Had an opportunity to photograph a talented up-and-coming group who call themselves, Loaded Chambers. The first session shot in a dry lake bed went great with the exception of almost freezing to death and the band’s car getting stuck in the mud.

Band members Patrick, Josh and Arturo are busy putting together their first EP. I’ve had the good fortune of getting some rough cuts. You can take a listen here:

http://www.myspace.com/loadedchambersmusic

I’d been itching for this shoot since Brianna (the model) contacted via email several months prior. She wanted a portrait of herself in her Native American attire alongside a real wolf. She sent me photos of the location: The Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, which was home to several wolves we could work with.

The Wolf Mountain Sanctuary (www.wolfmountain.com) is a short trip down an unpaved road off the 18 highway in Lucerne Valley, California. It was founded in 1976 by Native American, Tonya Littlewolf who is dedicated and devoted to the rescue of wolves in the wild and in captivity.

Although it was one of my more challenging shoots, everything fell into place. The biggest challenge was getting our wolf model, Wayland to cooperate as he was more interested in exploring the desert than sitting still to get his picture made.

Escape to Wolf Mountain Photography Shoot from Luis Aguirre on Vimeo.

The sanctuary is run purely on sponsorship and donations so if you’d like to donate, adopt, visit or become a member, make sure to check out their website at www.wolfmountain.com

I’d like to thank the staff of the sanctuary for their warm hospitality and all their invaluable help. This would not have been possible without it.

Driving into Hesperia the Sunday of this shoot, I was a little bit nervous. As my car kicked from side to side from heavy winds I couldn’t help worry that it might make this shoot too difficult. Luckily when we finally arrived at the Mirage Dry Lake Bed, the wind had subsided.

The lake bed is a popular recreation area for off roaders. ATVs, dirt bikes, go carts, trucks, etc. were racing by us in all directions. I’d felt like I’d stumbled onto the set of a Mad Max movie. All those vehicles turned the landscape into a giant dust bowl. By the time the shoot was done, me and my equipment were covered in a fine white veil of dust.

Angel, (the model) was a trooper. She braved the dust, the cold and my constant requests for her to jump or hold a pose. She stands no taller than 5′4″ but when she takes off, she literally flies. I was amazed at how much air she could get and how gracefully she looked doing it. She was amazing. Truly a desert angel.

Marco Grob is a brilliant photographer. From portraits, editorials to advertising campaigns he creates immaculate, masterfully lit images. Occasionally I come across a photographer whose work is so good (and intimidating), it makes me want to sell my camera and take up a new career. Marco Grob is definitely one of them. I wonder if Burger King is hiring?

You can see more of his amazing images here:

http://www.marcogrob.com

some ideas and sketchbook experiments for new pieces

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln

I had a friend who would lock eyes with me as if she were Supergirl about to blast me with her heat vision and ask me, “So, what is your plan?” I’m sure my expression contorted into an ape-like bewilderment as I tried to discern what she meant. Did she mean my plan for the day? My plan for her? Or maybe she was referring to my evil, master plan to rule the world?

The odd thing was that no matter how often I asked her what she meant, she would answer only by repeating her question, “What is your plan?”

I’ve never been one to plan much of anything. I’ve always tried to live day by day and not plan longer than I have to. Her question, however left me wondering: “What the hell is my plan?”

As I rocket past my forties into my future, (with a lot less hair and more ape-like bewilderment), I realize that we should all have some kind of plan—specifically a plan to make you the person you were born to be. Life is short. Too short to spend it wasting yourself away with a lot of hopes and dreams and no actions. Life is too short to not have a plan.

So….

“What is your plan?”

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. ~Fr. Alfred D’Souza