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01 Oct 2026 · 2 min read · photography

dear california

Photographs on 35 mm film & Fujifilm.

A love letter to the most breathtaking place on earth, from Timber Cove to SoCal.

Two people seen from behind on a red wooden bench at the edge of a bluff, looking out at a blue ocean and a long bank of fog.
timber cove bankFujifilm X-T30 II, Sep 2024Mesmerized by the ocean
Dark cypress trees and pale pampas grass under a thick morning fog.
moody on the coastTimber Cove · Fujifilm X-T30 II, Sep 2024Weather changes very fast on the coast.

It’s always a rush of excitement and good memories whenever I get results from the lab. The wait is always worth it.

A tall, twisted driftwood stump standing upright in a green meadow of wildflowers, with cypress trees behind.
natural showpieceTimber Cove · 35 mm filmDriftwood art
A woman with wind-blown curly hair in a dark fleece jacket, smiling on a grassy bluff above a rocky cove.
windyTimber Cove · 35 mm filmI can almost smell the fresh cold air through the photo.

Most of these are on 35 mm film, developed and scanned at a lab. The foggy ones from Timber Cove are on my Fujifilm X-T30 II.

A sandy cove with pale surf, seen between a peeling cypress trunk and dense trees on a steep hillside.
through the cypressnear the Russian River · 35 mm filmHidden beach
Seaweed-covered rocks in a calm gray sea at low tide, with a seal resting on one of them and two small fishing boats far off.
spot the sealnear the Russian River · 35 mm filmLow tide, a seal asleep on the cold rocks, two fishing boats.
A bulletin board covered in layered flyers on the UC Berkeley campus, seen from a dark passage, with trees and a lawn behind it.
campus boardBerkeley · 35 mm filmFlyers, flyers, flyers
An old red and white fishing boat named Santa Cruz on display on the pier, behind rusty winch gears and two keep off boat display signs.
keep off boat displaySanta Cruz pier · 35 mm filmMarine vibes. I believe that deck got washed away not long after from a strong storm, so I have these pictures to remember it by.
Surfers in wetsuits waiting on a turquoise sea while one rides a breaking wave, with a wooded coastline beyond.
waves17-Mile Drive · 35 mm filmSurfing in brilliant waters
A grassy cliff covered in ice plant above turquoise surf, with a surfer paddling out and cyclists at a railed lookout.
the lookout17-Mile Drive · 35 mm filmIce plant in bloom, there is a steep descent into the ocean behind the lookout that is favored by surfers.

California never shows you everything at once. Just when you thought you have seen it all, you realize there is another perfect place tucked in somewhere. I think that’s why I keep taking pictures of it all: to keep a little of what I did get to see.

A woman in a white sweater and a dark floral skirt walking barefoot on a wide sandy beach at golden hour, holding her shoes, with a lifeguard tower and a pier behind her.
toes in sand, shoes in handLos Angeles · 35 mm filmThe end of the coast, for now.

’Tis my favorite pictures. More film soon.

— dana

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