I’m busy preparing for a trip back up to Montana to film river videos with the Dry Fly Media crew.  We’re making an overnight drive up to Montana, spending ten days in the river country, and then making an overnight drive back.

I am not anticipating much sleep.

Looking back at this image series shot on the Gallatin last summer most definitely makes me homesick for the rivers.  This was an incredible night; one of those nights when everything went right.  I had just gotten my camera and was busy playing around with settings, metering, and learning what on earth I was doing.  Tagged along with the boys to the Gallatin and caught this incredible moonrise on the Upper.

I’ve been battling the remnants of a tropical storm down here in south Texas and am seriously looking forward to some non-humid weather.  Now I just need to find time to pack in the next few days.

Camera, lenses, laptop, tripod, notebook.  Some clothes…

This past Friday I had the chance to go shoot an interior design set with San Marcos-based designer Melodie Schleder.  Melodie runs Primitive Modern Design, a specialty business that offers home staging, interior design, and redesign for clients throughout the Texas Hill Country.  She has a welcoming, clean style that allows the client’s personality to shine through into their living space.  I fell completely in love with a long wooden slab table that was moving into this particular residence!

The location was a gorgeous house down on the Colorado River – a prime location for Austinites.  The house was expansive, modern, and chic.  Looking out of the glass back wall, one was offered a view of a spacious porch, a zero horizon pool, and the placid Colorado River.

It was raining (for once!) and the interior lighting was minimal, making it difficult to get good shots without blowing out the rear window wall.  The new flash, however, performed admirably and the results came out well.

Architectural shots tend to take me out of my comfort zone a bit.  While I’m more at home shooting an angler on a free stone river or capturing a bronc rider during an unscheduled dismount, the challenge is always a good thing.  I look forward to expanding my horizons even more.

It’s been a rough week at the day job.  I’ve stumbled in the door each night wiped out, physically and emotionally, wanting sleep but not really able to shut my eyes.  Long hours on the clock mean, regrettably, that photo work suffers.

So last night when I got home, saw an impressively large snake slithering around near my cabin (I don’t do snakes) and realized the fridge was nigh on empty, there was really nothing to do but take pictures.

The results were certainly nothing extraordinary and will most likely never see the light of day.  But by simply going through the process of working my gear and then cleaning and storing it, I began to feel better.  I mellowed out enough to start up the computer and work on an article for a few hours – and that mellowed me further.  Any form of creativity has the potential to make us see things from a new perspective.  Photography and writing just happen to be my medicine of choice.

Time spent on the river is a close second.

Heading up to Austin today for a commercial shoot.  I’ve packed an overnight bag… just may have to stay the night and then spend tomorrow in downtown Austin with the camera again.

Monday evening I had an equestrian portrait session with the lovely Cynthia Lawhon of Luling, Texas.  Cynthia has several rescue horses and wanted some intimate, quiet images with one of her horses.  Thankfully the rain showers granted us a reprieve, though they left us with damp conditions and humidity to equal a tropic jungle.

Cynthia loves black and white and requested that I shoot as such.  I left a hint of color in some of the images as it brought out the backlight of the sunset but the rest went with traditional B&W.  Cynthia and her horse were lovely subjects and such troopers in the sweaty weather!

]]> http://firegirlphotography.com/?feed=rss2&p=932 0 http://firegirlphotography.com/?p=926 http://firegirlphotography.com/?p=926#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:42:55 +0000 Editor http://firegirlphotography.com/?p=926

Sunset along Logan Pass in Utah, viewed from the Fire Girl-mobile.

I have a two-week assignment back in Montana coming up in ten days.  I’m driving back up to spend some time in the river country helping a film crew and chasing some stories of my own.  Planning for the trip has gotten me thinking about the drive down to Texas from Montana a few months ago.

While the whole experience of marathon driving from southern Montana to southern Texas in 35 hours was rather memorable, I had indeed forgotten that I self-assigned a photo project on the road.  I didn’t stop save for gas, which limited photography options slightly.  However, I did have a point-and-shoot in my camera bag and thought I needed something to look forward to along the way.

