Red Rock
July 25th, 2008
Brooke had been saying on this trip that she wanted to shoot on some red rock. Well, she remembered a place…Red Rocks Park in Denver…so we went there at dawn this morning. There were a lot of people there, even that early in the morning. This place is really in Denver…or at least right on the outskirts. There had been a movie in the park last night and there were people out gathering up the trash left behind from that. Tonight there is supposed to be a concert by Abba, I think, and it looked like some of the concert crew were already at work.
But we found a place with no one around and did a few quick shots. I think it worked out pretty well, and Brooke now has some photos of herself on red rocks.
Tonight and for the weekend we are enjoying the hospitality of Joel Belmont in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. At dawn tomorrow Brooke and I will drive to Aspen to pick up an old friend and model for a day of shooting in the mountains. On Sunday Brooke will be working with Joel and I’ll work again with my old friend. Then on Monday we will take off for our next destination.
Washed Up
July 24th, 2008
Here’s Brooke doing some back bending modeling work in front of a waterfall at Silvergate:
Brooke by a brook
July 23rd, 2008
Well, it’s not really what I’d call a brook. More of a raging mountain stream. Another place that was within a short walk of our cabin in Silvergate. I like the way the water is becoming something of an abstraction, maybe even a sort of swirling cosmos or something. And I finally found a reason to use the 12-24mm lens that I carry around and pretty much leave in my bag. I think it works for this photo.
We all had a great time in Silvergate. More evidence to follow as we find opportunities for internet access. We spent one day in Yellowstone and took only tourist photos along with the thousands of other tourists who were everywhere. No way to shoot figure work there. Maybe some day I’ll go back and spend a week in the backcountry with a model…but probably not…I’m getting too old for that kind of trip.
We spent most of our time shooting around Silvergate and driving back and forth over the Beartooth Highway from Cooke City to Red Lodge and shooting along the way. We found some great locations. You’ll see.
The Log Cabin Cafe is still the wonderful place it was when I first discovered it 20 years or so ago. And their cabin was a great place to stay while we did our photo work in the area. I highly recommend it both for food and lodging. Check it out. They don’t have a web site, but you can find listings for them on line and you won’t have any trouble finding them if you get to Silvergate, which consists of about a dozen log cabins along the road.
Today we said goodbye to Silvergate and headed south through the park. We didn’t make great time and are spending tonight in Laramie, WY. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Ft. Collins, CO, and stop to take a look at the photo show at the Center for Fine Art Photography, both to see the show and to see Dave Rudin’s prints in the show. It’s a great thing for Dave R to be included in this show which was juried by Kim Weston.
After the gallery stop we’ll go on the Rocky Mountain National Park and try to find some places to shoot. We’ll camp for one night there and then go on to the Aspen area for the weekend.
There should be more regular internet access from now on, so expect more frequent postings since I have a lot of photos that I’m very happy with to show you. Brooke Lynne is a great model and Blue Sheba also did a great job hiking and posing and even getting into the freezing mountain stream at one point. Lots of photos to come as I get time to edit them and do posts.
Silvergate
July 21st, 2008
The truck is all fixed. We made it over the Beartooth Pass to Silvergate on schedule. It’s probably a good thing we didn’t follow the plan and camp at the Top Of The World Resort at the top of the Beartooth Pass. There was a motorcycle rally in Red Lodge, MT, last weekend. When we went by the Top Of The World on Saturday it was packed with bikers. Now I don’t mind bikers, being one myself, but that was not exactly the remote wilderness experience I was expecting at that location. So it’s just as well.
Best Laid Plans…
July 18th, 2008
Well, the air conditioner on my truck being broken is a bigger problem than I thought at first. Seems the bearing on the compressor has gone bad. That means it could seize up…will seize up at some point…and that would destroy the serpentine belt that drives all the other engine accessories like the alternator. So it has to be repaired.
That means spending tonight in the town of Buffalo, WY, instead of on top of the Beartooth Pass. The part is on order and the local mechanic will replace it in the morning at a substantial cost. There goes the budget for the trip. But it was going to break and have to be repaired anyway, and it didn’t strand me out on the highway in the middle of nowhere, so I’m not complaining.
Buffalo is a nice little town with lots of nice people. The hotel is very nice with a pool and hot tub. So life is fine. Tomorrow it should only take about 5 hours to drive to Silvergate, so there should still be time to stop on the Beartooth Highway for a few photos.
