I’ve been working to get something like this for a while and back in February everything came together. I was home for the day before the snow began and the forecast called for several inches of accumulation. So here’s a nice time lapse of a February afternoon where about three inches of snow falls. You can see a little melting toward the end of the video as it nears dark. Not to worry as more snow fell after dark ending with about seven inches in total the next morning. And for those who might not know, around here seven inches of snow pretty much shuts down everything.
Author: bill
Work with Jessi June
I resisted the urge to come up with a month pun here since I used one last time I worked with Jessi. Winter weather has been rough this year, but finally spring seems to be winning out over the lingering cold weather. Not so much when I worked with Jessi in Nashville back in early March. I headed to Nashville for a couple days for a few shoots and to catch a Nashville Predators game (they lost unfortunately). My last shoot came with Jessi who I’d not worked with since last summer.
The weather had been rather cold the night before. Walking back to my car after the hockey game in a brisk, cold wind the night before wasn’t fun. I woke in the morning to the oddest weather. The temperatures hovered right at freezing in the early morning with patchy fog around the city. While driving to meet Jessi, I saw several places where the fog had frozen onto the trees. The result made a number of beautiful wintry scenes. Because of traffic I never found a good spot I could stop and get a photo unfortunately.
Eventually though I made it to the shoot. While we didn’t have long to work together because of time constraints, Jessi as always is wonderful and it doesn’t take long to get great work with her as you can see from these photos from our shoot. As I left the temperatures had warmed up just a bit. One tree that had been coated in ice when I’d arrived now had those same ice chunks falling off covering the ground like hail. Winter hadn’t left yet, but at least it’s grip was loosening. Later this week I should have my first outdoor shoot of the year in a week that feels very spring like at last.
As always more from the shoot available on the members site at http://members.candidvision.com/2014/03/26/gallery-jessi-june-winter-2014/.
Why Last Summer’s Trip Sucked and Why I’m Doing a Trip this Summer Anyway
Earlier in the week I discussed my thoughts, concerns, and frankly fears about travelling this coming summer. I’ve been working to do more travel, but an overall rather bad travel experience last summer left me a bit shy about this year. I’ve hinted at that trip more than once, but I guess I should explain a bit about why the trip left such a mark months later. There are people involved I do consider friends, even if some of those friendships are strained at best now. So forgive some intentional vagueness, but an interlude into my last trip to Arizona and why it left such a mark.
The idea for the trip came a few months after I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time back in 2012. I wanted to backpack into the Canyon itself for a several days, and hopefully complete a rim to rim crossing. That’s starting on one rim, descending into the Canyon, and then ascending to the other rim. Early last year I asked a friend to accompany me on the trip, and she agreed. I was able to secure a permit for a trip in June. This friend models and the resulting plan eventually coalesced into travelling to Arizona for several days before the backpacking portion. When schedules and time allowed we’d travel together to split expenses, but otherwise plan to meet up and head to the Grand Canyon for the backpacking trip.
Sidetracking the preparation and above came in March. In a fairly short period of time I entered into what I only describe as an absolutely horrible stretch of time. So many things went sideways in a short time, a few weeks really. My professional life hit an absolutely horrible stretch leaving me a bit lost and bewildered. Suddenly though a professional opportunity I’d really had hopes for, but seemed dead came back out of the blue. That made it even more painful when it just missed and I got the news in early April. And just after that a seemingly promising romantic relationship fell apart suddenly and unexpectedly. Many more things, small and large over those months . Through all this the trip was sort of my anchor and my landmark as I waded through the muck. The thing I kept looking forward to and stayed excited about.
I’d had some concerns in the last weeks leading to the trip, but felt it mostly nerves. A phone call a few days before my departure soothed those and I felt good whenI left home to drive to the airport for my flight. Right up until the moment I stopped for gas and saw the text from my friend that she wasn’t coming.
I was already committed, I was on the way to the airport, so I flew out. My friend didn’t return my calls before or after the flight leaving me somewhat worried about her along with being bewildered and completely unsure what the hell to do with myself and this trip. The backpacking trip that meant so much to me began to crumble, and I had no idea why.
Still I’d planned several days before we met up, but almost nothing went right. So many shoots canceled or fell through at the last minute. A friend in the area I found both over promised and under delivered combining the frustration I felt. In fact even the shoots that did come to pass almost all had issues such as reptilian photo bombers. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the highlight of the trip was not being bitten by a rattlesnake in spite of being a couple feet from a coiled one. As for the backpacking trip, I’d planned the trip for two people and changing to a solo experience with a few days notice felt impossible. I tried to make it work, but it wouldn’t. A few days after arrival I canceled what I could and ate the rest of the backpacking trip along with changing my flight to an earlier departure. On the day I’d originally planned to arrive at the Canyon, I instead flew home. The dream delayed.
