Reflected Mo
March 29th, 2007
Today was a wonderful day. A great drive. I left Houston at about 8:30 this morning and headed west. It was rainy for the first half of the trip. Then I headed out into the desert and the rain stopped, the sky cleared. While I listened Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys on the stereo, I watched the rolling hills and scrub pine turn to mesas and prickly pears. The rain had enlivened the desert. The ground was covered with yellow flowers and the Joshua Trees were in full bloom. I made great time. I love the 80 mph speed limit in this part of the country.
I was heading to one of the most remote areas of the lower 48, Big Bend. Even the GPS wasn’t sure what was out there. It didn’t seem to know about the left turn I needed to make in Alpine. And it was saying I had 18 miles to go when the road signs said 50 miles. (Magellan really should get some of these kinks worked out. I probably should have gotten a Garmin.) After I left I-10 the road got more interesting. The speed limit was still 70 mph, but the yellow diamond signs indicated a more sensible 30 mph for the climb into the mountains. Because of the road I decided to let Willie Nelson, Waylon, and friends repeat the Outlaws CD instead of hunting for something else. The radio searched the entire FM band without finding a station. The mesas began to look like misshapen beasts lurking in the distance.
Eventually the road straightened out and I picked up the pace again. I put on Warren Zevon’s final album for the last leg of the trip.
So now I’m in Study Butte (pronounced Stewdy Beaute) just outside the Big Bend National Park. The rock formations I’ve already seen look like they will make great settings for my figure work. The rock is dark brown, almost black. The contrast with skin tones should work very well.
Niecy Moss and her husband, Dan, will arrive tomorrow. Rose will get here Saturday night to model for several days. Study Butte seems to have everything we will need for a comfortable stay. Much to my surprise, here in this remote corner of the country I have excellent cell phone reception and the motel has wireless internet access. So I’m finally able to make some new posts to the blog. For some reason blogger would not let me post from Niecy’s computer in Houston.
I had a great two days of shooting in Houston. Two models on a ranch, a few special things for Niecy, then a day with two models in a beautiful wooded area with a great stream, then on to a bayou that also worked very well. I’ll have things to post from those shoots soon, if I get time for editing.
For now, here is another shot of Echoed Light during our grueling hike in the Ozarks. This is her edit of a shot she chose. I think she chose well. I did just a little tweaking of the file in photoshop. I haven’t had time to look at the photos from this shoot yet, since I’ve been shooting so much, so I just swiped this one from her deviantart page. Thanks, Mo.
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