It was an honor to be included in a team of eight; five local models, hair and make-up artist, Mark the photographer and myself as a clothing/accessory provider and stylist taking a car full of vintage items. The goal of the shoot? To make some photographic magic with the hopes of submission to Vogue and Vogue Italia.
For those of you who know me, you will definitely know that me and my fair skin do NOT like intense sun and heat. Definitely a challenge knowing that we would be shooting in the Alvord Desert in 90+ intense heat/sun. Thank you SPF 50! To have this opportunity forced me outside my comfort zone and ready for a new adventure.
We headed out in a caravan with nine hours on the road…one way to the Alvord Desert which is located in SE Oregon. Got our tents set up and in bed by 2am. I had no idea what to expect of our location since it was so dark when we arrived. Awoke to a spectacular sunrise I will never forget. Glad I had my phone close by to capture the moment. The floor of the desert looks like water with gold flecks as the sun reflects off of it. What an amazing place. Can now see why we traveled so far.
We started quite early getting hair and make-up done. Next job was to start assembling outfits for each model. I have worked with Mark Daniel Muzzy on two previous shoots; our Escape 1920’s shoot and our Modern 1930’s shoot. He is one of the most incredible photographers I have ever met. He knows high fashion and I was thrilled to see my vintage pieces on these beautiful models. They put a hanger to shame! Our reward for a hard days work was a beautiful sunset.
I feel like day two we were getting into our groove as we got to know one another and really start playing with combinations and individual styles. For these two days on the desert we were a fashion crew but in the every day world we are a chef, smoothie maker, waitress, mental health worker, Netflix employee, salon owner and vintage shop owner. Over the course of two days thousands of images were taken. The ones I have seen from the small view screen on the camera look fantastic. Wish I could crawl inside the camera for a full image tour! It will take quite a while for the images to be sorted, edited and posted, so, in the meantime, I figured I would give you some teasers that I took with my camera from a spectator view.
We all had dream images that we wanted to create. Mine was a vintage circus theme. I packed all kinds of black and white options, many of which are items from the early 1920’s. It was one of the last shoots we did before packing up camp and I am thrilled at how the overall look turned out. It was as if you could hear the circus music as they marched along the desert. It is taking everything within me to not share a behind the scene image (gives me goosebumps when I look at the small image on my phone) but I am choosing to wait for the best photos from the series. You will just have to wait along with me.
Justin Taylor, our male model, is also a very talented photographer and captured some great images. Here are a few from his camera…
Hope you have enjoyed the teasers. There will be many more to come! Now, off to detail my car post-desert (oh, it is bad… really bad) and hand clean all the clothing and accessories taken. Going to be a long couple of days with folex in one hand and a toothbrush/washcloth in the other.
Just a real quick ‘thank-you’ to all of you who supported our business while I was gone. Patrick and Jamie kept busy in the shop and every sale helped make this trip possible. Looking forward to doing more crazy adventures in the future!
Cheers!
Most Everything Vintage 
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