L.A. Woman

Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light,
Or just another lost angel...City of Night

L.A. Woman by The Doors

Driving home from the first day of the workshop, this rock epic hit the radio, and even though I was in the AV (Antelope Valley) it seemed appropriate somehow in a non-literal sense. Had a good day's shooting including a lot of time with Trish, punctuated by a fair amount of standing around. Guess that's bound to happen with a 2:1 photographer-to-model ratio. The other thing that leads to is a lot of "snipering" or "poaching" or "over the shoulder" shooting when you have extra photographers hanging around. I'd be setting up a shot when someone would just wander up and start snapping the model, posing or not. I'd turn around to change my memory card and someone would tell the model to move someplace else. Or models would be changing or just trying to relax for a couple minutes and people would take shots without even getting an OK from the model. Obviously, you can't blame the models, who are in the bad position of trying to keep the photographers happy, and don't know who is scheduled with whom, so they just consent, figuring the photographers will work it out. I'd almost brought it up during the pre-shoot meeting everyone had, but figured that since there was actually a portfolio review to qualify to attend, that everyone would be professional about things.

The location was very cool, but the heat and the time of day made it tricky shooting in a lot of the places, as well as a few restrictions, and just the size of the crowd. But I guess the expenses required that many photographers to attend, so it was what it was. Today's location is a ranch out in the desert, and the forecast is hot again.

Still the models are great, and while I've been doing mainly nudes, the wardrobe, hair and make-up people have been doing some fantastic work despite the heat.

More good news... sunblock works, apart from running into your eyes. And it was such a dry heat that sweat and water evaporated quickly, so I stayed pretty comfortable throughout the day, although it was GREAT to come back to an air-conditioned hotel room...

The shot above is Chase again, who I'm sure was an L.A. Woman at one time.