James Bernal

A year ago, I turned 30, and began documenting each day of my 30th trip around the sun. It was a year where we said goodbye to our old home in Chicago and drove across the country to our new one in Los Angeles, attended plenty of weddings, traveled to Cuba, Iceland, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, rescued two (2!) baby hummingbirds, saw Devendra Banhart (twice!), broke into my own house, sang Purple Rain with thousands of strangers, hiked on a glacier, ate hundreds of tacos, temporarily worked my first 9-5 job, started baking bread, drove to Mexico for a day, made a ton of new friends, and reconnected with a bunch of old ones. It's a real challenge trying to cram a day into a second, and I often found myself filming the least interesting part of many days, but seeing this all played back now is a reminder to me not just about how quickly life moves, but  how much living you can pack into the short time we're here.

This was mostly shot on a Canon 5D Mark II, with some iPhone and GoPro in the mix.

Another test roll shot on Rollei’s funky Infrared film which captures vegetation as ghostly white.

Maria in Hollywood. Shot on infrared film.

Maria overlooking the cliffs at Montaña de Oro, CA. Shot on Rollei’s funny infrared film.

With all the news about immigration today, I thought to share this photo taken a few weeks ago during a spontaneous drive to Mexico. This portion of the border wall separating the US and Mexico looks ominous, but I was surprised by how much life there was on the southern side of the border. Men were fishing, young women were jogging with dogs, and even a few dolphins surfaced to say órale.

Los Angeles, yesterday.

Think Good Thoughts, Silverlake, CA.

Maria, lately. 

Christmas Eve in Malibu.