One of the last shots of an afternoon with Jen Phoenix as we chased the setting sun up a hill in southern Arizona. Not long after this photo the sun dipped behind the ridge for the end of the day. I really love the sunset light around the desert there and am a little sad it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to make it out there this year..
Somewhere in the anonymous desert around the California/Nevada state line.
And Photo May comes to an end, I kept the pace to post an image each day. It was close one day where I didn’t post the photo until late in the evening.While I don’t think I could keep this pace of posting up all the time, I did enjoy the excuse to look through my older work and rediscover a few images I’d overlooked in the past. I also found a few that were improved I think by a new editing eye. I think I’ll look to increase the posting pace for a while, though likely to a more sustainable one or two posts per week.
Today’s image comes from what ended up as damn hot day in the Nevada desert. Taken on my last visit to Las Vegas with Wonderhussy, perhaps the best model alias ever. This was the last shoot of the vacation trip where I first visited the Grand Canyon that year. I loved this location, but we waited way too late in the day to get started and it quickly got too hot to work. This interestingly shaped spot in the rocks caught my attention. Heading back to Las Vegas in June and looking forward to seeing the American West again.
One more from the desert. Today a photo from the (sorta) famous snake shoot with Leanne from June 2013 near Phoenix. Short version of the story is that while Leanne and I were working that day we ran into a rattlesnake. We decided that was enough outside for the day. Here is a photo from later in the shoot as the sun began to set and again the wonderful golden light began to come down. We didn’t get too many of these because of the abrupt ending, but nice photo of her in that light.
Leanne and I did some work later inside that day, and I had the chance to work with her again in November. None of our shoots have been dull and she did well adapting to the interesting circumstances. Enjoyed working with her both times and hope to have the chance again.
Keeping in the desert for another day and going back to the first shoot I did near Phoenix back in 2012 with Jen Phoenix. This was my first time working in the desert. We shot late in the early evening and were perfectly located out there for the wonderful golden light of the setting sun. The timing and location were great. Toward the end of the evening the sun began setting over a ridge and we finished scrambling up a hill across the valley chasing the light as long as we could.
Here is a photo I don’t think I’ve posted before from the shoot from right as the sun started taking on that nice golden glow. Here we were working around a large outcrop of rocks found while heading toward the valley we’d later end up chasing the setting sun along. Love the relaxed pose here, almost enjoying the last light of the day. It’s also a bit more relaxed than many of the more intense artistic poses around it making it stand out a bit.
You know, looking back at that 2012 trip out west I spent way too much time trying to fight the desert sun at the wrong times of day. Looking back I think my biggest accomplishment on these shoots was not getting a serious sunburn along the way. Though I did learn the lesson in that my outdoors shoots in the desert since have all been scheduled around sunrise or sunset.
This photo of Wonderhussy comes from near Las Vegas again starting too late in the morning. As always when the sun is too much, look for shade. This photo of Wonderhussy has her posing on a rock wall. Again it was way too hot by the time we wrapped up. Loved the nice red color of the formations here, and it’s probably not where you think.
Going to the desert for today’s photo for this image of Plush from back in 2012 near Phoenix, my last before leaving the city that year. I love the desert light in the early morning or evening. This shoot started later in the morning and we probably wrapped up around noon. By then it was very hot and the light was really harsh, pushing us into the shadows like in this image. The terrain and rocks at this location were gorgeous, enough so that I came back my next trip with Arizona though that shoot didn’t go as smoothly.
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.
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Okay so the title gives away the ending, but there are photos so indulge me. My plan for June included a trip to Arizona. Let’s just say almost nothing went according to plan. In fact I’d go as far as to say it would be hard to describe the trip without using the word “cluster.”
In spite of the problems I did have the chance to work in a few nice shoots. Near the end of my time in Phoenix I had the chance to work with Leanne, a wonderful model suggested by a friend. We’d planned a shoot in the desert outside the city. Everything went perfectly at first. It was hot, about 110 that day as I recall, but we’d scheduled the late afternoon past the worst of the day’s heat. We headed to the location and started to work right before the good golden light of sunset moved in.
The first shooting location went well. We found a nice rock formation near the top edge of a small canyon. The timing worked perfectly since we arrived as the sun started to set providing that wonderful golden light. This image comes from that first area and is probably my favorite of the outdoor images of the day.
We next moved to a new spot and worked for a few minutes. The sun really started getting a nice glow at this point leading to these two images.
Perhaps a minute after the second of those two images, I looked down before moving to my left to reposition. It’s a habit I’ve developed in years of outdoor shooting on occasionally iffy terrain. It also is something I’d drilled in while planning for some backpacking in the desert that had been planned to be careful where you put your foot or hand for any of the less desirable desert residents that might be around.
As you probably guessed from the title, in this case it was a very good thing. When I looked in the direction I’d planned to move I saw a rattlesnake coiled up about three feet away (a speckled rattlesnake to be exact). No rattle or threatening stance, but just the reptile trying to blend in and not be seen. I froze, told Leanne not to move either, and then very slowly move to a safer distance before more quickly moving much further away. Once out of danger we gathered our things and left the area to our new little friend.
I’m not overly fond of snakes, in fact I’d go as far as to say I have a phobia of them. Leanne also didn’t seem eager to continue working in the area after the encounter so that ended the outdoor shooting for the day. We did some more work indoors later, but those will come another time. The lesson here is to be aware of your surroundings when shooting outdoors. The snake was camouflaged very well against the rock and had I not taken the time to distinctly look around I would have moved directly toward him in my next step. Instead all escaped unharmed.
I have to say though, worst shoot crasher ever.
Another of the wonderful models from Phoenix I had the chance to work with in June. Plush contacted me about shooting while I was in Phoenix from the travel notice that I’d posted. We were able to work out a time my last day in the city, actually the day I left Phoenix heading for the Grand Canyon, and met up about mid-morning after a little confusion over the meeting spot. Fortunately we were able to get to a good location and get some nice work before the heat of the day and the glare of the sun became too much to work with. This is not too far from where Jen and I worked during this same visit, but different terrain and different weather. By the end of the shoot the sun was getting very harsh, but took on the wonderful blue color you can see in one of the photos below. Enjoy a few photos from the shoot.
