3.25.2026
Terranea Resort
Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Fuji X100VI
This post marks the start of my photo walk series.
For the past two years, my greatest inspiration for creative, but also mundane in a way, photography has been Teo Crawford. Although sometimes he goes out to beautiful and unique locations, most of his work is done just around his hometown or random fields he discovers. The simplicity and yet beauty of his images make me want to go out and shoot anytime I watch a new video. So this new series is inspired by him! If you haven't seen his work, definitely check him out, he makes the most relaxing and beautiful videos about his photography on YouTube :)
Now, a bit about this walk.
We live so close to Terranea, that we often joke that we live at the resort itself. A walk around the grounds is usually part of my day, so this location seemed like the perfect opportunity to test out my new Fuji X100VI. I packed up the stroller, baby and camera and headed out on my first official photo walk with this camera.
For these images I used the Classic Cuban Negative recipe found here.
All of these images are SOOC with the exception of one slight crop. A couple images are slightly underexposed, but I kept myself from editing them in post because the whole point of getting this camera for me was to enjoy the photography process with no editing. I'm including the exposure settings under each image since I personally enjoy seeing the settings behind other people's work. If you think some of the settings are pretty random, it's because some truly are. I was playing around with the Auto mode (paired with the exposure compensation dial) instead of using manual the whole time. It worked well for, I'd say, 75% of the time? I was fairly impressed. I have yet to figure out how to set a minimum shutter speed threshold, so until then I will probably stick with manual. Note that this is a crop sensor camera so the 23mm is equivalent to 35mm in full frame, in case you have a different camera.
Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite images.
I hope you enjoy :)
f/2.0
ISO 500
1/1100s
23mm
The start of trail leading to the resort, felt like an important part of the story to capture.
f/5.6
ISO 500
1/500s
23mm
Low hanging, moody clouds + variously lit up peninsulas are my weak spot.
 
f/2.0
ISO 500
1/2000s
23mm
A classic Terranea beach shot, but it had to be done. I forgot to adjust the f-stop here. Would have definitely preferred something higher to preserve detail in the entire cliff. But since I was quite far away, the image still turned out pretty well I think.
 
f/4.5
ISO 800
1/640s
23mm
 
A little underexposed for my taste, and perhaps a bit boring? But I honestly love the simplicity of this shot.
f/4.5
ISO 800
1/125s
23mm
 
The mix of texture and color on the side of the cliff was a must capture. The Classic Cuban Recipe does wonders for oranges.
f/2.0
ISO 800
1/2000s
23mm
 
This was on my way up, and the magic of the clouds disappeared at this point. But the addition of the yellow flowers in the foreground still makes this my favorite photo of this photo walk.
f/16
ISO 800
1/15s
23mm
 
This was the only photo I did any post processing on - and that's a slight crop. It was a tad windy here so I lowered the shutter speed to try to get some of the needles in the tree in motion. It sort of worked? In hindsight I think I should have gone even lower.
f/4.5
ISO 8000
1/1000s
23mm
 
I just love the fog over the rolling hills. It is my number one favorite thing about living in Palos Verdes.
f/4.5
ISO 8000
1/60s
23mm
 
Hands down my favorite plant. I touch it anytime I walk past one. The circled up fresh leaves in the center make such a satisfying point, that its irresistible to the touch.
f/4.5
ISO 1250
1/125s
23mm
 
Maybe boring, but I grew up loving cacti and only seeing it on my windowsill in the dozens of pots that I cultivated them in. The fact that cacti just grow out in the wild right outside my home (and not in some far away desert) still makes me giddy.
 
This is all for now, thank you for coming along with me on this photo walk. I hope to post more soon!