Enter the 100-Miles project.  I took a snapshot in my side mirror every one hundred miles along the way from Montana to Texas.  From road construction on the Yellowstone Plateau to thunderstorms on the Texas plains, the pictures mark the trek.  (The is one stretch, somewhere in southern Utah and Colorado, that I only took a few images over an eight-hour period.  But, hey, it was dark.  One only needs so many images of blackness with little squiggle light lines.)

The project, along with copious amount of loud music and rolled-down windows, kept me awake on the drive down.  I rarely use the point-and-shoot anymore, but it really came in handy this time.  Who knows what the next trip to Montana will produce?

Shooting with a long time exposure softens the candles to balls of light yet allows small details to remain sharp.

Sometimes we just need to be creative.  I honestly have no other excuse for staying up until the early morning hours the past two nights playing with my camera in my little 400-square-foot cabin.  My place is rather utilitarian; I own no couch or table and my “chairs” consist of a low-rider Jimmy Buffet beach chair and a Block 4×4 archery target.  I don’t necessarily own a plethora of things to photograph.

So my self-assigned challenge of shooting creatively within the limits of my living quarters posed a few challenges.  I did, however, learn some interesting things.

1) Creative filters can be found anywhere.  Over the past two nights I have shot through pantyhose and used tissue paper, a Buff, and assorted scarves as flash filters.  The hose gives images a great gritty, vintage feel while the others effectively soften and tint the flash.

2) Get close.  Much of my time was spent with the 17-40 snapped on, lying in weird spots and shooting up close.  This is my only explanation for lying on my stomach in the middle of my kitchen floor last night shooting images on my rug.

3) Don’t be afraid to play with light.  For editorial work, of course, be wary, but for creative shooting go for it.  I was armed with the new flash, three tea lights and the mini-mag light from my keychain.  Get creative.

Following that urge to be creative doesn’t necessarily mean packing up the kit and driving into town or to some remote spot in the country.  Get creative with what you have, where you are.  Stretch your imagination a bit.

You might be surprised at the results.

A horse uses the Aqua-Tred at EquiFitness in Bryan, Texas.

I just walked in the door after the morning out at The Whole Horse veterinary clinic and rehabilitation center here in San Marcos.  The Whole Horse has a Ferino Aqua Pacer, widely considered by many to be the “crème de la crème” of equine aqua therapy machines.    It’s fascinating to see how well the horses take to the machines…

Monday morning at EquiFitness in Bryan was lovely.  The staff was more than accommodating – a rare occurrence that makes my job so much easier! – and were great to work with.  The facility, which features an Aqua-Tred equine treadmill, a swimming pool, and an Equicisor “horse gym” was immaculate and quite busy. A variety of horses, from dressage horses to racehorses to rodeo stock were at the facility to undergo aqua fitness.

I guess it must be my equestrian background, but I always get a kick when I walk into a facility and every single horse looks happy and healthy.  Believe me, it’s a rare occurrence, but EquiFitness is quite a notable exception.

Many thanks to the staff at both EquiFitness and The Whole Horse for letting me come in and nose around!

In other news, I just picked up a new Canon 430EX II Speedlite flash.  I always swore I would never be a flash photographer – and I don’t intend to use the flash for editorial work – but added it to the kit for commercial use.  After writing up an article today I hope to have some time to play around with it… new gear is always fun.

I am heading out early to spend the day doing research for an article at EquiFitness, an equine rehabilitation center in College Station.  Temperatures are supposed to reach upwards of 105 degrees and I am thrilled about the possibility of working indoors!  (At the very least, working in the shade beats long afternoons out in the sun.)

I had a business meeting in the small central Texas town of Wimberly yesterday morning.  The camera, of course, came along, and I had every intention of spending the morning in some small town shooting.  Needless to say, it didn’t happen.  A mountain of paperwork with my name on it was waiting on my desk and I have slept a cumulative 20 hours over the past week.  Inspiration, sadly, was lacking.  So I came home, dove into my stack of paperwork, and readied the gear for tomorrow’s outing.  Sometimes it just doesn’t come together like you planned.

