I’ve been off the web for a few weeks; I was neck-deep in a photo shoot for Orvis and doing well to randomly check email on my phone. The computer wasn’t getting a lot of action other than file backups at night.
Nearly three weeks back home in Montana proved to be good for the soul. Projects like this always serve as a reminder of how little we actually need to be happy—I think I cycled through the same four outfits, and by far the majority of my packing space was reserved for camera and fishing gear. There’s something basic and just very alive about just getting up each morning and getting all you can from each day.
And that was something my team this past week excelled at. After the Orvis Guide Rendezvous in Missoula, I came back over to Bozeman to shoot / produce a project for Orvis. I was lucky enough to have been able to hand-pick my team: Jackie and Phoebe, anglers / models, and Jenny, outdoorswoman extraordinaire, expert photo assistant / scrim maneuverer, and all-around morale booster. The shoot had a road trip theme—young women on a trip around the West, fishing and exploring as they go along. I knew early on we needed a truly stellar rig, something with enough character to pull through as a true fourth character, and was lucky enough to find a 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser (quickly named Rudy) to motor us around. Jenny manned a Suburban (eventually dubbed Birdie) as a support vehicle, and we hit the road.
For five days we explored Yellowstone country and southwestern Montana. Here’s a brief highlight reel:
- Sunday: Fishing Bear Trap Canyon, with temperatures in the high 30s and rain. Fish rising, lots of shivering.
- Monday: Camping in the Bridger Mountains near Bozeman. Our campsite retained snow from a storm a few days prior, and we were randomly “bombed” by chunks falling from the pines. A family of voles joined us for dinner, one of which was readily hunted and terminated by Hax, Jenny’s dog. Campfires, s’mores, and hammocks.
- Tuesday: Exploring Big Sky by horseback in the morning with Elliot, an awesome wrangler at Lone Mountain Ranch. Bighorns, elk, and a cow/calf moose encounter on horseback proved to be entertaining. I needed a horse used to having things swung around on him, and wrangler Patrick was kind enough to loan me his personal roping horse, Leroy. Juggling an energetic performance horse and a camera while setting up shots proved to be the ultimate in multi-tasking. In the afternoon, we hit up the Upper Gallatin, the Upper Madison, and Hebgen Lake for a bit of fishing. Overnighted in West Yellowstone.
- Wednesday: Yellowstone. Out National Park Service monitor, Rachel, met us at Madison Junction bright and early, and what followed was a pretty epic first look at Yellowstone for Jackie, who had never been before. The animal list was complete save for grizzlies, wolves, and coyotes, and the girls had fun spotting “micro baby” bison from a vantage point on top of Rudy. We explored three of five Park entrances and shot at Old Faithful, Mammoth, in the Lamar Valley, and other spots along the way. Rachel proved to be a fun, fantastic member of the team. Ended the day shooting in the saloon at Chico Hot Springs.
- Thursday: Morning shooting at Chico, then up to Livingston to hit up Mark’s In-and-Out, and a return to the famed Mallard’s Rest turnout overlooking the Yellowstone River for a team shot. (Camera self-timers are a lovely thing.) Then over to Bozeman and Bear Trap for more fishing before a wrap dinner in Bozeman at AleWorks. We were the table of girls in plaid and Orvis hats looking like we might as well fall asleep as soon as eat. We toasted to Montana, to Rudy the Land Cruiser, to Jenny and her upcoming birthday, and to trout.
- Friday: More fishing in Bear Trap. We prioritized fishing… these things are important.
- Saturday: Back to the Northeast. (I’m writing this post on a Delta flight.)
This has been a hell of a project, something months in the making. The team was incredible, the lighting was shit (it happens, and as a fellow photographer friend and I were laughing about a few weeks ago, that’s when we really earn our money), and Rudy proved to be a pivotal part of the group. He was even gifted with a metal ranger badge in Yellowstone and upgraded to “Ranger Rudy”.
A few highlight quotes from the week? (Things get random when folks get tired and over-caffeinated.)
- Phoebe: “I hate looking nice and I actually liked that.” (Talking about modeling a “fashion” outfit.)
- Jackie: “It’s a bison’s life.” (Cruising through Yellowstone.)
- Jenny: (Random giggling at just the right time to make the models grin naturally in front of the camera.)
- Me: (Falling asleep at the computer multiple times while backing up files, or assorted “Damn bright light” comments.)
The next week will be full of editing and catching up on my writing job at Orvis, but here are a few sneak peeks at the work. Huge thanks to everyone who helped make this possible—from the folks at Orvis to my awesome team on the ground in Montana, Lone Mountain Ranch, Phasmid Rentals, the NPS Yellowstone team, Chico Hot Springs, the Lewis & Clark in Bozeman, and so many others. It wouldn’t be possible without all the awesome people who come together and bring these projects to life.
I still have yet to look over the assets I shot at OGR in Missoula in the days before this “road trip” shoot. I’ll post a report on that shoot as I catch up. Keep an eye out for more to come!
And in that vein, I’ve been asked to work on a very exciting international project in the last two weeks of May (coming up fast!). I’ll announce soon…
