The Perfect Sunset, Above Clear lake CA, Winter 2013 by Gavin Seim
There is nothing quite like sunset in the forest above Clear Lake. Here lies small group of towns nestled around the water in the remote hills of California. There is nothing like it. Driving up into rolling high hills to camp, each sunset is a wounder of color and shadow, storybook trees and glowing foliage. Perhaps it’s partly the warn memories of camping here with my family combined with the fresh air and quiet atmosphere. Whatever it is, this place represents as perfect a sunset as I can imagine.
We’ve camped up here a few times and even did some scenes here for our new PHOTOGRAPHICS film. This beautiful view is actually just off the forest read leading up. Each night the sun falls behind the hills that circles the valley and fades into the magenta hues of rolling shadowy hills. I rarely shoot into the sun because it’s rare I find a situation that it really works in. But I timed this image just before sunset to maximize the glowing light and this is was it feels like to stand here and watch the sunset. It will make a beautiful print.
Release details: Prints Available. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
55 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
46 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 50 (contact the gallery)
38 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 75 (contact the gallery)
It’s bittersweet as I drive down the hill towards familiar grassy slopes and familiar cities on the map. We watch a Spring sunset and flowers spattering green hills. Three full months on the road we’ve been. An adventure of that won’t be forgotten. Yet a part of me feels somehow less for it coming to an end. Like my spirit of adventure is fading because I long for that slow hot shower, a bed where my toes do not hang over the edge and where my wonderful wife’s elbows do not hit me in the side every time she rolls over.
The last few days lacked the grand adventure you look for at the end of a long trip. The kids got a stomach bug and did what you do when you have that. Sometimes we had two going at once – The miles were long and we needed to get home soon for Wall Portrait Conference. We drove hard that final day. Perhaps longer than we’ve ever done. Over five hundred miles from Twin Idaho to Ephrata WA. It took us about twelve hours between breaks, gas and pauses to clean up the mess from sick kids in the back seat.
“What a lousy way to end such a grand adventure” I thought – But somewhere along the road I stepped into the sunlight and realized it was not. Sometimes we get sick, but it passes. Sometimes things go wrong, we have to make repairs, or we come in late. All of those things happened on this trip. More than once. But they’re part of the memories, part of the adventure. They’re surrounded by moments of laughs and wide eyes glistening at the wounder of creation.
The moment I pull in I’m starting a new vacation. We worked hard on this trip. We played hard. It was a gamble too, but our new film PHOTOGRAPHICS is already showing in the black and the trip is all but profitable both emotionally and fiscally. All that time on the road, but so happy to have a place to call home.
We walk in after 91 days on the road and switch on the lights. The house is still here, warm, waiting. Nearly as we left it but for a few extra cobwebs. A bed, a shower, a late night movie with my wife after the kids are finally asleep. We really are home. Next it’s time to process the film, repair the gear, make the prints and get organized.
On Sunday we’re off for a week again to learn and teach at Wall Portrait Conference. But really we’re home right now. It’s only a couple hours away and among people we know. That home feeling is back. It’s odd. Truly surreal to walk down the isle at the store and for once in so long see people you know. Get a hug from your mom when you walk thru a door, or see neighbors wave as you drive down the street. I honestly feel strange not being the stranger here. But that passes and fades into tales of the adventure and silent longing for more.
As the sun shines on our first day home, a breeze blowing, spring flowers popping out, I realize that the world is still alive and that both home and away are something grand. Appreciating your adventure is how you look at it. There’s nothing like a place to call home, but there’s also nothing like the open road, your wife riding shotgun and kids kicking the back of your seat as the road rolls by. This is living, all of it.
Until the next trip, Gavin Seim.
Coming down from the Death Road new Zion. Amazing views.
Sunset at the Celestial City – Grand Staircase National Monument Utah, Grosvenor Arch. Spring 2013, Gavin Seim
Grand Staircase is a secret hideaway of Utah – A grand place beyond most National Parks in beauty, in remoteness and in a wild hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. There is another wonder to behold with each new curve of it’s bumpy roads.
It’s not one of those parks you simply drive into on paved thoroughfares, hot dog carts lining the byways. We came in off HWY 89 and camped two nights within the park before we exited the other side. It was a slow winding gravel road with lots of hikes, pullouts and things to see, but no civilization except perhaps a bathroom here and there.
We made it up to the Arch late on our second day and waited for the sunset. The feature here was the double arch, but what struck me about this place was the way the entire structure stands alone out here. Columns of colorful rock sprouting from the ground in stunning display, set in a minimal non-dictating scene. It was a beautiful thing. It made me think of the distant view of the Celestial City from the classic novel, Pilgrim’s Progress.
As the sun set and the light danced on the rocks I knew I needed a panorama of this one. This was the last image I made as the light softened and fell behind the hill. It peeked from the clouds just before disappearing fully behind the horizon and left me in awe of creation.
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints:
112 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
86 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 25 (contact the gallery)
74 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 25 (contact the gallery)
43 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 100 (contact the gallery)
The sun rising in White Sands NM, Spring 2013, Gavin Seim
Out here in white sands there’s not much for water or trees. So when you stand this tall, alone in the white, snow-like drifts of sand, you get to look down on the landscape. King of the shrubs, thistles and tiny creatures. Usurpers fallen at your feet.
The sun comes up each day throwing pastel beauty across this landscape, soon followed by harsh glaring light and waterless heat. But if you can stay standing, you might just become King of the Thistles.
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Available Prints….
53 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
44 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 50 (contact the gallery)
42 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 50 (contact the gallery)
The Lost Oasis – Near the Hot Springs, Big Bend National Park, Texas 2012 – 4×5 film, Linhoff T IV
Warm memories, adventure and hints of times gone past. It took me awhile to finish this one because I liked it too much to do it quickly. This old store sits in the middle of the desert a few minutes walk from the Rio Grande, Mexico on the other side. Down the path a ten minute hike is the ruins of the old Hot Springs, self proclaimed healing waters that made this old resort an attraction.
Now it’s just a dusty path leading to the warm hot tub like foundation that still remains from the old bathhouse and is filled by naturally hot water. The whole family and I went down and we soaked together in the warm spring as a tiny Mexican village lumbered through the day across the river. There a lot of history in this old place and it’s memories are just a little haunting, especially when the tourists disappear for the day and the solitude of morning or evening take over the silent stones.
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
70 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
46 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 25 (contact the gallery)
Notes Snapshot: Down past the old buildings lie the ruins of the old hot springs building. It’s remaining foundation makes it like a hot tub in the middle of the desert. The family and I enjoyed it – This is Cyrus, Asher, Ana and my wife, Sondra.
