JEFF TALARIGO

I became an early morning person the year after my son was born in 1994, writing my novels for two hours each morning, between 5 and 7. And this love for dawn has continued with me as an avid photographer and hiker, now for the past dozen years ever since I moved to California. 

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A lot of my photography work requires an hour, or two, or three of climbing in the dark to get to the places I want to shoot. I do not use a tripod, for much the same reason as I write my books by hand, in legal pads—I love the feel of the shutter button, my creative eye against the viewfinder, playing with the light by physically pulling down the camera a bit while pressing the shutter button half-way down. I shoot with a Sony a6000 and two lenses—a 12 mm wide angle lens and an 18 x 300 wide angle zoom lens, primarily using two modes: Landscape, and Black and White.

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I do long day hikes, mainly in the eastern Sierra, Yosemite, and Point Reyes National Seashore, on the trail as early as 2:30, climbing as far as seven miles before snapping a single shot. It is the blue light that I love to shoot, an hour before sunrise, giving it a feel, somewhat of a Japanese woodblock print or silkscreen art.

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I hope, when viewing my photos, that you will feel three-quarters of the balm that I am feeling while taking them.  That, for me, is a good photo.