Fall in Vermont
October 15th, 2008
That’s Kathryn Ann again. No, she didn’t fall…but those leaves had. Even though the weather prevented getting any views of the mountains covered with brilliant fall colors, that didn’t mean I couldn’t shoot some close up. And Kathryn adds a nice touch of a different sort of beauty in the mid-ground.
I’m swamped as usual trying to get caught up on things here at home…and also trying to set up a few more outdoor shoots before the fall leaves are gone and it gets too cold. Sounds like I’ll do at least two shoots in the next week or so. Meanwhile I’ll probably post another one or two of Kathryn being nude and beautiful in Vermont.
Leaf Peepin’
October 12th, 2008
I’m back home from my trip to Vermont. The weather didn’t cooperate for me to do the leaf peepin’ nudes with Kathryn that I had planned to do, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the colorful scenery that the state is famous for this time of year. I stopped on the drive home to take this quick shot at Lake Bomoseen. Unfortunately, there was no nude model handy to place in the obvious spot reserved for her figure in this composition, so I just had to shoot it without.
I still might try to get some fall color nudes back here in Ohio before it’s too late. The weather looks great for that this week. Do I have any volunteer models?
Cold, Wet and Dirty
October 9th, 2008
I often warn my models that if they work with me they are likely to get cold, wet and dirty. That really happened today when I shot with Kathryn Ann on a mountain trail here in Vermont. We started out before dawn. I wanted to get the fall colors at sunrise. The past few days have been cool and clear, so I expected the same this morning and hoped to get shots before the sun rose too high and started washing out the color in the leaves.
Well, of course, the weather changed today. It was warmer, and when we started up the trail it was misty but very nice, really. But about half way up the mountain it started to rain. I have a lifetime of experience hiking in the woods so, of course, I’m prepared for rain. I had a gore-tex raincoat, a hat and an umbrella (always handy to keeping rain off the camera while doing shots). And, of course, they were all back in the van at the bottom of the mountain. So I got a little wet this morning.
Kathryn was a little better prepared with a hoodie, but, she had to keep getting naked out in the rain. And it got colder the higher we went. But she is a real trooper and didn’t complain at all. And she looked just so very beautiful out in all that fall color.
The weather didn’t clear up until after we had come down off the mountain. So I didn’t get the vistas of fall color with Kathryn in the foreground that I had expected to shoot. But when working in nature it’s important to stay flexible and work with whatever mother nature has decided to present to you. In this case the mist and rain were beautiful, though they restricted shooting to closer scenes like this one. But it all worked out quite well.
So, I’m happy with this shoot. Very happy. And I’ve added a new model. I don’t like to shoot with every model who comes along…I do better working with a few models who I get to know and who I get along with…models who understand what I’m trying to do and want to be a part of it. Kathryn Ann is now one of those models and I look forward to working with her again on future trips to Vermont.
Thanks so much, Kathryn. Hope you are all warmed up and cleaned up now.
Ruins
October 8th, 2008
I’m on a slow dial-up connection, so this will be short. I’m having a great time and great weather in Vermont. The leaves are near peak and I may have some Vermont photos to share in a few days.
Meanwhile, here is Neva again from our Death Valley trip. After our stop at Big Dune at dawn we went on down the road and spotted this abandoned place, apparently some sort of industrial complex. It was out in the sage brush all by itself, so we stopped and looked around and did some photos. It’s always nice to have a beautiful model ready to shuck her clothes when you spot a place like this along the road. Thanks Neva.
Because I’m here
October 6th, 2008
And I don’t know when I’ll next have internet access, here’s another photo from Death Valley. That’s Vima looking sensational in the ruins not far from Badwater…the lowest place in North America, if I remember correctly.
Again, I’ll check in and post as I have the chance over the next week…but no telling in advance when that will be.
Long Time Gone
October 4th, 2008
Sorry for the extended absence from posting. It’s been a bit busy since I returned from Death Valley. Much of my time has been spent dealing with post-Ike storm recovery. Just today I was finally able to talk with the insurance claims adjuster who set an appointment to come to our home and review the damage…on November 1.
The wide-spread damage from Ike has made this process difficult. We have roof damage. I called the roof company that has done work for us before. They told me that if I weren’t a returning customer they wouldn’t even consider working on my tile roof. But as it stands now I’m in line behind 2,000 other customers waiting for an estimate.
And I’ve been working on photo things too. I’ll have some new 2009 calendars available in the near future.
But, I’m on the road again, on my way to Vermont to visit my mother-in-law. It’s a good trip with my wife and her brother and his wife, who are very good company. And it’s actually giving me more opportunity to get on line as long as the wi-fi in the motels works. Once we get to Vermont there will be only dial-up internet access…and that will be used just for quick checks of e-mail…so updates will stop again for a while.
