Last week, I was photographed by our friend Larry, to try out for a modeling job at a fashion photo shoot that was coming to the ranch. I expected them to just pass me by and show up with two blonds, but they decided to hire me! I was very excited! I checked out the designer's website ahead of time, and found some great outfits. I couldn't wait to see what designer fashions I would get to wear!
On Monday, Larry brought part of the crew down to scout the locations. I met
Adam Kimmel, the designer;
Jim Krantz, the photographer, and his wife Susan; Lynn, the producer; and a couple other crew members. They told me they had changed my schedule to Wednesday instead of Tuesday. We had a very nice visit. I asked Adam if I should wear my glasses or contacts, and he said, "Whatever you feel most comfortable in. Whenever I wear glasses with a cowboy hat it looks silly." I said, "I guess I should start looking in the mirror."
On Tuesday, I went out to the photo shoot site to see how it was going and talked to the producer, Lynn, about what time I should be there, etc. I asked her if there would be a makeup person, and she said, "No, they just want you au naturale." It really is a good thing Jenny taught me how to do natural-looking makeup!
Lynn told me to bring my cowboy "hats." Well, my dad commandeered my black Stetson a number of years ago and stretched it out. Number One took my brown cowboy hat and shrunk it, and I wasn't sure I could stretch it by 5AM the following morning. I haven't been anywhere to get a new hat yet. So I panicked a bit. Then I remembered that
our dear friend Jean-Claude left his hat at CG's house, to ensure that he'll come back someday. I went up and tried it on, and if fit perfectly! Problem solved. I gathered the rest of my gear, my chinks, my two pairs of boots, contacts & saline solution, etc.
On the morning of the shoot, I woke up at 3:30am. I tried to sleep again until 4, but wasn't very successful.
At 4:00AM, I kicked Number One out of bed to go turn on the generator. We made coffee, and I got ready for my very first modeling job! We were scheduled to meet around 5:15AM, down at the Marlboro Corral. When you're the first person at the shoot, you have to open the gate. The moon was still out, but my little point and shoot doesn't take very good night pictures.
It's called the Marlboro Corral because it was built by some guys from Marlboro. It's quite rickety, so it's not very useful, but it is picturesque. Incidentally, it's not in any of the pictures that I saw being taken. And I didn't take any pictures of it either.
Below you can see the first car coming down the road to the photo shoot site.
Number One brought over some horses for us to use.
After everyone arrived, it was getting to be daylight. There was coffee (thank goodness) and breakfast sandwiches, fruit, etc.
They decided that they didn't want to shoot me (the girl) on a horse. So I just had to wait some more, but it was fun.
The male "cowboy/model" took off on a horse named Pete so they could take photos of him riding on a ridge. He was having trouble with the horse, getting more and more agitated (during which time the photographer, Jim Krantz, got some awesome shots of the horse rearing). The producer asked me to take the "cowboy/model" a different horse. I put a bridle on Zack, hopped on and rode while leading another horse over and up to where Pete and the "cowboy/model" were having their tiff. (and I didn't have my camera with me)
The "cowboy/model" saddled the second horse, hopped on and attempted to take off. I stayed up on the ridge, but out of the camera shot, just in case he needed anything else. The horse, having not yet been ridden, did not take kindly to the "cowboy/model's" spurs. He really should have warmed up the horse a bit before trying to gallop towards a cliff edge, but he didn't.
The horses could feel his anxiety and his anger. This "cowboy/model" was nervous about being bucked off, saying things like "I'm too old to fall on these rocks" and he started to make comments about our horses, and he was just plain angry. He also cussed in my presence. Not that I've never heard it before, but still he should have been more professional. I was trying to settle the horses down, calm them down, and here he was just being a jerk to them and then getting pissed and wondering why they weren't responding to him.
He even made a comment about the care of the horses, even though HE was the last person to ride them the day before and didn't brush them down after. I was not impressed with this man at all, which is why he doesn't deserve to be named here and the term "cowboy" is in quotes along with "model" because in my opinion, this jerk is neither.
So after the second horse (surprise!) didn't respond to him after 30 seconds, he wanted Zack, the horse with my saddle on. The photographer and entire crew were down there waiting, and he wanted to switch saddles. AGAIN. So we did. Larry walked all the way up the ridge to see what was going on.
With Larry, I led the horses down the rocky slope and out of the camera shot. I told Larry that guy should have brought his own horses. I pet the horses and apologized to them for that guy's behavior, and led them to a bunch of delicious grass.
Then Lynn, the producer, came to get me and take me to wardrobe to get dressed. I put on a luxuriously soft black sweater with embroidered steer heads on the front of the shoulders, along with my own Levi's, chinks, and boots. I asked the wardrobe ladies, Sabine (I think) and Natasha what it was made of, and Sabine said, "I don't know, probably cashmere." It was very warm and comfortable. We drove back over to the other ridge where they were shooting.
They decided that they wanted to get some pictures of me walking down a ridge, leading a horse. I walked UP the road and back down the ridge at least 6 times. Let me just tell you, it's not that easy walking down a ridge in the desert and avoiding cactus, rocks, sagebrush while "keeping your head up and looking around." I'm not sure how many pictures Jim took, but there were some really great ones.
In the meantime, the crew was setting up this muslin screen for "LookBook" shots.
I did some modeling for the LookBook photos, similar to the guy above. Just sort of walking in front of the screen, moving around in front of the screen. It was pretty fun. First I modeled the black steer head sweater. They told me they were just going to have me model the one outfit.
But then, they decided to put me in another outfit! Woohoo, time for wardrobe change. I do have to say it's a little strange to change clothes in front of a bunch of other people, but whatever, it was still fun. I wore a blue striped shirt, another probably cashmere cardigan, and tried on some unbelievably soft suspender pants in a gray sweatpant (but much softer) material. The gray pants didn't fit well, so back into my Levi's, chinks and boots. And of course the hat.
During the second outfit, it was really windy, but this made some nice effects with my hair flying around. There are some excellent shots of this outfit as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any to show you right now. But Jim and Susan are going to send me some, or eventually some might make it into Adam's 2010 LookBook!
When the crew broke for lunch and headed back to town, I went home. They were coming back around 4:30pm for another session. Number One had to take the horses back to the location, and he said they had invited us to have dinner with them at the corral. I got H-Bomb and Sawed Off dressed (in pants, even!) and headed over there.
The boys had a great time exploring in the desert, and Jim took some awesome family photos. He said he's going to send us some prints.
They took more LookBook photos of different models, including CG, and then took photos of Adam Kimmel himself.
(center, facing the camera)
We had a dinner catered by a local restaurant, and everyone commented how cute H-Bomb and Sawed Off were in their cowboy hats and boots. And they tormented Natasha with a huge flying beetle they caught.
As the sun was starting to set, they got four male "cowboy/models" on horses, and started up the smoke machines. There will be some amazing photos from this shoot. I got a couple decent shots with my little digital.
It was a fantastic day, out of the ordinary, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I met some great people, and I wish them all the best. I'm so happy I was able to be a part of Adam Kimmel's LookBook 2010. The photos are on their way to Italy and/or Paris for a show in about a week, and I can't wait to see myself on
his website!
Back at it tomorrow!
and 
. The books arrived in two days. Reading Part One in The Sacred Path Companion, the very first sentence drew me in: "
