Personal Essays

We have been going to Santa Cruz regularly since 2004. But it was the purchase of our full-size van a year and a half ago that has made drive-by shooting one of my favorite ways to take photographs in Santa Cruz. The van changed everything. Of course, I still take plenty of photographs walking along the beaches and around town, but the view from the van window allows me to notice things I wouldn’t see on foot (or even in a car or small SUV). The height of the van coupled with my zoom lens allows for a unique perspective of a scene. It lifts me above the level I am used to seeing things from. Being in a vehicle also takes me places I wouldn’t have been walking to in the first place. And all the places in between.