the smell of fresh cut lawn…

…and other things that remind you of summer. Just got back from assignment in New York and managed to visit Tim’s family for a mini summer vacation. Perfect day at Jones Beach complete with Bomber Blueberry popscicles, watermelon, body surfing, sleeping on sheets, and at the end of the day, emptying out our sandy bathing suits with the outdoor shower. I love the things that come to mind between June and August: ice cream trucks, bike rides, sidewalk chalk, playing the driveway during a rainstorm, waking up at noon, barbeque, going to the movies in the middle of the day to escape the heat, road trips with all of the windows down, and kissing summer crushes up in the woods near the high school.

business cards

The best part about a lot of these travel shoots is simply all of the wandering around. Granted, I take hours and hours to set up the necessary people, locations, lighting, etc. to make it look effortless, but when I do scout an area, I often stumble upon these little pockets of heaven I never knew existed. Take, for example, this teeny tiny bar I found in Jack London Square in Oakland that is surrounded by modern construction scaffolding and ugly tarps. It's been around since before the 1906 earthquake and the floor was so buckled from it that the bar was at a 10 degree angle. The room was filled with layers of crap including hundreds of business cards tacked to the ceiling which, over the years, have attracted so much cigarette smoke you can hardly read them. Aren't you glad there's no smoking in bars anymore?