Parking Lot Photography, Part One—Calla
What do these three photographs have in common?
Calla
Broken
Pinnacles
They were all captured in parking lots (aka, car parks).
As photographers, we all love traveling to new places and exploring new sights to point our cameras at. While this is all well and good, sometimes interesting subjects can be discovered closer than you may think (obviously, ‘interesting’ in this instance is highly subjective term). Whether it’s the parking lot of some globally famous photographic icon or the parking lot in front your local grocery store, keeping your eyes, and imagination, open could yield some of your favorite photos. It has mine.
This is the first in a series of short essays about finding and photographing subjects, footsteps from your car’s parking stall.
The Big Sur Experience
Back in 2019, I went on my first photography workshop (remember those?). I had discovered San Diego based photographer Scott Davenport’s YouTube channel through his processing tutorials. When he announced he would be leading a workshop in Big Sur, just a short two-hour drive south of where I live, I jumped at the opportunity.
I had been hearing about photography workshops for a long time, usually in places like Iceland, or Patagonia. These always seemed like a bit much for me, as I don’t travel much. My mind always filled with the usual suspects of excuses; money, time, language barrier, passport, my camera gear not good enough, my own photographic skill not worth it, etc., etc.
This workshop however was within driving distance, and though it was relatively close to home, it was an area along the Northern California coast I had never been. Most of my excuses cowered in the face of this workshop’s practicality, and what few who continued to stand their ground, were easily slain by reframing this workshop as simply a guided scouting tour. If my old camera, or my inferior skill, led to crappy photos, I could easily enough return on my own and I wouldn’t be out tens of thousands of dollars.
So Monday came and I tossed my gear in the back of my car and made the two-hour drive down to Carmel to meet up with the rest of the workshop participants. I arrived at the beautiful Mission Ranch Hotel, our base of operations, a wee bit earlier than my room was ready, so I availed myself of the landscaped grounds.
Waiting for My Room
This was late May, and the various bloomable plants scattered around in the landscaping were blooming. Among them was one of my personal favorites, the calla lily. I’m not sure exactly what it is about these flowers that draws me in so easily. I can’t seem to pass one in bloom without stopping to give a closer look. This day was no exception, and with my camera so close at hand, these little fellows were bound to get their photos made.
I spent probably about 15 or 20 minutes exploring the grounds, or at least the smallish portion of it near the hotel’s office. I was there waiting for my room after all; the workshop hadn’t officially started yet.
I came away with a few dozen images. Though it was the middle of the day, the flowers were in some pretty deep shade from the dense tree canopy above. This required some faster shutter speed to eliminate camera shake. My camera doesn’t do well over ISO 400, so larger apertures were needed, and this of course led to shallower depth of field.
I think part of the creative process requires our lack of control in some aspect of the process. Having to trouble shoot a situation stimulates those creative juices flowing through our heads. We take what we have available to us, no matter how mundane, and make something beautiful from it. Every flower deserves to be thought of as beautiful, doesn’t it? We as the photographer, have that power.
Calla
Of all the images captured during that time exploring the hotel’s landscaping, many being quite similar in an attempt to nail focus, I think I processed two of them, this one being my favorite. I love the lines, and the way the crop forces the eye to contemplate those soft curves. She is a beauty indeed. Black and white was an obvious choice as it enabled me to eliminate and darken the greenery behind the flower. I wanted this to be just about the flower’s figure.
Eventually, they finished with my room and the whole gang met and went off to our first location to shoot. It was a GREAT workshop. Over the next four days we visited 10+ locations. It was during that time that I really got to dig my teeth into seascape photography. Many of the images in my gallery are from that workshop, but this photo of a cultivated calla lily in the parking lot of our hotel still remains one of my favorites from the trip.
Are Workshops Worth It?
Workshops are a great way to discover new places, but I would highly recommend finding a local one, preferably within driving distance. For one, they reduce our impact on the environment we so love to photograph, as well as exposing us to the local beauty that may have grown invisible through familiarity. The closer proximity also reduces a lot of the stress associated with the “need” to get that perfect shot, because we you can more easily revisit the location later.
If you’re on the west coast in the US, I highly recommend Scott Davenport’s workshops. He’s low key and always on hand to lend advice if it’s desired. Regardless of where you are in the world, there is bound to be a workshop or photography meetup local to you. It may just take a bit of extra searching. Good luck.