And sometimes it does.  This shot is from one of those days when things go better than planned.  A boomer thunderstorm had just passed through and I got the urge to go out and shoot.  I spotted this old barn – the roof falling down and graffiti in places, and loved the contrast of the “window” through the barn door and the geometric shapes.  I ended up shooting several frames; some close, some far.  Old buildings like this make me want to explore and get lost… I could easily spend a whole afternoon at a place like this.

It’s mid-August, the time of year when I am typically planning a trip to the Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament in Calgary – arguably the world’s largest show jumping competition.  While I won’t be able to make the trek north this year due to a variety of  prior commitments, I still find myself switching to “equestrian mode”.

The equestrian world is all a-titter in anticipation of the FEI World Equestrian Games, coming for the first time to American soil 25 September – 10 October in Lexington, Kentucky.  Competitors in a variety of disciplines, from the staunchly traditional sport of dressage to the internationally emerging sport of reining, will converge on Lexington from across the world and vie for the title of World Equestrian Games champion.  An estimated 600,000 spectators, come to watch the best riders in the world, will also be treated to a large trade fair and several special events throughout the sixteen days of competition.

I am currently working on an article / photo essay about equine aqua therapy.  The concept of exercising horses in water is gaining a rapid foothold for both rehabilitation and performance horse cases.  This next week I will be running across Texas, visiting top facilities, meeting with veterinarians, and talking to horse owners whose mounts have undergone aqua therapy.  I still stop and pause every time I see a horse working out in a treadmill… the idea itself seems rather foreign to non-equestrians.

This picture has become one of my favorite equestrian shots.  I spent two days hanging out around the warmup arena at the Spruce Meadows Masters last year and found that my affinity definitely leaned towards shooting the famous horses and riders outside of the big arena.  While the more traditional competition shots are always exciting, capturing small moments behind the scenes – riders yawning in the warmup arena, hopping off their horses to check boots and bandages, and laughing with one another – is just so much more interesting to me.

This horse was almost ready to enter the arena and the rider chose to take one more practice fence.  It all comes together in the shot – the horse’s concentration as he does his job.  The rein and draw rein add contrast and a long line down the horse’s form and the shadow of the rider’s hand as he releases is visible on the horse’s shoulder.  The evergreens in the background are oh-so fitting for Spruce Meadows.  Every little detail, from the stud in the horse’s shoes to the piping on the saddle pad adds to the professionalism of the pair.  This is their job and they know how to do it right.

Courtney Jones plays Peaseblossom in Montana Shakespeare in the Parks 2010 rendition of 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'.

Many thanks to The Big Sky Journal, Montana’s premiere lifestyle magazine, for featuring my photo essay on Montana Shakespeare in the Parks in their 2010 ARTS issue.  Big Sky Journal sent me out in the field with the troupe, and I was able to enjoy three (albeit rainy) nights with MSIP while they were stationed at the Grove in Bozeman.

We ended up going with a desaturated look to the images, retaining a hint of color while allowing the actor’s expressions and costume details to really shine through.  Changing light conditions (the play began at 2000h and finished around 2230h) made shooting in daylight, sunset, and darkness imperative and made me get very creative.

And while Montana Shakespeare in the Parks has received the traditional press, images of them acting, working the stage, etc. I was after something different.  Shots of the actors setting up, working behind the stage, laughing with each other before they go onstage.  I wanted to capture and document the whole experience, not just the side of the performance that the audience sees.

This was without doubt my favorite assignment I have received thus far.  All of the members of the troupe were easy to work with and fascinating individuals.  I very much look forward to working with MSIP on a longer project in the future.

The troupe, renown for their superb acting and colorful costuming, outdid themselves this year with their performances of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Julius Caesar’.  Of note, only the cast of ten actors travels.  They are wholly responsible for driving to the next location, setting up (often in high-altitude summer heat), costuming and, of course, acting.  Then they tear down, repack, drive to the next town and do it all over again.  Suffice to say this is not a job for the faint of heart.

They are now travelling across the West, playing in a different outdoor location each and every night, showing audiences just how fascinating  – and understandable, even in this modern age, Shakespeare is.

Many thanks to the MSIP crew for letting me work with them and to The Big Sky Journal for giving me the opportunity.