Babes in the Wood: Chantelle

  Spring is here and I've been psyched with the warmer weather and sunny mornings. Finding a super-top-extra-secret fern grove spot, Levi was kind enough to let me photograph his big sister Chantelle for my ongoing Babes in the Wood series. 

Wesley, Chantelle's Daddy, proved to be a whiz with a piece of ultra-suede and scissors. Hence her fashionable tunic:

Chantelle has a strong aversion to a spider walking on her foot

running with shoes on was much more fun than dancing with spiders

These guys were fun to hang out with for a couple hours, and of course we had to shoot a couple family shots as well. In the super-top-extra-secret fern spot....

I-80 : Donner Pass

Continuing on my I80 series, this is the latest portrait near Donner Pass, CA.

Often under snow at this time of the year, this field is usually part of the Donner Memorial State Park's cross country ski trails. But last week it was very warm.

Donner Lake, 1866 (photo Library of Congress)

The most notorious history about this area is the infamous winter of 1946, and the Donner Party's failed attempt at crossing the pass in late November.

 

More about Donner Lake history:

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-donnerparty4.html

Babes in the Wood: Lincoln

Inspired by direwolves, I am continuing my Babes in the Wood project with Atticus and a three-week-old little Lincoln.

 

Trying to find a spot away from poison oak and close enough for everyone to walk to, we found a good spot near an overturned tree trunk. I scouted a bit beforehand, and looked on the Palo Alto University campus next door. Funny enough, my cousin Sara came out to visit a couple weeks later to look at that school and we got to visit Lincoln again in the pouring rain.

Sara feeding the horses...

Lincoln, skeptical that he was ever allowed to sit under Atticus.

Lincoln, skeptical that I can hold him correctly.

I-80

(the series finally has a real title)

On a cold day in mid-January, we decided to bail on skiing for the day on ice and rocks (very little snow this year in Tahoe) and focus on exploring the nearby structures. 

This corrugated steel structure is an enigmatic guardian to something we can't figure out. It has a bit of an overhang in the front, looking almost like a loading dock for loading up a truck bed with road salt. But there's no trap door, the window is boarded up and it's pretty much seemingly unremarkable. I set up a couple lights, moved a couple giant logs and did my thing by the lone pine tree and window in back.

 

 

The next day the sun came out and we rode the gondola:

Babes in the Wood: Michael

Last weekend I shot photos of little Mike, son of the awesome Mary Ray and Mike Zyracki.

Having lived in San Francisco now for 17 years, I have somehow neglected to ever explore the Mount Sutro Open Space Preserve. The scene here at 9am on a Saturday was fairly generic: dog-walkers, the occasional mountain biker, a few joggers, then me and a large cart of photo lights, props and camera gear.

Borrowing some animal pelts from my pal and local punk rock taxidermist Beth Allen, we wrapped Michael in furs and made him wild, wooly and a little bit haunted.

Ray-Zyracki Team Expansion!

Tony trespassing near Ohm Place

The day after Christmas, 2014, led to a ban on our midweek passes in Tahoe, so we drove around Sparks a bit to check out stuff.

There is a section of town with names of streets that are named after a specific type of industry. Ohm Place, Energy Way, Joule Street.. from time to time we look up Ohm and just scout around that area. Can't figure out what used to be there, other than the airport and a bunch of rather stylized tilt-up cement warehouses. Such as the one below.

 

It was a cold weekend, and aside from a silly photo on a repeating, mirrored escalator in the Peppermill, we enjoyed Christmas and didn't take too many more photos on this trip.

 

always time for self timer.. it was 27 degrees outside, by the way.

Spangler Hills

The Best Way to spend a four day weekend most people call Thanksgiving:

Clowning it up a bit in Wasco, CA:

Setting the hills on fire in Spangler:

Layla and her friend Orion

 

Mos Eisley Spaceport, Tatooine. Rebels vs. Stormtroopers roman candle war.

Dirtbiking:

 

Clay driving his RC car, with the kites way up in the sky behind him...

All the riding photos never were actually shot, too much fun riding, but some idea of the locals:

Jawbone Canyon Store