I was given the advice one day down at La Jolla Shores talking to writer who said: "when you write a blog, just write." This is my first entry and that's what I'm going to do...I hope you like it.
In 2010, I went to The Masters. Being an avid golfer and never having been to The Masters before, it was certainly a bucket list item. What I realized once I arrived is that it wasn't about the golf at all...it was about the golf course, Augusta National. I vividly remember being in the woods between #10 & #18, not far from where Bubba hit his 40-yard hook in 2012 to win where I got choked up. I could hardly believe it..why was I emotional? The answer I came to was the sheer beauty of the course. I was perfect in every way imaginable. I remember looking at the grass and not seeing one blade out of place. I recall like it was yesterday looking down at a pine cone and being tempted to put it in my pocket. It was just a pine cone that I would kick down the road anywhere else...but this was a pine cone from a tree that sits on hallowed ground. (Yeah...I love golf.) I told myself that if I ever came back, I would try for a practice round where cameras are allowed. I got that opportunity a few years later in 2016 when I got to make some memories with my 10-year old son and head back to Georgia the first week in April.
My first DSLR was a Canon t5i. I purchased a used 300mm lens from Encinitas Photo. We were on the course no longer than one hour and the heavens opened. The day was over, the event was cancelled. However, I was making damn sure to take my sweet old time evacuating the grounds. I was going to photograph as much as I could in the limited time that I had. When we got back to the hotel I looked at the shots that I took and was submerged in a feeling of pure joy. The photos turned out better than I had ever thought they would. It was a piece in time that I got to freeze. A great memory that I won't ever forget...and it was in focus! Cameras had come a long way from the plastic throw-aways. Cameras were digital now and when I saw what I could do, it inspired me to do more. Ironically, to take up photography as a serious hobby or potential profession, I was forced to give up something else. Yup...I had to give up golf.
Hogan Bridge, Augusta National Golf Course