There was some part of me that worried I was trying to get away with too much. After two years of wanting to be busier… wanting to be photographing more things… scheduling myself to do three shoots in just more than 24 hours could be seen as over-compensating.

…But I knew I had to try...

Leg 1 of my 27 hour photographic rush of a journey took me to Imperial, California, where the tremendous staff at IBEW Local 569 were doing what they do best: take care of their members.

The annual holiday parties have been temporarily replaced with the more covid-friendly drive through. The change did nothing to hamper the spirit of community and charity among the members and staff.

The combination of the beauty of a desert sunrise, along with some new approaches to photographing the park, I think, made this one of my best trips to this beautiful desert yet.

A nine foot roll of white seamless, three lights, and a whole bunch of weight bags to keep everything from wandering off in the breeze transformed Saturday night into Portrait Night.

In the end, these two wonderful days tallied 550 miles traveled, 20 rolls/sheets of film shot, and a whole lot of inspiration to do this again regularly in 2022. I hope you’ll join me for the ride, both here on the blog… and in person with a shoot of your own.