Anoush introduced me to Megan at Casa Dracula. I knew right away I wanted to shoot with her even though it was never in my plans. I’m still just beginning to look at my images and I can’t say I have the distance to be properly critical. What I liked most about shooting with Megan was there’s a vulnerability…maybe even sadness… that I can’t put into words but I also find it graceful and lovely. Thanks Megan.
This is part five in a series of blogs on my recent artistic adventures in Mexico.
In preparing for ZoeFest, we all would have to find our way up the Pacific Coast of the Baja Penisula to Todos Santos from the Cabo San Lucas International Airport. That meant renting cars. Two days before I was to fly out of Chicago, I was checking all of my paperwork, passport, flights, maps, etc., when I clicked on the email link to my car reservation.
Confirmed, November 23rd, one compact car at Hertz, San Jose, California.
Whoops.
I should never book important things at 3 o’clock in the morning. Scramble, scramble. No Hertz at the Cabo airport. Hmmm.
Avis! They try harder, right? Avis it is!
A few minutes later, I had a new car reservation, this time in the proper country. And since I want my travels to be as drama free as possible, I alway sign up for the insurance. All of the insurance. Insurance for the car, the people in the car. Everything. It would prove to be a wise decision before my adventure was over. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Having never been to Zoefest before, I was under the impression that I would rent the car, drive myself and my new friends to Todos Santos, park the car and do very little driving until it was time to return to the airport. Perhaps a waste of rental car money to leave a car sitting for days, but I didn’t see any way around it.
Ha!
The reality of it was even though we were all mostly walking distance from each other, walking even a mile or two in the mid-day Mexican heat was a bit too much for most of us. I found that having a car was essential to get where I wanted to be, when I wanted to be there without lugging a backpack full of camera gear along the way.
And even though Todos Santos seemed to be a relatively safe place in Mexico these days, we’d all read the news. You never know.
I became a bit of a model taxi for the rest of the adventure. Any time I would leave one of the hotels, I’d always check to see if anyone needed a ride to their next shoot location or back to their respective hotels. Most of the time I ended up with a carload of lovely models. Another opportunity to get to know everyone a bit better.
Plus there were the runs to the store. Eggs for Brooke, cigarettes for Rebecca, things like that. I was going anyway for myself and it seemed the decent thing to do was to ask, considering how hard everyone was working and I was one of the few with a car. I mean, we were having the best time, but it was work as well. Good art is work. Make no mistake.
Early the following morning on day two after my usual coffee and chat with Mel and Scott, this time punctuated by maneuvering with my coffee cup around several lovely nude models already shooting in the fountain near the veranda (I know, brutal thing to face first thing in the morning), I jumped in my car and drove off to pick up Ella Rose at the Hotelito.
We headed off in the direction of Playa Las Palmas on the Pacific Ocean with vague instructions on actually how to get there. You see, in Todas Santos, most directions include the phrase, “…A few kilometers further, there’s a dirt road off to your right…” I found that actually spotting that little dirt road as you’re doing 60kmph past it, is a bit of an art in itself. It usually only took me three tries to do it.
After a few passes of kilometer marker 57 and a couple of U-turns, we finally found ourselves on the dirt road we agreed was the correct one. Ella and I took our best guesses as to which of the various forks in the road to continue down until the road just sort of stopped and we got out to walk the rest of the way.
The area of Todos Santos is a bit of an oasis in the Baja desert. It can be dry and desolate one minute and lush and green the next. Ella and I continued our walk that we hoped would eventually lead to the Pacific Ocean, through a large shady palm forest with giant trunks and tall branches above.
We continued to talk about life and art as we meandered down what seemed to be a path. Ella has a lovely voice as well, being from the U.K. and it occured to me that one phrase you never ever hear is, “I just LOVE your American accent.” It’s true. The Aussies have beautiful accents. Ditto for the Irish, French and Spanish. Lyrical. Pleasing to the ears. Not so much with the Americans.
Meanwhile, I was trying desperately to make mental notes of various things along our path so we could find our way back to the car. I’ll remember that tree stump, right? That little spiky plant in the middle of the path before we have to make a left? Sure, we’ll remember!
A bit more walking and we reached the edge of the palm forest and… there it was! One of those views you usually only see in pictures and never with your own eyes. We stopped for a moment, jaws unhinged to take it in. There were little rocky cliffs off to either side of the beautiful, long, curving beach cove. And we were the only people there. Completely stunning.
Ella and I walked carefully into a little stream that spilled into the ocean, she reminding me to be careful not to leave footprints on the pristine sand where we might want to make our first photographs. Good call. I have mentioned before that all of the models were very intelligent and exceptional at what they did, right?
I spent the next few hours with Ella jumping, standing, spinning into so many graceful and beautiful poses in such a lovely environment that it was really beyond what I could have hoped for. I got into the water, carefully laying down in the stream or on my knees in the ocean, desperately trying to make sure my camera never submerged.
