The Sea of Gold - Montana de Oro State Park, CA

Goodbye to the Golden State

April 25, 2016

If you follow me on social media, you will have already heard this by now. My wife Jes and I are leaving this beautiful state of California at the end of this week. The past year and a half that we've spent here have been filled with unbelievable moments and the people we've grown to know and love here will be friends for life. While this may mark an end to us being here, it creates a new beginning for us. Jes will be pursuing her passion in art, working as art director at a local non-profit art gallery and I will be pursuing my dream of working full time as a fine art landscape photographer.

Coming to Peace - Death Valley National Park, CA

The support we've had from all of you who have purchased my work, given me praise, or even silently read through my posts are what have led us to this point in our lives - and I thank you. Without you all, this would not have been possible.

With that, I am going to be traveling extensively. I have several projects I'm going to begin working on based out in the Great Plains as soon as I arrive next week. From there, I will be headed into Colorado, the desert southwest, and back to California sometime this coming winter.

California is somewhat of a dream location as a landscape photographer, with diverse landscapes all at your fingertips. Having a full time job, it's a perfect place to be - hit the beach after work for a nice sunset or maybe wander out in the dunes before work. Now that I have the freedom to be wherever I need to be with no time constraints, there's no better option than to be in the center of the country. I plan on coming back to CA at least twice a year, but I look forward to seeing new landscapes and living in the place I consider my photographic home - the Great Plains.

While this may be goodbye to this place, it's all just the beginning for us. Big things are coming, and a ton of film is about to be exposed. I have much more work I've created while in California that will be released progressively throughout the year and more and more new work will be on its way. Keep a look out on my social media for behind the scenes photos and subscribe to my newsletter for other news.

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International Photography Award Winner - Sea of Gold

October 26, 2015

Recently, I received word that one of my new pieces, Sea of Gold, received Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards in the category of Fine Art Landscapes. It was chosen to receive this award from nearly 18,000 entries worldwide. This piece has been close to me this past year, as it was one of the first images I created while living on the California Central Coast on my 4x5 camera. It was created at one of my favorite spots in Montana de Oro State Park along with my wife Jes. A large wave hit the cliff face where we were standing moments before, drenching her, but leaving my camera and me completely dry. She took a beating, but the photograph turned out to be one of my favorites I had ever created and I am beyond thrilled and honored to receive this award.

purchase Sea of gold

If you’d like to purchase a copy of this limited edition photograph, you can click the button above. Shoot me an email, or give me a call if you have any questions or if you’d just like to order with me personally.

Thanks to everyone who continues to follow me on this journey and, as always, keep a lookout for new work coming up soon!

The Sea of Gold - Montana de Oro State Park

April 25, 2015

Michael Strickland releases his new limited edition photograph entitled "The Sea of Gold." It was taken along the central coast of California on an evening in early April.

Montana de Oro State Park - Part 1

March 26, 2015

After visiting Montana de Oro State Park for the first time this past weekend, I feel so fortunate that it's located right at my back door. Montana de Oro has an incredibly rugged coastline with incredible texture that I can't wait to explore. On Saturday evening, the thick marine layer stumped any chance of golden hour light, so I decided to try to photograph a composition I had found the evening before on black and white film. I very rarely shoot in black and white, mainly because my eye is drawn to color images, but I've been trying to learn to see in monochrome. The cloudy evening fit the mood well as tide was rushing in over the rocks in the foreground. I captured this photograph on Kodak T-Max 100, which has been my favorite black and white film I've tried so far. in order to add more contrast to the scene, I decided to use a Red 23 filter, which also helped me lengthen the exposure to around 12 seconds to ensure the smooth texture of the waves. As soon as I had packed up and finished my exposures for the evening, a large wave crashed against the rock to my immediate right, which would have drenched me along with all of my gear. Coming from Kansas, I've been accustomed to the power of thunderstorms, but the ocean is on another level. Watching the water raise and lower 20-30 feet alongside a sharp rock face with every wave is an unreal experience.