Meanwhile, here’s a shot of Neva at a spot just outside Death Valley where a sculptor had put up some really wonderful work. I have his name, but it’s at home and I’m on the road. I’ll update with that name when I get back home. Neva saw this sculpture and said, “That’s a nude. I have to pose with that one.” And she did. I’m quite pleased with the result.
More as I get time…and access to the internet.
After Ike
September 26th, 2008
I’ve been pretty swamped since I got home. My redeye flight from LA was way overbooked…something like 20 seats overbooked. I volunteered to give up my seat and got a voucher and a hotel for the night. But it was midnight before I made it to the hotel and my new flight was at 6 a.m., so I only got about 3 hours of sleep. But I made it home just a little later than I had planned.
Since then I’ve met my new grandson, Titus, of course. And I’ve been dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Ike came through Ohio with actual hurricane-force winds…something that doesn’t happen here. My neighbor’s old oak tree came down into her house and ours. It was pretty dramatic. Photos of it keep showing up in the local newspaper. But the actual damage was fairly moderate. But getting repairs done is turning out to be a challenge. Our roofer told me he has 2,000 estimates for roof repairs that he personally has to do that are ahead of us. We also have some electrical line damage and some broken windows. I hope we can get things taken care of before winter is too much upon us.
So I’m working on those problems and trying to catch up on photo work that was left while I was gone and also to work on editing all the things I shot on the trip, which was a very successful photo trip. Death Valley was a great location. So there’s lots more to come from there, but I just haven’t had time to get to much of it yet.
But here’s a shot of Vima looking exceptionally beautiful in an old miner’s cabin in Death Valley. Looks like there might be some hurricane damage here too…or not.
More Big Dune
September 22nd, 2008
Here’s NevaehLleh sprucing up Big Dune.
Later today…actually tonight…I’ll be catching a redeye back to Ohio. Had a good day Sunday at the Original Farmers Market meeting friends and drinking Guarana’ from the Brazilian restaurant downstairs from the room where I sat around.
By the way, that drink is pronounced Guaw-ah-nah, not Guaw-awn-ah like they say on the commercials telling you some energy drink doesn’t contain any of it. And if you haven’t tried the real thing…well, there’s a very good reason the stuff is the most popular soft drink in Brazil…it’s really, really good. And it’s based on a fruit juice. Try it sometime. Oh…and it contains something like 5 times as much caffeine as a cup of coffee…
OK…there’s lots more to share with you from the Death Valley trip. But that’s going to have to wait until I get back home, recover from jet lag, and spend some time visiting my new grandson, Titus. But I’ll be back to blogging soon. Meanwhile I’m working on counteracting the effects of that Guarana with the rest of Negra Modelo in the fridge in my motel room.
Big Dune
September 21st, 2008
Driving along the road east of Death Valley we saw a sign with an arrow that simply said “Big Dune.” And looking in the direction of the arrow, there it certainly was…a big dune. So we stopped to shoot. It was well worth the stop.
This is Vima adding a little foreground interest to the shapes of Big Dune. It was a great shooting location. More photos to come.
I’m still in LA. I had the great pleasure Saturday morning to finally meet a wonderful photographer who I’ve “known” on line for some time. Had breakfast with Sita Mae. We met at a great LA place, Pie ‘n Burgers, in Pasadena. Best omlet I’ve ever had. And Sita is every bit as delightful a person as I’d always heard she was.
Saturday evening I had dinner at a great old Mexican place, El Cholo on Western, with a friend from many years ago. MP was a dance major at Ohio University when I was there studying photography. She modeled for me back in those days. I put a photo of her dancing on the blog a while back. We traded stories of our lives and I did a few new photos of her. A very pleasant evening.
Sunday I’ll be spending most of the day at the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax. Several friends and internet accquaitances from the LA area will be stopping by to say hi. That should be fun. If you are in LA please come by and say hello.
Titus Canyon
September 20th, 2008
As is often the case, I had my models climbing the walls while we were shooting. In this case Vima and Neva are climbing the wall of Titus Canyon in Death Valley…and looking quite sensational while doing it, I must say.
We didn’t do a lot of hiking in Death Valley. It had cooled off to the balmier September temperatures. The highest we saw was 113F. Most of the time it was between 95 and 105. When it got down to 90 we started feeling chilly. Anyway, not the greatest conditions for backpacking unless you are a lot more hardcore about it than I am.
But Titus Canyon seemed like a good walk, so we gave it a try. There’s a jeep road through the canyon, but we just drove to the mouth of the canyon and walked up into the canyon for a short distance. It was worth the walk.
And, there’s some special significance for me to this particular location. My grandson was being born at about the time we were in this canyon. And his mother and father named him Titus. They had no idea that I was in Titus Canyon at the time. They just like the old TV show.