A couple of times with the waves rolling in behind me, shooting Ella near the shoreline, she would occasionally yell out, “WAVE!”, just in time for me to raise my camera over my head as the waves knocked me over. It’s fun to play with nature as long as you keep your camera dry. Cameras and lenses simply hate salt water.
After a few hours, covered in sand, we happily walked back to the car, past the little spiky plant in the middle of the path and past that tree stump. It had been a wonderful morning of creating.
As always, more to come.
I’ve finally been able to upload my slideshow from Vimeo. The three slideshow nights we enjoyed at Casa Dracula were among the most incredible highlights of the trip. I feel so inspired by the photographic accomplishments of everyone in this amazingly talented group.
And again congratulations to the winners! Outstanding work, guys!
This is part four in a series of blogs on my recent artistic adventures in Mexico.
Waking up at Todos Santos Inn my first morning was a lovely experience. I managed to sleep in until about 8:30am. I threw on some clothes and stepped outside into the glorious daylight. We Chicagoans have a special appreciation for glorious daylight. It’s not that we don’t have beautiful sunny days in Chicago, it’s just that we only get about three months of them, four if we haven’t angered the sun gods that particular year. Chicago, as the old saying goes, has two seasons: Winter and Construction. And Winter can be a cruel mistress, with weeks and weeks without seeing a patch of blue sky, or sun for that matter.
In Todos Santos, there was nothing but blue sky. Walking down my little garden path with the sun on my face, the giant palm leaves politely grabbed at me like autograph seekers on a red carpet walk. Delightful.
I walked up to the shady veranda where coffee and tea was set out on a beautiful antique table. I would grow to love that table every morning.
Mmmm. Delicious coffee.
But coffee would only become one of my favorite morning rituals during my stay. There was also Mel and Scott.
Mel Brackstone is an incredible photographer. Looking at her work, you’d never know she hasn’t been shooting for decades. Mel, like many late blooming artists, decided she needed to stretch her creative frontiers and began to photograph male nudes. She had joined the ZoeFest community a few years back and in a short time had a stunning array of work with female models as well.
She and her husband Scott were two of about a half a dozen Australians who were attending ZoeFest. They were always up early and having coffee under the veranda. They became my quick catch-up guides to all things ZoeFest. Mel raised one eyebrow when I started to tell her about my ambitious shooting schedule, sometimes three shoots in one day. Days later, I would have to admit, she was correct in her assessment of my over-ambitiousness.
After a leisurely breakfast at Landi’s, the restaurant attached to Todos Santos Inn, I had decided to start my first day by continuing something I like to do in Chicago when I feel the need for a little creative inspiration. I decided to take a visit to one of the local galleries, a brief walk up the road from the inn. Michael Cope was one of the local artists that had been part of the welcoming celebration at Casa Dracula the night before and invited me to come by his gallery.
I walked through the doors at Galeria de Todos Santos and there was Michael, seated with local painter Erick Ochoa, who both greeted me with big welcoming smiles. Michael took me on a tour, showing me Erick’s beautiful work, and I was taken by his use of light in his painting. It really spoke to me. We continued through the various rooms looking at other artists he was showing and I could feel my breathing slow to the pace of my new temporary Todos Santos home. I was finally beginning to relax as I took in the work around me. Exactly what I needed.
After the tour Michael asked to see some of my work and I brought out my iPad portfolio and let he and Erick swipe through it. I love sharing work with other artists. Even when we work in different mediums, there is something about the language of art that we all understand and appreciate. It’s a very familiar and joyful language.
A bit more discussion, including an invitation from Michael to visit his new restaurant which was opening that Friday in the rear of the gallery, which sadly I could not attend due to other ZoeFest commitments, and we said our goodbyes and I headed back to the inn to get my gear for my shoot with Samantha.
Samantha was staying at the Hotelito, where many of the models were staying. It was another of the beautiful boutique hotels we had taken over. No sugarcane history here. Just a beautiful compound of little buildings with bursts of vibrant color on the walls. A completely different shooting environment I would take advantage of in the coming days.
I picked up Samantha and we headed up the road back to Casa Dracula. Samantha and I spent hours exploring the compound grounds finding interesting areas to make photographs. She was great to work with and it didn’t take long for either of us to get into a good groove in the hot Mexican sun. Samantha has wonderful curves. All woman, lovely, creative and great fun to collaborate with. She has a happy spirit and her enthusiasm was inspiring.
As we explored outside we found ourselves discussing what we were seeing as potential places to shoot. Our mantra was to try to not shoot the obvious. Yes, that was a beautiful window in the stone wall of the fire pit, but putting her in it would have been the easy choice. We decided to use the window as a compositional element instead and have her pose off to the side of it. Better.
