My next art project/portfolio shoot will take us up in elevation.  My quest is to photograph all around California.  I want to make a series of work that uses our backyard of scenery here in California.  But, I don’t necessarily want any of the shots to look like they are actually from California.  In any case, a major geographic feature of California is the Sierra Mountains.  That is where we are headed next.  I really want to work with our friend Kasey Wicker on this project because she is a fantastic wardrobe stylist, and I know she will bring a lot of cool ideas to the shoot.  Kasey Wicker is represented by Artist Untied in San Francisco.

The second commonality in this series, in addition to being shot in beautiful California locations, is the animals.  I want there to be animals in all the shots.  For the Sierras I decide I would like to have wolves for the shoot.  This turns out to be the hardest animal to source so far on these shoots.  Eventually we find Debbie Valenta.  Debbie runs a wild wolf rescue operation out of Nevada in the high desert.  We contract with her to bring two wolves, Nina and Suki, up into the Sierras for our shoot.  Suki is somewhat domesticated but, Nina is a completely wild wolf.

On choosing the talent I decide that it would be visually interesting to create an Asiatic feel to the setting.  I was thinking of the mountains of northern Japan, where I had heard they typically receive a tremendous amount of rainfall every year.  We find Ashley Ying, a beautiful female model from the Look Model Agency in San Francisco.

For makeup I am able to secure Meaganne McCandess, a fantastic artist who is also represented by Artist Untied.  We get a permit from the Forestry Department of the Lake Tahoe National Forest and find a house to rent and work out our dates.  A few days before we leave a big storm begins to roll through Northern California.  It’s April but it looks like it is going to snow, even this late in the season.  I almost decide to scrub it but after taking a really close look at the storm I determine it should work out pretty well with our timing and should not affect our ability to get around.  It might even make it possible for us to have some real snowfall during the shooting, which would be really cool.  We get on our way to the mountains and check in to the house.

Everyone arrives and we make food and hang out.  The wolves are so cool to watch.

On shoot day we wake up to a mild snowstorm and everything looks good.  We decide on shooting in an area that is not too high in elevation and is not too far from the house.  Kasey starts her work with wardrobe at the house.

We head out to the shooting location and start setting up the lighting.

As Larkin and Sarah are helping with set-up Meaganne works her magic with great makeup and theatrical ice crystals.

While Kasey takes a break and adds some humor…

Time to start shooting…

Nice job everyone!  Thank you!!

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