Dru Fickling Photography

Original Photography and Art by Dru Fickling with some inspiring reblogged items included. Please visit druphotography.com and druphotography.photoshelter.com for more photos

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I haven’t posted in forever! I think it’s time I come back. Here’s some LA magic for you

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“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.”

Claude Monet.

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Sunset in Venice Beach, California

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I haven’t posted in so long so I thought I’d write about one of my favorite places on this earth: Towaliga Plantation. The land has been my Grandfather’s for at least 25 years (my whole life). I have the best memories of Thanksgivings spent hunting quail and riding horses and four wheelers. The kids would stay in the bunk room in the cabin and roast marshmallows in the huge stone fireplace. My brother and cousin and I would play guitar and banjo even though our family would be the only ones to pretend to enjoy it. As we’ve gotten older we’ve thrown parties with friends on fall weekends. It’s the most perfect in fall or even winter when the suns sets low and golden through the pines.

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Hike in SF last weekend

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NOT MY PHOTO. This photographic inspiration comes from this article about the Portuguese Man-Of-War, with photos by Aaron Ansarov.

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Welcome to Cali! What do you do for Sony?

Hello,Thanks! I'm working in the visual effects dept on post production for a film.I'm guessing you're a local?

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Finally- CALIFORNIA! We arrived at our little bungalow in Venice beach and then we passed out asleep pretty early. The next day we shopped on Abbott Kinney and walked to the beach and went to dinner at a seafood restaurant (playa provisions) in Marina del Rey. Sunday we woke up early to rain (!) but still drove to Malibu to Zuma beach to surf. Our instructor was a pretty jazzed up surfer who actually got us standing and riding a little! We got new age hippie granola bowls and coffee after in a little Malibu town and then went back to Venice for a nap. We then went to Griffith observatory to see the sunset and to silver lake for dinner at a small Italian place called Alimento. All the food has been good so far :). Now it's Monday and I just got home from my first day at Sony Studios and I'm pooped. Luckily my new air bnb home for the week is a chill hippie hostel like atmosphere where I can sit in the garden in the backyard and relax. Peace out

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Before driving to Vegas we had to see horseshoe bend. It was just off the road but it was HOT. You can't see it from a distance so when you approach it it blows your mind. It's incredible. There are no rails and so you could easily fall to your death. Photos don't do the scale justice either. The drive to Vegas from there was barren. We got to Vegas in the evening and it was 111 degrees! But our room at the Wynn was lovely with AC :) It was Ethan's birthday so we went to Jaleo at the Cosmopolitan for dinner which is a Spanish tapas restaurant that was delicious. Then to Bellagio to see O- the cirque du soleil water show. It was wacky. The next day we went to the pool and got lunch at the Wynn. Then lost money in the slots.

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After the Grand Canyon we went on my favorite detour. We wanted to get active after driving so long and so we drove out of our way to Lake Powell and rented paddleboards in Page, AZ. I never thought I'd see the mustang looking so outdoorsy. We risked getting stuck in the sand to camp at Lone Rock, which is actually on the Utah side of Lake Powell. It was incredibly beautiful and we spent the night right on the beach in a tent we got at Walmart that evening. We woke up and got paddling! Then we hit the road for Vegas

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Our hotel in downtown Flagstaff and our delicious breakfast at Macy's (also downtown). The Grand Canyon was great but you've seen so many photos of it that it's a bit underwhelming honestly. Too many tourists on the south rim. We thought the view of a little side canyon with the rattlesnakes was cooler. I got a cedar seed bracelet from a Native American jeweler on the side of the road which was neat.

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After leaving Texas we decided to check out the most advertised site in Eastern New Mexico- "Blue Hole". It's a tiny little swimming spot in Santa Rosa where tourists stop off to jump off a ledge into freezing water. You can also scuba dive! We watched some kids jump in then tried it ourselves. It was definitely refreshing. Next we made it to Albuquerque where we searched the internet for a good lunch spot. We found Sophia's which is another hole in the wall in el barrio. Soooo good. I had pork carnitas tacos and Ethan has fish tacos. Simple and delicious. We loaded up on coffee at a local spot near NMU and then hit the road again. It was barren with scattered rain storms but pretty mesas. We finally got into Arizona and it was once again nothing for 300 ,lies until Flagstaff. It's crazy- you see nothing but flat scrub land and all of a sudden there's a forrest and mountains and a little hippie town called Flagstaff. We got a room at the hotel Monte Vista- a historic old hotel in downtown. We hit up some locals for a dinner rec and ended up at Diablo Burger. Yummy local beef burgers and local beer. Today we're off to see the Grand Canyon and lake Powell. Woohoo!

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So lake Silvia was a bit underwhelming but we still enjoyed the water and the break. After drying off we drove to Oklahoma City for dinner at Mule, which was a sandwich restaurant that Ethan found online. It was kind of in an "upcoming neighborhood", aka the hipster hood. We had a good short rib sandwich and a croque madam. Then we hit the road for Amarillo where we slept. Waking up in Amarillo we got coffee at a local spot that was nothing to write home about. Now we're on the road and it is rainy and boring scenery. The wind turbines are the only interesting thing really.

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Cross country road trip day 2 started after leaving getting coffee at Qawha which was in downtown Memphis near our hotel. We had stayed at the Madison which was a cool artsy hotel with a great rooftop bar that had a view of the Mississippi River. We crossed the river into Arkansas and decided to find a cool place to stretch our legs at lunchtime. Using the road trippers app we found a place called Pinnacle State Park outside of Little Rock. It was pretty cool- they had an overlook w views of the Arkansas river and Maumelle watershed. But we wanted to swim so the ranger told us to check out lake Sylvia and that's where we're headed!

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So I'm moving to LA and driving all the way from Atlanta. I snapped this in Memphis, TN and edited it with VSCO