If you’ve followed this blog for more than a few months, you know that I did go back in November and complete the backpacking trip with a few additional stops I’d not planned the first time. It lived up to my expectations and surpassed them. I’m very glad I made the trip even if it took a bit more time and drama than I’d hoped. The effects still linger in frustration and damaged friendships. While I’ve forgiven the friend for not coming out for the trip, I still feel hurt at both how she did so and her behavior since then. While I still hope we’ll reconcile, we’ve not. The friend in Arizona I consider lost.
So that was my trip last summer. Broken friendships, lost trust, Murphy’s Law, more canceled shoots than successful ones, and the dream and core of the trip falling apart when it was almost literally close enough to see. This hasn’t been as short as I’d meant it to be, but that’s why another summer trip feels me with a level of almost physical discomfort at times.
While my day job will take me out west this summer in any case, the question really comes down to what to do afterward. I’ve really decided to sort of go for it. Yes, I’m nervous about a trip going as bad as last summer’s. That’s no reason to not make some trip and enjoy myself. Yes things could turn into another disaster, but they could also be awesome. Without going they’ll simply be nothing.
Oddly that decision made the rest of it fall into place pretty quickly. While I’d love to do the long west coast trip, it would only be possible as a whirlwind and I don’t want to travel that way. I want to experience and savor the places I visit for a few days. So I’ll be visiting Las Vegas and then heading over toward California. It’s a big state and I’ve been there for only a few nights since starting to do this seriously. The plan right now is to start out in Vegas and visit Death Valley, Yosemite, and Sequoia parks. Also planning to come to the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and perhaps Sand Diego for a bit. I think it will be fun. More planning to do, but I look forward to some fun shoots coming out there.
Moving to Spring and Planning for Summer
The quiet period is coming to an end. January and February usually pass as quiet months. Winter means few models from outside the area travelling through. Sometimes other opportunities present, but the cold and waves of snow and ice this winter have kept things fairly quiet even locally. Some shoots of course, but few as even local shoots seemed to fall victim to forecasts of snow more than once the last couple of months. That’s changing as March arrives. The first promises of spring tease in the air. People begin to move about the country again now that ice doesn’t blanket most of it.
My posts around the change from last year to this one focused around some frustrations from the last year. The last couple of months have given me time to make peace with much of that, and I look forward to the coming year as it starts to pick up. My experimentation has been mixed, but the secret of experimentation is that it’s designed to fail. The mistakes are learning opportunities to build upon.
I’ll be heading out west again this summer to Las Vegas for work. I’ll be extending the trip with some additional travel, though I’m not sure how much yet. The disaster that last June’s trip became has me a bit gun shy. During that June trip almost everything went wrong from the drive to the airport to the flight home. The normal lies somewhere between that worst case and the much better return in November and that’s where I debate. I’d love to take the time to enjoy the whole west coast from San Diego to Seattle or Vancouver, but that seems a little too far. Too many logistics that could break, too many days away, and other good, sound, logical reasons.
In truth I worry it’ll end up like the trip from last summer if I push it too far. When I returned in November the June trip led me to keep the trip tightly scheduled and my time for the unplanned short. So I had no time for the unexpected moments that arose. I didn’t get to work with some people because of my schedule, and what time I spent in Phoenix in particular was constantly either shooting or getting ready for a shoot. Being too busy seems better than not being busy at all. Is it better to rush through at a madcap pace or take the chance of leaving time for quiet leisure and the unexpected? The unexpected hasn’t been my friend of late, but I feel comfortable coming toward it again.
I don’t know what I shall do yet. I feel California along with Nevada are almost certainties. I have places I want to see there and I’m not sure the next time I’ll get back out west after this trip. There’s much of the country I’ve not seen in a while and I’d like to get back to those places. I’d like to add the Pacific Northwest, but again the logistics make it tricky. I have time to decide so the decision can be debated a bit more. The longer I debate though, the more likely I will find myself in the northwest this year.
Glamour and Art with Ivy Lee
Winter is an odd time in the south. I normally write my posts a few weeks in advance so I have some leeway in case other parts of life get in the way. As I write this in late January we’ve just had a pretty strong snowstorm and bitterly cold winds. The entire month of January was quite cold, but just before each cold snap we’ve had a very nice day or two of warm and pleasant weather. I met Ivy to shoot over in Asheville on one such warm day between cold weather days. I’d been a little worried about making the shoot as I’d suffered a broken pipe thanks to the extreme cold earlier in the week. Thankfully I was able to make repairs to my home and still make the shoot.
While warm, it wasn’t outdoor weather. In the end we wound up working at a hotel in the city which worked nicely. Early in the shoot we worked through some nice glamour styled work. There was an original concept here related to the fairy tales concept I mentioned in my Shoot with Xlcr Moon, but in the end the location didn’t quite work for my thoughts so I worked with just a traditional glamour look.
