enjoy!

Tiny Shrine

Traveling with a toddler can be a challenge, especially as a photographer. Finding a moment to sneak off and take photos is tricky because I have to balance my guilt for leaving family behind for what feels like a selfish endeavor and my creativity which doesn’t always flock to me at the flick of a switch. In my experience it takes me time to find a rhythm among the shutter clicks and in prioritizing time with family it has been harder to find my way to that space of mental clarity. It is something that I have been fighting a lot with in the past couple of years. My wife, YoungDoo seems to be clairvoyant behind a camera though and has managed to mold her creative focus around the challenges of being a mother but I think that I have come to the conclusion that we have different means of finding inspiration.

Her creative visions come fluidly through inspirations found in her surroundings, wherever she is and I have no idea how she pulls that off. With me, I need more room to get lost in my head and get comfortable with whatever space I am in. It takes time for me to see beyond the anxious pressure I put on myself when I walk around with camera in hand /with intention/ to shoot. This is touching on ideas I have been writing a lot about lately and have been chipping away at an article of sorts that needs a closing before I can post it. Thats the hardest part of writing is it not? Sticking the landing.