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.

California: The High Desert

Made it to LAX and LA with no problems. Discovered on the plane that the little leather part on the headrest isn't merely decorative... it adjusts up and down and the sides fold forward to cradle your head to help you sleep without your head lolling to one side. (How come the flight attendants don't demonstrate THAT before takeoff?) Despite being quite comfy in my exit row seat, didn't manage to get much sleep. I now have had almost two days to adjust to jet lag, so hopefully that won't present a problem.

The big problem will be the heat. They call this part of California "the high desert" evidently because you'd have to be high to live here in the summer. My friend Dave was trying to reassure me "oh, it'll be a little cooler because it's the high desert, rather than the low desert... well, the low desert is Death Valley." It's almost 8am and the weather now would be perfect if it lasted all day, but the high is supposed to get up to 105 or so... maybe the workshop should have started at dawn, but instead actual shooting won't commence until 10:30 and go until about 5:00 for peak brain-frying efficiency.

Sat next to Lori, the event organizer, at dinner last night, and she admitted she wasn't thinking about the heat when she set it up. I guess if you've lived in California for a while, it's just something you deal with. It was good hanging out with her, three of the other photographers, a couple of the stylists, and one of the models. Just met a couple other photographers down at the hotel breakfast thing, and so far it seems like a good crowd. Just hope I can keep my mental focus through the day on what *I* am doing instead of what's going on around me.

Went to Target after dinner last night and stocked up on some "heat beating" tools that might help a bit, including a soft-side cooler that can double as an auxilliary camera bag... large enough to hold an extra lens or two, memory cards, a towel, a bottle of water, a couple ice packs. A LOT better than carrying my regular case that's loaded with "just in case" stuff I probably won't use, so that will stay in the car or "home base."

So, despite all this bitching, I AM excited to see what the day has in store. Looking forward to seeing the location and seeing what instruction is offered and working with the models and hopefully getting good stuff... wish me luck!

The shot at top is Chase from Florida... it reminded me of the desert for some reason...