Behind the Scenes: Untamed Delusions of A Broken Heart

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This image was photographed a few days into our Icelandic adventure. After shooting earlier in the day in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, the Fromagi's gathered into our RV's and crossed the wild landscape to reach another breathtaking location, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon. On the drive over, I sketched out a few ideas I've been working on that I really wanted to shoot. I was so inspired by the landscapes, so it was really easy to focus on the concepts I was planning. I eventually shot these concepts in the following days, which is always such a fulfilling feeling. 

We reached the glaciers around midnight, so we changed our plans and decided to sleep next to the icebergs surrounding us in our little mobile homes. I loved falling asleep that night to the sounds of the ice breaking and crashing into the water. We explored the coast of the lagoon and everyone had that twinkle in their eye. The creative juices were flowing. We started going back and forth, sharing ideas with one another about concepts, who to shoot, what use, etc. Brooke (being Brooke) exclaims she's getting in the water, and we all kinda laughed because we thought she was joking. NOPE! The dead serious face she had said it all. 

She had brought along waders which were going to keep her at least dry in the icy water. After getting in the water and shooting a concept of her own, she volunteered to model  for a few short minutes before the cold became too much. I've fallen through thin ice before into freezing cold water. It really shocks you and takes the breath right out of you. Heck, I'm one of those people who take a million years to get into a pool if it's feeling somewhat cold. But this woman held her poses gracefully in there. It wasn't for long, but I definitely have to give her credit for doing that for as long as she did. Our friend Rebeca went in right after, using the waders as well. As much as I wanted to shoot a self portrait out in the water, it just wasn't in the cards, and I didn't want to risk getting a cold before the trip was over. Yeah, excuses, excuses. 

After an hour or so after arriving and shooting, we started getting settled in for the night. Before calling it lights out, the ones who were not too sleepy yet, hung out in one of the RV's for a few drinks and shared stories and were uncontrollably laughing. A great way to end a long adventure filled day. 

Behind the Scenes: A Simpler Life

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Expectations vs Reality 

I’m not really a materialistic person, except when it comes to drooling over an amazing photo prop I've found. All I really need in life is my art, good friends, and an the occasional adventure. When you imagine growing up, you sorta have all these expectations and dreams of what it’s going to be like… then reality starts hitting in. You start learning about bills, taxes, insurance, all these things that you never had to deal with before. It’s easy as a child to have such exaggerated expectations of adulthood, it almost seems like a freedom you've longed for, to only discover freedom is a lot more work than you could’ve ever imagined. So, sometimes I imagine what a simpler life may be like. 

Last year, I had the amazing opportunity to go to France for a week and attend a wonderful photography retreat hosted by my good friend, Brooke (of Brooke Shaden Photography). A few months before the retreat, everyone attending started chatting online in our group, working out travel plans and car pooling arrangements. When we finally met, it didn’t seem like we were complete strangers. We instantly clicked and became best friends. We activity stayed in touch in our group and now call each other the Fromagi’s.

For months, we teased each other with beautiful images from around the world, but Iceland was almost popping up in our feeds on what seemed to be a daily basis. The idea of an Icelandic adventure was pitched to the group and everyone was immediately onboard! We were over the moon with having an anniversary trip to a place which I have longed to explore for many, many years.

This was my first image that I shot on my Icelandic excursion across the country and it's the first image I shot with my new D810! It was a really exciting morning as our group all met up at the RV site and we were once again together as a whole group after an entire year! We gave tons of hugs and said our hellos, got settled into our RV’s and officially started our road trip across the county. 

First, we drove up across the north west, along the coastline with waterfalls littering the mountain sides to the left of us. After coming across two abandoned sites that didn't spark any real creative juices, we kept driving until some of us noticed a little hut in the hillside around what looked to be a lava field engulfed in a thick spongey moss. This spot definitely deemed itself worthy of something truly amazing and creative when we started exploring, after a quick group photo of course. 

This Icelandic adventure was definitely a taste of a simpler life. Traveling with friends and creating art in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The distractions of home life were gone. We were almost entirely without internet connection. We were off the grid, but we had everything we've ever needed with us. I feel so lucky to have these amazing people as friends - my photo family, the Fromagi's. 

Behind the Scenes: To Live Another Day

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Another example using my iPhone 6 of that beautiful glowing light we had. The sea of poppies were so vibrant! 

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Community & Collaboration 

Simply put, I'm a photographer and I love what I do. Growing up, I would always seek adventure and it's amazing that I've been able to make a living at it and travel the country. Something that I may love more than photography? Well, it's the community of like-minded people and artists behind it all! 

Since I dived into conceptual/fine art photography, I've met some of the most amazing people and have created not only beautiful work with them, but wonderful memories of those adventures and antics we find ourselves constantly getting in. I think those positive moments flow through the work we create, which give the photographs we're bringing to life additional depth to them in a way. This photograph in particular is one of those moments. 

I was out traveling the southwest for work recently and for the last week, I was scheduled to be in sunny San Diego! My friend Anita (of Anita Antonia Photography) got in touch with me from LA, and told me that the weekend I flew in was when World Wide Instameets were being held all over major cites across the globe!

I've been to a handful of the ones held in Philly, so I saw this as a great opportunity to meet some new peeps and possibly shoot a concept of some sorts. There were two being held in LA, one location for the sunrise and for sunset. I didn't get to my hotel until 2am after a full day of running around in Albuquerque, AZ. So I had to skip the morning meet up. 

Later in the day, I experienced LA traffic for the first time in my life, and boy was it painful. Stop and go. Stop and go. Three hours later, I made it to Anita's and we carpooled up to the sunset meet up location, in Antelope Valley. 

Once we found the others, (who were all hiding on the other side of the hill, haha) we made it just in time for the group shot. Then like wildfire, everyone was jumping into helping out others with with photo ideas and collaborating together. Anita seemed to be the star of the show! I bet there were hundreds of shots taken of her that day! Search on Instagram the hashtag #SeaOfPoppyMeet to check out everyones posts! 

Anita introduced me to another photo friend of hers, Houston (of Houston Roderick Photography). We quickly got to talking about recent projects and photo adventures. He mentioned how his car is always filled with photo props, wardrobe, basically anything at his disposal for a spur-of-the-moment shoot. Just exactly how my car always is! We started listing all the odd and interesting things we're constantly driving around with us and that's when Houston mentioned he had a sword. 

Just hearing those words dropped me dead in my tracks and I asked if he would model for me and grab the sword from his car. I brought a large piece (it's really a bed sheet) of fabric with me. It's the same I've always used for my other images with fabric incorporated into them. I really wanted to use it somehow that day. The winds were gusty, and I knew it would give a cape that perfect action in-motion look to it. 

Time was of the essence. The clouds were opening up as the sun was dipping into the horizon. The low lit-field started making all of the poppies and wildflowers across the field glow. It was go-time. Now or never. I had another photographer from the meet up help me out by standing behind Houston, as he threw the cape up into the wind.

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It's funny though, because after a few throws, I saw how the subtle wind was now gently billowing the fabric and loved the look of that natural movement. It also really helped fit the mood of the image in my opinion. Five minutes earlier or later, and the lighting of this scene would've been drastically different. I'm so happy we were able to make everything work out! I started to drool somewhat when I was reviewing the images from the back of the camera. 

To me, this is a clear example of the photography community coming together, creating/brainstorming together, and producing creative concepts with each other. This was the first time I met Huston, and it was so easy to communicate and execute ideas with each other. Finding that openness working together instantly is really motivating. It makes me really glad I know so many amazing people from all over the world with similar passions for creating! 

Photo Credit - Houston Roderick