Concluding The Sacred Door Trail opening ceremony, a group of us headed to Weston Pew’s stunning family-ranch that nestles up against the Bridger mountain range just north of Bozeman, Montana. The week spent there was a much-needed decompression after the spiritual intensity of the previous few days. We spent our time resting, singing along with guitars on the porch, eating home cooked food and going on a bunch of outings. One of these outings was on the fourth of July and included rafting down the Yellowstone River, eating a picnic lunch, and singing and dancing the night away at the Bank Bar (a local cowboy watering hole), in Wilsall, Montana.
During this time there was a full moon and though I was pretty spent from camping, I found time to take a few photos. My previously mentioned partner in crime, Melanie Malia, helped me wander out into the moonlight to take some photos with the Pew’s lovely grey horse. Just as we were starting to get our rhythm, “Bill” the notorious beast of a dog, came and did a fine job of chasing the horses away. As everyone who was there can attest, the name “Bill” on the ranch is generally said at full volume and followed by some sort of accusation or negative…. “BILL… NOOOO BILL… NO BILL… BAD DOG BILL… STOP THAT BILL… BIIIIILLLLLL!!!!!!!!”
Once Bill was content with the horse situation, he lay down in the road and happily watched us finish the shoot. As I have mentioned before, I have a very hard time working in full-moon light. The conditions are very similar to working in daylight and present a huge challenge when working alone. It’s a bit like being on a fully lit stage with no script, set, or props, and told to just do something cool. Inevitably, whatever you do ends up feelinging a bit contrived and awkward. Personally, I feel this way about these images, but I have also had some good response to the work, so I feel like I am close to something new. In the next post I will go into some of what I learned in my workshop with Arno Minkenen… as I try for a breakthrough.
