FestX 2011 is my fourth Zoefest and starting with the 2008 meet ( Joshua Tree, CA) I began working on a body of work called the “Studio Series”.
The goal of the series each year is to work within constrains I’ve imposed to push both myself and the models. These constraints include shooting only one roll of film per session (this year I used 35mm with 24 frames to work within. Previous years I shot medium format and had 10 frames!), limiting the time down to 30 minutes (previously 15 minutes) and apart from selecting a “studio” setting there’s no pre-conceived theme to the shoot. Ideally I’m working towards one hero image from each session to be included in the series.
The “studio” setup for FestX was the Hotelito with their amazing coloured walls. Each image has been designed to follow the same look with the foreground leading into the wall and the models working within this space. I shot colour film converted to Black&White this year and used the colour from each location to tweak the tones to my liking.
There are quite a few other images from these sessions that almost made it in and I’ll post more of these soon, along with the colour work shot digitally.
I managed to grab Anoush for a short time one evening after seeing the sea turtles released….I didn’t have any lights, so decided to make use of one of the lanterns on the pool deck at Casa Bentley.
Well it’s been two weeks since I returned home to Australia and I’m still finding cactus thorns in my feet and pesos in my pockets! What an adventure, I feel so lucky to have been a part of it all. Everything about the fest was wonderful from the accommodation and photoshoots to the people and the parties. A highlight for me was releasing the tiny baby turtles into the ocean. When someone said to me, lets go to the beach and see sea turtles, I wasn’t expecting that! It was a moving experience. More highlights were making new friends and catching up with old ones, creating art, the dinners and get togethers, celebrating my birthday with much tequila, the beauty of the Mexican landscape, Oh and the comment of the week made by Tara over dinner one night “If you looked this good you’d shoot yourself” …referring to self portraits lol. Well I guess you just had to be there 😉 This was a fest to remember. Thank you to Zoe and all involved in making it happen!
This is part seven in a series of blogs on my recent artistic adventures in Mexico.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
A funny thing happened on the way to the shoot concept with Sara Liz. I’m going to write more later about how ZoeFest allowed me to stretch and experiment in a way that I haven’t had the opportunity to in some time, but for now, I’ll simply say I walked into all of my shoots in Todos Santos with an open mind and ready to be inspired in whatever way the muse du jour cared to lead.
Sara Liz is joyful. Sara Liz is exuberant. Sara Liz seems to view the world through her beautifully large wide open eyes in a way that makes you feel fortunate to be experiencing whatever it is that she happens to be experiencing in that specific moment.
When you are photographing Sara Liz, it’s less like work and more like play. She is also the Queen of the Photo Bomb, about which I will, again, explain more in another entry.
I say all of this not only to explain a bit about Sara Liz, but to give a little background on the unexpected conceptual turn that I found myself experiencing once we began our photoshoot.
My booking with Sara Liz was my third shoot of the day after Ella Rose and Carlotta and I was tired, but in the best kind of way. Back in my studio in Chicago, I’ve had the most lovely shoots between the hours of 10pm and 4am. It’s the time when the work or shoot of the day is finished and I can kick back with one of my model friends with a glass of wine and eventually the cameras come back out and we just play.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
Our heads are too tired to over think anything. The daytime part of my brain has long since retired and the nighttime part of my brain is fresh and anxious to escape the dreamworld and create something in the real world. That’s usually when the unexpected turn happens.
Sara Liz and I began shooting around the fountain near the veranda at Todos Santos Inn. My daytime brain had decided to call it a day a bit early today and nighttime brain was called in a little earlier than usual. It is in these times when I stop thinking about the photographs I’m making. It’s a bit hard to explain, but it’s a bit like letting someone take your hand and allowing them to lead you somewhere you haven’t been before.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
From the first release of the shutter, I could feel the images were going to be more about Sara, the person or maybe a character she was creating, rather than the more abstract concept of a traditional nude figure photograph. My nighttime brain told me to keep going, to continue this journey with my new collaborator without asking too many questions.
We moved to a nearby wall above the gardens where she perched and draped in beautiful ways. What was different is that she was engaging the camera with those big eyes of hers in a way that assumed a sort of gentle control, almost like when I’m viewing a beautiful piece of sculpture that in my imagination may come alive at any minute, possibly in a benign way or maybe something more menacing if I turn my back on it.
Unusual things to be thinking about during a photoshoot? Sure. But that’s exactly why I love when nighttime brain Billy makes an appearance. It’s like my second photographer, very much like me, but with a wonderfully skewed point of view. He’s definitely more the risk taker and explorer. A good partner to have.
Sara Liz and I moved into the library room at the Inn where a gorgeous old doorway opened out onto a small balcony. Lovely soft light was coming through the doorway into the room.
I began to imagine what thoughts were going through the mind of the character she was emoting. It was imposible not to be curious as to what was happening behind those eyes. Something a bit more cinematic than usual. Haunting.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
We headed down below to the garden and found some lovely low angle rays of light navigating the leafy obstacle course. I positioned her so the light would fall only on her eyes in a sort of inverted mask.
Finally we head toward my room at the Inn. I had been paying attention to the light coming in the windows during various times of the day. It was late afternoon and as we approached, I noticed the sun had not quite made it to my windows yet.
However, when we opened the door, a thin shaft of brilliant light streaked across the steps up to the bed.
“Wow!”, we both said in unison as we hurried inside. The light was moving. We knew we only had a few minutes.
