It’s like 75 and sunny. Just beautiful.

Could you do street photography in this environment every day?

Santa Monica can actually be pretty boring. I call it sleepy Santa Monica.

I’m walking down California right now. Basically California all the way north from here to Rustic Canyon is just super high-end. So California is a really nice street to walk down.

Sometimes I think it’s almost too relaxing.

Ultimately, you can take photos anywhere you want. It doesn’t really matter. But sometimes you need a little boost in your photography. You need a little action.

And that’s why I think Santa Monica might be one of the best places to do street photography.

TRANQUILITY AND CHAOS

I think it’s important to have a good balance in life.

You don’t want to be in constant drama all day because your mental clarity is going to suffer from that.

Look at this.

Could you shoot in this environment every day?

I think that’s the conundrum with Santa Monica.

It’s so nice in some areas and it’s so relaxing. A lot of times I’m just walking down the street so relaxed that I don’t even want to take photos.

Which is great.

Bad for the productivity sometimes, but good for the mentality.

Then sometimes I go down by the pier and it’s just chaos.

And that’s only about a 15-minute walk from here.

That’s why I think Santa Monica has to be one of the best places for street photography.

I have this tranquility right here, and then I have the gritty, grimy chaos that’s also super accessible.

THE ACTION IS RIGHT THERE

Santa Monica doesn’t have a huge population, but we get a ton of visitors.

So when you go into the busy parts of Santa Monica, there’s a lot of foot traffic and a lot of stuff going on.

That’s what I like.

I can have tranquility and peace, but I’m only a few minutes away from the pier on a bike.

I can walk down toward Lincoln and start getting into the action pretty quickly.

Where else can you have this?

You’re in this beautiful, peaceful neighborhood and then 10 minutes later you’re in the thick of things.

I’m sure there are other places like this.

But then you combine it with the climate we have in Santa Monica.

Damn, there are some nice shadows down there on that wall.

I’m going to have to go to those shadows.

LEARNING TO ACCEPT SLEEPY SANTA MONICA

For a long time I was kind of down on Santa Monica.

It’s got quite a few problems, and the sleepy nature of it isn’t always the best for photography.

But I’ve really learned how to be okay with that and accept it.

Just relax.

You don’t have to be taking photos all the time.

You need something for the mental clarity too, you know?

There’s a little pooch hanging out.

I probably could have taken a photo, but sometimes the vibe just doesn’t feel right.

You’ve got to trust the intuition.

Now here are those shadows I was looking at.

Damn.

I don’t think I walk down this alleyway very much.

It’s a nice alleyway.

Look at all that texture on the building. Super cool.

And I like these shadows.

It’s a pretty basic photo, but it looks kind of cool.

I’m just observing the scene here.

Different angle.

You’ve got some trees up there. You’ve got this shadow right here.

Look at all these shadows from the palm tree.

Really nice.

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

That’s another thing.

You just never know what you’re going to find.

I’ve walked down this alleyway before, but I usually don’t come down this far.

And here I am finding something new to photograph.

There’s a lot of crap you’ve got to deal with in this place too.

But it’s worth it to me.

I accept Santa Monica for its faults.

And another reason Santa Monica might be the best place for me is because I really don’t see that many people doing street photography here.

When I do see street photographers, you know where they’re at?

The pier.

Every single time, they’re at the pier.

I used to see another guy photographing out in the neighborhoods for a little bit, but I haven’t seen him in a while.

So I feel like there’s all this unlocked potential here.

A PEPPER IN THE WATER

Look at this pepper down here.

You’ve got a pepper with some water.

I’m trying to step over here without getting my feet wet.

Showing my dexterity.

My dexterity level is like a 10 right now.

Maybe I’ll just get the pepper.

Get this water right here.

Yeah.

That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about.

There’s so much going on once you actually start looking.

THE SANTA MONICA EVERYBODY PHOTOGRAPHS

That’s why I feel like there’s so much here that hasn’t really been photographed.

People go to the Promenade.

They go to the pier.

But once you get farther out into these neighborhoods, I don’t really see many people doing street photography.

There’s so much here to be seen.

I actually try to limit my time at the pier because when I see street photos coming out of Santa Monica, they’re almost always from the pier.

And a lot of them look the same.

It’s hard to get a good photograph on the pier.

Here’s my hack for the pier:

Don’t take the tourist shot.

You’ve got to get close to people.

That’s the only way.

The background there just isn’t the best.

If you’re three feet away from your subject, it probably isn’t going to work out.

You’re going to end up with something that looks like every other photograph from the pier.

You’ve got to get close.

TAKE THE PHOTO ANYWAY

I just took another photo.

Let me see.

I’m doing some chimping.

I thought this guy’s face was backlit enough that I’d really be able to see the silhouette, but his face is colliding with the tree branches.

So it’s not a very good photo.

Whatever.

Keep going.

That’s street photography.

Take the photo and figure it out later.

CROSSWALKS HAVE A TERRIBLE SUCCESS RATE

Now I’m going to do the old crosswalk.

Maybe get these people crossing the street here.

Let’s see what I can do.

It’s dumb, but it’s fun.

I take that photo every time.

There’s basically never a time when I’m not taking a photo of people in a crosswalk.

But those shots have such a high failure rate.

My normal rule is basically to delete 95% of my photos.

For crosswalk shots, it’s more like delete 99.999% of them.

I hardly keep any of those photographs.

The ones I actually like are when I can fill the whole frame.

I want 10 or 20 people crossing at once.

Just fill the frame.

Those are the ones I like.

That’s usually easier somewhere where there are a lot more people walking around.

JUST TAKING A NICE LITTLE STROLL

That’s really what I’m doing here.

Taking photos and taking a nice little stroll.

And that’s what I like about this place.

I can have the hustle and bustle of street photography, but then I can have the tranquility too.

Both are accessible.

That’s important to me.

Street photography can be exciting, but I don’t want excitement every second of every day.

Sometimes I want to walk through a quiet neighborhood.

Sometimes I want to photograph a shadow on a wall.

Sometimes I want to photograph a pepper sitting in some water.

Sometimes I don’t want to photograph anything at all.

I just want to walk.

Then, when I want the action, I can go find it.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

That’s why Santa Monica works so well for me.

I’ve got these quiet neighborhoods.

I’ve got the alleys.

I’ve got the shadows.

I’ve got all these random little things that I like photographing.

Then I’ve got the pier, the Promenade, the tourists and all the people.

I can have the hustle and bustle of taking street photos and then come right back to this tranquility.

It helps with my mental clarity.

And it’s all so accessible.

Now I’m walking toward the ocean.

Summer is basically over, so the beach is pretty empty.

Not very many people down there.

Look at that.

Beautiful day.

I’m lucky enough to have this every single day of my life.

Cannot complain.

Santa Monica.