Big Sur Photoshoot And Towing On The Edge

What do I do to get ready for a big photoshoot from a major Women's magazine?  Get my hair and makeup done just right to look as glamorous as possible? Well, in my case last week, I  camp and not shower for three days.  Wooo Hooo, I am ready for my close up now!  Yes, that happened and now it's time to wait for the article to come out and just hope for the best.  I didn't mean for that to happen, it was a slight miscalculation in the distance of an available shower. I suppose it's not bad, especially since the article is about women living on the road.  No makeup and maybe a brush through my hair once did the trick. We shall see.

Anyway, I was honored to be asked to participate in the article! The best part is that it was my first outing with Campy so that was exciting. I traveled up to Big Sur and camped at an amazing campground called Kirk Creek.  If you haven't been and you like to camp on a bluff overlooking the ocean, this is the place for you.  Each morning I woke up to an amazing view and mild weather.  It was bliss.  My campsite was right next to the tent spots and I have to say that I felt a little sad for them.  For two years, that was how I camped and let me tell you... I love my van and can't wait to live in it full time soon.

My friend Kristiana and her dog OSA joined me on the adventure and she brought one of her vintage Airstreams. We camped a few days until Nick and Catherine from the magazine came to interview and photograph us.  Since the Airstream is such a beauty, we took her out on the cliff to escape the fog and to take some photographs of us relaxing next to it while completely stopped in the middle of a narrow road on a turn at the edge of a steep cliff, with no guardrail.  You know, just like we would do in real life.  "Hey, here's a dangerous spot to tow and stop...let's get out and look cute watching the ocean next to the trailer!" is what all of us camper gals say during these "relaxing" moments of cliff towing.  I have to hand it to Kristiana, she towed like a pro and why wouldn't she?

Needless to say, the light agreed with us and was just perfect for the shot.  With all of the excitement going on, I ran out with just my cell phone but still managed to capture the moment.  

While we were waiting for the photographer to scout a site, I shot some fun jumping pics reflected off of the trailer.  It's silly and I have to admit I love jumpie pics so it was fun that she went along with it. 

The next morning, Kristiana and
OSA headed home while I stayed one more night of ocean front camping with no internet or cell service.  It was bliss... I recommend it.

Photo Shoot In The Laundromat

I am not sure why I picture certain people in certain places for a photo shoot but for some reason, I thought my friend Carrie would be perfect at the laundromat.  Luckily, she agreed.

After deciding on a location, it was time to sneek in and start an impromptu photo shoot in the early evening at the laundromat while people were inside doing their laundry, as expected.

I used natural light since we were near a window and had plenty of daylight shining in.  I gave Carrie little to no direction on what to do except to kneel down, move her arms or move just to the left or right.  She decided to jump in a basket and lay on the bench as part of the fun that day.  I also wanted to get a shot of her outside on the pay phone since it seems to be a rare sight.

Carrie's red hair and spicy personality worked well in the situation at hand.  It's hard to believe but she was a bit nervous for the shoot but it didn't take long for her to warm up and actually enjoy it.  I think her bright personality is what shined though on her photographs.

In The Tub

I've had a vision for a long time of my friend (and artist) Jamie in my bath tub and I was thrilled when she agreed to help me realize my vision of her.  I enjoy taking photographs in places that can be the most intimate and vulnerable place to be such as a bedroom or the bathroom.  Lately, I have been obsessed with the bathroom.

I didn't want bubbles, but a bath that was still, while leaving something to the imagination.  The trick to accomplish this was to fill the tub with a mixture of vitamin D milk and warm water.  Jamie was a sport to do a photo shoot in the tub and was open to just about everything I suggested.

A week later I was able to photograph artist and friend, Traci in her bath.  This time, I took a photo of her reflection from the bathroom mirror while I was standing on the toilet angling the camera down towards the cabinet mirror.  I chose to have it empty with her in her white robe.

After this, my friend Carrie was also open for a shoot.  I wanted it to be a little different this time.  Once I asked her to submerge in her head in the water, I noticed that her makeup easily washed away in the water and smudged on her face.  To make it a more dramatic effect, I had her apply more eye liner and slowly submerge in the water with her mouth closed and then again with it open.

These photographs are the results from these shoots.

A big thank you to my friends for trusting me and being open to play around with this idea.

Cat Comes To Town

The past week I've been offline and visiting with my friend Cat from Spokane.  During my travels, I spent quite a bit of time with her in Washington during the summer and last week she came down to Los Angeles for some business and stayed longer to hang out with me.  We toured Venice beach,  saw some movies, had some nice meals and did a photo shoot on the beach.  Since I spend most of my time alone, it was nice to have a house guest for a few days.

The best part about our photo shoot was that she was game to do about anything.  When I was in Cape Cod a few years ago, I took a bunch of timed jumpie pics as the sun was setting.  If you need an activity to look crazy in front of people and laugh at yourself, this is a good one to try.  It is stupid and is great for a good laugh and some fun photographs. Also, Cat is not as fond as birds as I am.  She was even willing to walk around a flock of birds and run towards them to try and get a shot of them surrounding her.  The one where she is standing still is a moment of her thinking, "Really? You want me to do what with the birds?" to the shot where she casually jogged through them, not missing a beat. Some of the best times you can have with a friend is being silly with a camera.

I haven't made the time to take my camera out to take photographs lately so it was a nice change of pace to do that again while we toured around.  Here are some photographs from our time last week.

 

Visiting Tillamook, Driving Up The Oregon Coastline, And Witnessing A Hit And Run

There is always adventure in each day.  Max and I left Horse Camp and headed up the coast on beautiful highway 101, stopping along the way to admire some scenic overlooks.  It was a day to take a leisure drive up the coast without a plan to see where we would end up.

We drove through some charming towns along the way and decided to stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for an ice cream treat.  Well, Max stayed in the car but I enjoyed a delicious one scoop (if you can believe it) of chocolate peanut butter.

I decided to do a little people watching so I sat outside and ate it on a bench during a very windy afternoon.  As I headed back to the parking lot, I decided to sit in the car to catch up on some emails.  As I was on the computer in the car, I witnessed a person back up into another car and hit the bumper.  From where I sat, it looked like a tap and the owner of the vehicle got out to inspect the damage.  I went away on the computer figuring that everything was ok.  About twenty minutes later, I saw a few people gathered around the car looking at the damage.  After a while, a gentleman came up to me to see if I saw anything. I told him my story and what I didn't know (or see) was that she left a big dent on the side of the car.  I told him that I would help out in any way I could since I would be there for a while.

Shortly after, a police officer came to write up a report of the incident.  She came to my car to ask me a few questions and after I answered, I asked her if I could ask her a few questions and take her photograph.  To my surprise, she agreed to it!  So there I was, out in the middle of the Tillamook parking lot taking photographs of the town's female sheriff to perhaps be included in my "Women's Work" project.

It goes to show you that you never know what will happen in your day or who you will come across.  Not only was I able to get caught up on some mail in the parking lot, I was able profile the sheriff of Tillamook and let's not forget that huge scoop of ice cream!  That was enough excitement for the day so we decided to leave and continued our journey north.