The ‘Burbs - on the wide screen
I live in the beautiful suburbs of Thousand Oaks, California, about halfway between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. (And yes, there are at least 1,000 oaks; the oak tree is protected within the city, and according to a city fact page, there are more than 50,000 oaks.) Thousand Oaks is a beautiful place to live, supporting a mid- to upper-class lifestyle while being adjacent to a plethora of open space hiking opportunities. However, it is hard to find much “street photography” here. It is my backyard, though, and if I want a photography practice (as in a daily ritual), then it needs to become my subject of choice.
I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to capture the ‘burbs for years. Occasionally, usually around Christmas when there are lots of decorations, I’ve found an interesting little series. But over the past few months, I think I’ve cracked the code.
Here I introduce a set of images I made over that past week on a new camera of mine, the FujiFilm GFX100RF. Why does this matter? I’ve owned a fair number of digital (and film) cameras and lenses over the years, and many of them were just like any other camera / lens combination from any number of manufacturers. But some of my camera and lens combinations had quite their own personality, and this is one of them. Their panoramic format is one of those personalities afforded by this beautiful camera.
Enjoy this little glimpse into the suburbs of beautiful Thousand Oaks, California. Click on an image to view large and to navigate through the selection. More will be coming from this camera and others as the project continues.
