A local photo-blogger frames the county to connect with his soul.

The Toyota Camry races the dawn down Highway 1. As the vehicle slips south past Carmel Highlands and Malpaso, the sky grows pale in anticipation of a mild winter morning.

John Wilson is pushing 75mph, then 80—the self-described “recovering attorney” has a date with the sunrise at one of his favorites spots in his favorite area in the world. He arrives at the pullout at Big Sur’s Granite Canyon Beach, descends the stairs to the beach and begins trudging along the damp sand toward a canyon split by a creek and popping with wild calla lilies. Athletic sea fleas hop around his “duck boots” like popcorn mid-pop.

Monterey County is as full of professional photographers as Granite Canyon Beach is with these little white insects. But Wilson, 59, isn’t one of those pros. Nevertheless, he still has more than enough motivation to wake up at 5am and drive a half-hour south from his Laureles Grade home with one of his many cameras. This is his communion.

“It’s a connection as much as anything else,” he says. “It’s me and the universe—I’m not just wrapped up in myself anymore, but breaking out, outside my ego. That’s why it’s a little spiritual: There’s a sense of connection with something vastly greater than yourself.”

The first rays of the day seem to validate his reverence on cue, giving the morning the feel of a fresh fuzzy peach. The lighting is approaching ideal. Wilson moves from sand to bush to creek to take pictures—spotting the obscure aesthetics of red lichen on a rock, Byzantine patterns in the sand along the creek’s edge, a baby lily trying to sprout in rough environs.

His clicking lens provides the heartbeat of his photo blog—any number of shots will likely soon appear on Monterey John California Photographer, one of the county’s most consistent blogs. There he logs updates on a love affair with the area through almost daily entries and links to other photography blogs and gallery sites. With one recent entry he somehow freezes a bee’s wings in flight (pictured above); with another he captures a surreal snow blanket on Mount Toro in black and white.

With both photos and text, Wilson’s passion for the local landscape is apparent.

“From the soaring redwoods, the richness of its valleys, the majesty of Yosemite, to the ocean and the beauty of the coast, California compels my soul,” he writes. “My soul finds expression in photography.”