Yee Haw!

Last weekend I headed 3 hours east of Missoula to attend the Augusta Rodeo.  What, you've never heard of Augusta, Montana?  Well, maybe that's because it's in the middle of nowhere and has a population of a whopping 300 people.  However, during their rodeo their population doubles (that's not saying much) as people from neighboring towns invade the city to camp, party, and rodeo.

Now, let me explain camping in Augusta.  In Utah, camping usually involves a camp site with a fire pit and something pretty to look at.  In Augusta, camping consists of a large area of grass surrounded by a chain link fence.  RV's and tents are set up wherever there is space.  Nice.

The night before the rodeo everyone heads to the one bar in town for dancing and drinking.  Believe it or not this was an absolute blast!  This is also where I saw Jack Hanna who kindly agreed to break away from the mob and take a photo with me (see below).

Now for my "Only in Montana" moment for the week.  At the rodeo they let the photographers sit on the ground right next the pit.  There is no fence here, just some metal bars with about 2 foot gaps between them.  A bull could easily stick its head and shoulders through it.  At one point in the rodeo a bull got away from the cowboys and charged straight for us.  It was coming so fast that sand and gravel were pelting us so of course, our survival instincts kicked in and we jumped up and backwards to avoid being gored by the bull.  What do we hear from the crowd behind us?  People start yelling "sit down!".  Really?  We are about to be killed (well maybe that's an exaggeration) and you want us to sit down?  Apparently we city slickers don't know how to handle a charging bull appropriately.  Lesson learned.

Unless You're Nude, Don't Touch My Chevy

I'm going to start calling Missoula "Festsoula".  This city packs in more festivals and events during the summer than you can imagine.  There is literally an event at least 4 days of every week here.

Last Friday night it was the car show.  Early in the evening everyone parks their pimped out car in the park for people to look at.  Then from 9-10 pm the main road downtown is closed and the cars drag back and forth for an hour.

There were lots of cool cars and equally as many completely ridiculous ones.  Apparently the guidelines for submission are pretty loose.  My personal favorite was the van driven by 50 year old hippies.  The van had red flames spray painted on it, rope lights strung around the outside, and a pirate flag waving off the roof that read "surrender the booty."  Missoulians are awesome.

And my favorite "only in Montana" moment from the car show.... the car that had a sign on it reading "unless you're nude, don't touch my chevy."  Classy.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the evening.

Self Portrait

Before I came to Missoula I thought a self portrait meant standing in front of your camera and smiling in order to have a photo for your website, business cards, etc.  Now I have seen the light!  Apparently in the world of photographers a self portrait means much more than that.  It can mean placing yourself in the scene as a character other than yourself; it can mean using yourself as the model because you don't have one or can't afford one; it can be a photo of yourself that represents you in some way; or it can be just parts of you, say hands or feet, etc.

After being inspired by the creative self portraits of my classmates, I made my first attempt.  My vision was a retro scene of a woman near a window that conveyed a feeling of mystery and sadness.  This is what unfolded.

Tech Specs: 32mm, f 4.5, 1/80 sec, back light from window

I composed the image in black and white, wore the scarf around my head, and used the prop cigarette to help get the feel I wanted.  Overall I was very pleased with the image.

I'll leave you with my latest "Only in Montana Moment".  While driving earlier this week I saw a large sign near the road advertising "hummingbirds and 60 different kinds of licorice for sale".  I can't believe no one in Salt Lake has come up with this concept for a store.  It's genius.

Goody Goody Gumdrops

Our first assignment was to photograph a sense other than sight.  It was a very broad assignment and left room for a lot of creative interpretation.  I chose taste and came up with these 2 images.

For you photo people out there it was shot with a 200mm 2.8 lens with a tripod.  Lighting is sunlight and diffused fill flash.  My friend Lesley was the fantastic mouth model.

Moose Poo

I got my first paid photo gig this weekend!  Unfortunately my payment was moose poo.  Yes, moose poo.  One of the many wonderful items that you can buy in Montana that you can't buy in Salt Lake is moose poo.  And what do you do with said poo you ask?  Why of course you burn it like incense and it emits a smell similar to willow.  Duh.

While shooting at the farmer's market this weekend the woman running the moose poo booth asked if I would take some photos of her product that she could use on her website.  She would, of course, give me a free bag of moose poo in return.  Since I am a starving student I agreed and here is the shot in all its glory, coming to www.moosecense.com soon.

Cowboys and Hippies

I made it!  After playing tetris with all of my belongings to fit them in the back of my car we headed 8 hours due north of Salt Lake and made it to Missoula, Montana.  I think that life will be good here.

Missoula is a college town (The University of Montana Grizzlies) with a population of only 67,000, most of which are hippies, cowboys, college students or some combination of the above.  The city is beautiful.  A river runs through it - no pun intended- and it is completely surrounded by mountains (or if you're from Salt Lake large hills).  No one runs yellow lights, people don't wear shoes, medicinal marijuana is legal, and everyone owns a bicycle, kayak, snowboard or all three.  The weekends are packed with farmer's markets, craft fairs, live music and festivals.  As if that wasn't enough, on Wednesday afternoons the entire city shuts down so that all of the residents can have a picnic in the park by the river.  Taking it easy is a way of life here.

My house is great, my roommate is awesome, and school starts tomorrow.  Plus, who can complain when you drive down your street and see a group of well toned men hanging out on the roof of their house with a sign out front that reads "Honk and we'll drink.  Go Grizzlies."  It should be an interesting summer.

Check out this link to see more pics of the drive and my new place.  Photos