After those we worked through some art nude work. First we did some work using some paper lanterns as the sole light source. I’ve played with a few times in the past and they have some interesting strengths and weaknesses in lighting. One resulting photo I particularly liked this nice silhouette image of her against the lanterns.
And finally we wrapped with a few more traditional art nudes images.
Again Ivy was wonderful to work with. And as always you can see more in the members area on either the glamour or art sides.
Dark Fairy Tales with Xlcr Moon
One of the concepts that I’m starting to work on over this year will be talking a more adult and darker takes on some fairy tales. The idea is to try to find an interesting middle between the modern sanitized versions and the original darker stories that are often much more dark, morbid, and violent.
My first shoot around this concept came in a late December shoot with Xlcr Moon. Here we took the idea of Snow White and the Evil Queen. She had a wonderful dress and cape that worked for the concept beautifully. Here are a few photos from the shoot.
See more of the shoot on the members site at http://members.candidvision.com/2014/01/29/gallery-xlcr-moon-winter-2013-part-one/ and http://members.candidvision.com/2014/02/04/gallery-xlcr-moon-winter-2013-part-two/.
Shooting in Phoenix with Plush
Going back to my time in Arizona late last year for today. A few days before I left for the trip, I got a message from Plush who I’d worked with while in Phoenix back in 2012 right before leaving Phoenix on that trip. She’d moved from Phoenix right before my less than successful summer trip, but was visiting the city again at the same time I’d be there. I only took a couple of days in Phoenix this trip, and the schedules worked out that all three shoots in the city were the same day.
I’d had a late night before, so getting up early for my shoot with Plush took a little effort and even than a little coffee. I also found that the batteries for my flash had been left in my hotel the night before and so I had to make a quick walking trek to a nearby grocery store to buy batteries. After several days at higher elevations it did feel nice to walk outside without a jacket for a couple of days.
With my time constraints we didn’t have the chance to get outside for this shoot and so worked out of my hotel room. I enjoyed working with Plush again and she’s developed as a model in the last year. We started with a glamour set in lingerie, before moving to a bit more casually sexy outfit. You can see some more from this set in the member’s area.
We wrapped up with some art nude styled images taking advantage of an interesting wall hanging with some nice texture to it. Also tried an interesting concept here with some shallow depth of field. I like how they came out as seen in the photo below. Also more from these two groups in the member’s area.
More with Melissa Jean
At the end of the shoot with Melissa Jean we tried something with some cloth that had caught my eye in the studio. There’s an assistance off screen blowing air at Melissa giving the movement here in her hair and the cloth. I like the way this cloth catches light in these photos and it’s already inspired another concept I hope to work in soon. For now here’s a few more from that shoot.
Again you can see more of these and others with Melissa in the members area.
Horseshoe Bend
One last photo for now from my trip to Arizona. Near Page, Arizona there’s an interesting meander in the Colorado river name Horseshoe Bed. It’s about five miles downstream of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell and a probably just over a mile round trip hike off US Route 89. Like the slot canyons in the area, this is best photographed when the sun is high in the sky. I was limited on time as I had spend much of the morning and midday in slot canyons around Page and had to be in Phoenix early in the evening.
This worked nicely as while this is a lovely spot, it doesn’t require a lot of time to view. It’s a stunning view and the photos don’t really show how wide of a scene it is. Here’s my photo showing the bend assembled from several smaller images.
Light Painting with Leanne in Phoenix
Earlier I posted a few photos done in the fading light near Phoenix. After the sun set and the darkness came in, we switched to something more along the lines of light painting. Here instead of using a traditional flashlight, I used a headlamp that I’d brought for the hike out in the dark. It worked great as a bright small light source to light up Leanne and the area around her and leaving the desert around her in darkness for contrast. These are close to the same area as the last photos.
After we finished the photos, she and I donned headlamps and prepared to head back to my car. This meant a short hike back through the area we knew might have those annoying little cacti in there. So we carefully made our way to the nearest trail with neither us of being stuck. Once there we checked each other’s feet. Leanne had avoided further cactus, she’d gotten one on her flip flop earlier. I on the other hand had four of the tiny little balls of potential pain stick to the sole of my shoe. I’d chosen not to wear hiking boots and instead had on only my trail running shoes which the spines would have gone through with no problem. Thankfully all had stuck in the thick soles and were easy to remove before heading back to the car. In short, those little cacti are evil.
Leanne was my last shoot in Phoenix. I left the city the next morning and in doing so went from a temperatures near eighty when I arrived at the Phoenix airport to barely above forty degree when I landed in Nashville. A nice trip and enjoyable one. I’m hoping that my schedule will take me out west again next year and we’ll see if I can make my way back into the desert again.
If you’d like to see more from this shoot, please visit the members area.