We continued to shoot for about two hours before we agreed to head inside into Casa Dracula to explore for a bit longer with more great results out of the heat and sun. At one point I noticed a sliver of light coming from the main front doors into the main entrance hall. I had Samantha pose near it for a few minutes before we figured we’d better stop before a local passerby got an eyeful.
Samantha had great ideas and like all of the models I’d be working with the next 10 days, she had great eye for light and composition. All the women were excellent models who had been in front of the cameras of some very world class photographers from all over the globe. From the first release of the shutter, you could tell something wonderful was about to happen.
That evening, we all were invited to a delicious dinner at Hotel California (yes, that Hotel California, and yes, we had pink champagne on ice with lots of pretty, pretty girls, that we call friends). It was there I had a chance to continue getting to know everyone over a great meal. I more shoots for the next few days with St. Merrique, Meghan Claire and Tara. No rest for the wicked as they say.
Much more to come!
I love Billy’s breakdown of events so much and very happy Tara picked up on it and has started her’s also. I thought about what mine would sound like and started going through past emails, thought about the insanity of putting the event together and all the mishaps along the way in order to finally make it to Mexico and decided that maybe I should keep the blog completely and totally light hearted and fun. It’s better for me to sit and listen to all the good stuff people have to say… the back outs and people canceling at the last minute somehow seem lessened in their impact when I see how much fun people had. So, I’m going to leave them at the wayside, remember not to invite those people again, and focus on how totally awesome the entire week was.
I could not have done it without the help of a few V(ery)I(mportant)P(eople). These VIPs have been involved with me for years and know how to sort it, I don’t have to tell them much of anything, I just say go for it and it rolls through and it gives me a time to relax after all the organizing and last minute chaos that happens. The festival would not be the same without their help. So a massive thank you to Michael Marlborough for dealing with the slide shows, organizing over $4,000.00 worth of sponsorship and for being an awesome big bro! Ron Skei for organizing all the rides for models to and from the airport, making sure they get home from parties OK, and generally being a massive help. And Stephanie Anne for being my voice. I’m shy in front of a crowd (even in friendly company) when it comes to speaking and having Stephanie there to take the reigns when we have announcements eases me. Put me on Rollerskates and ask me to do cartwheels in front of 100,000 people … no problem… put me in front of a crowd and ask me to speak? No habla Ingles! So, thanks Steph!
I’m so happy everyone had such a great time! Once I arrived, it was perfect! I had one great time myself. I miss the pool at the Hotelito so badly! I have a massive pile of snap shots from our parties taking by Michael Marlborough I plan on blogging soon, so stay tuned. Our group shot is SCHWEET! We even have a group video. Among other things! haha
I just finished developing, scanning and editing all the images Ella Rose and I made while we were there. I lucked out and got to work with her twice, very happy about that. She’s really a lovely person and has this very English way about her. Very posh and lady like. I approve. And over 75 images later… I’m definitely happy with the work we created. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon.
Tara Tree Todos Santos 2011
Listen…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwQZQygg3Lk
I had the time of my life is the song that is playing all the way through my travels to Mexico and back. Well in my mind any way. As i jet home to reality i wonder why can´t dreams last forever.
So Zoe i owe it all onto you. =)
I was very fortunate to fly the routes i did this year as i got to see some amazing new landscapes. Being a seasoned traveler i´ve learned to keep my eyes peeled and it´s something that pays off.
So on this travel i was lucky to see Germany´s capital Berlin for the night. I flew over Iceland on my way to the USA and saw the icebergs for the first time. Amazing! Unfortunately the polar bears didn´t see me waving but my heart was there. I scrambled over my neighbours on the plane just to get a quick snap shot but the images doesn´t quite capture the beauty of such an amazing place.
My other ariel views are images flying into LA and down to San Jose del Cabo. I found the landscapes on the way down to mexico extremely interesting. Am i weird! lol My last image was actually my first taken of the fires in Ibiza. In proportion to the island this was a pretty big one lasting almost a week.
Anyway now that we have the plane window photography discussion over we can move onto part two.
…..to be continued.
Yes, once in a while I do take portraits, but more often than not, these portraits can not be used on your passport application. These first two of Brooke seem innocuous, but then they get weirder and weirder…
It was a long 12 months waiting to shoot with the lovely Carlotta again. Why is Florida so far away from Sydney ? (well everywhere is a long way from Sydney….)
I do have a slight confession to make… I had scoped out the location the day before (there is another story there about getting the hire car bogged to the eye balls) and I did know that the corridor of the abandoned cannery we were shooting was a home to a cloud of bats. Seeing Carly flee the scene, arms flailing in the air screaming “there are bats in there!!” high tailing it across the desert, in only flip flops… was…errrr… a little comical. Apologies Carly… It was sooooo NOT funny.
More of the bats later with SaraLiz!
Three beauties in one room…..bonus! Second image shot with my home made bendy lens