Meanwhile here are a couple of Brooke from our last evening of shooting in the Badlands. I thought those purple flowers were pretty and couldn’t pass up the chance to do a shot with them. And I thought it was time to show a closer photo of Brooke with the rock of the Badlands. Those rocks are very rough. Brooke has a bunch of scratches, but they are not real bad and should heal up quickly. She’s been doing a wonderful job and is just simply beautiful, so I’m very happy with what we’ve shot so far and I’m really looking forward to the mountains and waterfalls that we will be in for the next week.
Badlands Dawn
July 17th, 2008
Brooke and I were up at 5 a.m. today for dawn photos in the Badlands. It was worth it.
Tomorrow it’s back on the road. We’ll rise at 5 again and head out to drive up the Beartooth Pass. We plan to spend the night at a campground on top of the pass. The weather forecast for Cooke City, down off the mountain, is for a high of 70 and low of 40. It might be a little chilly up there.
Today was 10 degrees cooler than yesterday’s 95 degrees. That’s a good thing since the air conditioning on the truck died today. The compressor had been making some loud noise the day before, and this afternoon the output of cold air stopped. Since we’ll be in mountain high country for the next week or so, I’m not going to worry about getting it fixed until I get back home. I’ll just hope for no more 95 degree days on this trip.
Don’t know about internet access until we leave Yellowstone in about 5 days…but if I can get on line I’ll post more from the trip.
That Ain’t Hay
July 17th, 2008
Well, maybe it is. As Brooke and I were driving along the highway in South Dakota on our way to Wall we stopped to take some shots of these large bales stacked along the road. Now, when I was younger I used to work on farms putting up hay, but something seems different about this stack of hay. Maybe it’s because the bales are bigger. I don’t know, but it just seems like something has changed since I was doing haying 40 years ago.
Badlands
July 17th, 2008
The Badlands are beautiful. Brooke Lynne is beautiful. Put the two together and you can’t miss. Well, actually, I can miss. At least at dusk. Brooke had to do this twice because I had the ISO set too low and the VR turned off the first time. But she didn’t complain. She’s not only beautiful, she’s also nice. And an amazingly talented model.
We shot some other interesting stuff today, besides what we did in the Badlands. Maybe I’ll share some of that in my next post…or I might just have so much new stuff that it gets posted instead.
Don’t think we can get away with shooting anything in Wall Drug…just too crowded. And the dinosaur out by the interstate that I wanted to use as a background for a naked Brooke Lynne is now surrounded by businesses that seem to be pretty busy all the time…and there’s an ugly fence around the dino…so that may not work out either. So it goes.
But, it’s not like there’s any shortage of things to shoot around here…more at dawn tomorrow…
R|J’s World
July 15th, 2008
I’m on the road again. Yesterday I was in Iowa visiting RJ . We did a little shoot outdoors at her family’s farm. Here’s one of the shots from that shoot. I just couldn’t resist making yet another photo that is a reference to a famous painting. Of course, I have to add my own twist when I do that…in this case a couple twists. Thanks RJ.
This evening I’m in St. Paul and tomorrow I head to Wall, South Dakota where I’ll spend a couple days shooting in the Badlands. After that there is more fun planned as I go further west. Stay tuned…Digital at 11, whenever I happen to have internet access.
The Times They Are A Changin’?
July 13th, 2008
“THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN’S SOULS:”
When Justice is over-ruled by Law
When Peace is attainable only by War
When Freedom is sabotaged by Organization
When God is only a device for Immortality
When Progress is stifled by Traditional IgnoranceAnd Baby, these are any old time
–Mason Williams, 1964
Bob Dylan told us “The Times They Are A Changin'” but it seems he may have been wrong.
I took this photo in Columbia, South Carolina in 1971. I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Jackson. We would walk from the base into town through this very depressed neighborhood. When I saw that billboard in that environment I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. How would you have felt if you lived in one of those shacks and looked out your window to see that sign?
Well, maybe some things have changed, but how much has really changed under the surface?
I leave in the morning for a trip out west. It should be a great time in some of the most beautiful places in the U.S. with some of the most beautiful women in the U.S. modeling for me. I guess I shouldn’t complain.