I positioned Sara Liz on the corner of the bed, directly in the beam of light and turned on a small table lamp behind her to add some background to what would have otherwise been a black hole.
Once again a character emerged and her eyes began to tell a story. I wondered what she had just experienced, or what she was going to experience. It was like watching a movie.
Our little sun beam silently disappeared and we called it a wrap.
Sara Liz at Todos Santos Inn
Part of the wonderfulness of ZoeFest is being able to make it up as you go. There is no right or wrong, except if you create nothing. That would be wrong. Certainly my time with Sara Liz was not exactly what I had imagined our shoot would be when I woke up that morning, but certainly more interesting than it might have been.
Sara Liz had taken my hand and led me on a little photographic journey that late afternoon in Todos Santos. And I would happily watch that movie again.
I’ve yet to be overtly critical with any of these images. Sometimes every image on the roll says a little something. I usually figure out that ONE shot after I’ve had a chance to divorce myself from the day, the editing and the here and now feeling when the shoot is still so fresh in your head. Merrique is an amazing model and that makes the editing process that much harder.
I had been looking at this door at the Casa Dracula for quite some time online. I thought Merrique and I were going to get in the car and drive to the boat dock in La Paz and head over to one of the islands for our shoot, but Todos Santos kind of kept me from leaving… (you can never leave…) and maybe the pink champagne on ice had a thing or two to do with that, but I really think it was the heat. Heat that I’m missing right now. brr!
This is part six in a series of blogs on my recent artistic adventures in Mexico.
I dropped Ella Rose back at the Hotelito and returned to Todos Santos Inn where I had arranged to meet the lovely Carlotta for our mid-day photo shoot that was scheduled to begin in just a few minutes. I was happily exhausted from Ella’s shoot and I only had time to quickly shower the sand off of me and grab some fresh clothes so I wouldn’t be quite so beach-y for Carlotta.
We had decided to stay close to home, so to speak, for this shoot. For a few days, I had been thinking about how to use the grounds of the Todos Santos Inn for interesting shooting ideas. I have to admit it was a bit of a challenge to wrap my head around. It was a beautiful place, but you know how sometimes you walk into a room and it just hits you? You know instantly how it’s all going to come together? Well, for some reason, the Inn and I instead seemed to be dancing around a few ideas, but the Inn was waltzing and I was doing some kind of Hammer-Time thing.
Carlotta Champagne in Pool
It’s actually an interesting creative challenge to find myself in. You know there is something there, but for some reason you can’t quite put your finger on it. I knew Carlotta would be incredible. We had been table mates at the Hotel California dinner and talked quite a bit at the welcoming party at Casa Dracula on our first night in Mexico. I knew the work we created would be excellent, I just needed to figure it out.
Sometimes when you have a block, it’s best to just start shooting and not over think it. If you let the, “Oh no… I have this amazing model and the ideas aren’t coming,” voice get the better of you, it actually is going to be less than you had hoped.
I’ve learned to respect the block. Don’t panic.
Carlotta Champagne in Pool
We found a nice leafy area off of one of the garden paths and we began to work. She was beautiful and working the most lovely curvy poses. Carlotta has one of those strikingly gorgeous hour glass silhouettes. I still hadn’t quite found it on my end yet, but after a few minutes, I could feel the block beginning to give way. She was very good as I knew she would be.
Now that the shooting was underway, we began to discuss the large elephant leaves that were everywhere in the garden and pool area. I had her move to the edge of the rear of the pool and among the giant lush leaves.
There it was.
Her shape completely complimented the nature around her. Now we had something really good happening.
I had this idea to photographer her in the pool more or less from the water level. The mid-day heat was fairly intense and as Carlotta got into the water, I kicked off my shoes and much to her surprise, I walked down the steps into the pool with all my clothes on. I was in the zone by then and I didn’t want to waste any time.
That, and the cool water felt so good.
She posed and I bobbed, making sure to keep my camera as close to the waterline as possible without dunking it. It worked.
The water was refreshing for me, but a bit chilly for her, so after about 20 minutes, Carlotta got out of the water and I continued to photograph her perched on a nearby crumbling wall and then the pool’s edge, all while I continued to bob in the water.
Note to self: Shooting from in the water is incredibly relaxing.
Carlotta Champagne at Todos Santos Inn
Eventually we ran out of places for her to pose in close proximity to the pool and we both ventured back out into the sunlit garden.
Carlotta carefully made her way into the middle of a particularly leafy area, the palm leaves framing her wonderfully. She backed out to the other side and I followed her into the center using the leaves in front of my lens to diffuse the composition.
Absolutely beautiful.
Finally we were ready to wrap the shoot for the day. I was very happy with our journey from my early bit of a block, breaking through to make some truly lovely photographs of her. Sometimes when you’re a bit lost, the best thing to do is keep moving forward. More often than not, you eventually get there.
I would try to do it all over again in an hour with the exuberant Sara Liz.
I seriously didn’t want to shoot there because of the heat, however in the end I was so glad I did….. Here’s Anne in one of my trademark “attitude” shots..
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.
Ella Rose at Playa Las Palmas
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.
Ella Rose at Playa Las Palmas
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 Rose at Playa Las Palmas
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.
All shot with my phone and the Plastic Bullet app. Todos Santos Inn was a refuge from the heat. I actually went out and shot a sunset too! Thank goodness for Stephanie Anne, who was Zoe’s voice, and totally engaging while we waited for the slideshows. 🙂
