… And We’re Back

by Fire Girl Jess on May 2, 2015

The A-Team. Wrap shot at Mallard's Rest on the Yellowstone River.

The A-Team. Wrap shot at Mallard’s Rest on the Yellowstone River.

The past few weeks have been a run of 4 or 5AM mornings and late, late nights. Thousands of miles, several projects, new and old friends alike, and a plethora of images later, I’m sitting in the Minneapolis airport on the way back to the Northeast.

Here’s a brief rundown of the past few weeks:

Heading into West Yellowstone in Rudy the Land Cruiser.

Heading into West Yellowstone in Rudy the Land Cruiser.

After a week in Bozeman working on a selection of editorial and personal projects, I headed to Missoula for the Orvis Guide Rendezvous. While I was  on a mission to photograph the event, it was awesome to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Always exciting to see the energy at OGR—the fly-fishing industry really is an incredible one.

After OGR, trekked back to Bozeman to begin a sprint shoot for Orvis. It was a project I’ve been working on for months—photographing, art directing, and producing this project has meant endless hours planning, chasing down connections who might know other connections, and prepping as much as is possible. I was lucky enough to enlist two awesome anglers / models—Jackie Jordan and Phoebe Bean—and Jenny Madsen, who functioned as a kick-ass photo assistant / driver / queen of scrim placement and overall morale booster. A team can make or break a shoot, and this group certainly rocked it in style.

Despite very bright conditions (this photographer’s nightmare), we “got ‘er done”, and the week was a complete whirlwind of Rudy the Land Cruiser, bison “micro babies”, trout stalking, early starts, late nights, caddis hatches, outfit changes, and a melding of fashion and the outdoors. Caffeine is a wonderful thing, although after a three week sprint like this tiredness reaches a new level (I somehow fell asleep while backing up and editing images around midnight last night, and woke up on the floor).

Huge shout out to Rachel, our incredible National Park Service monitor for the 12-hour day of shooting in Yellowstone. To Rudy and Birdie, our trusty rental cars from Phasmid Rentals, who toted us all around Yellowstone Country. To wranglers Elliot and Patrick at Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, who were rock stars in helping set the riding portion of the shoot up, dealing with mischievous horses, managing bright light, and navigating the random moose encounter. And to Chico Hot Springs for letting us come in and be rowdy in the bar during a late night shoot.

The images from the Orvis shoot will be popping up some later this year, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, here’s a (very rough) sneak peek of some of the zany adventures of the past week.

Back to Vermont and real life, though not for long. There’s a very exciting new project on the radar—one I’ll be announcing soon!

Problem solving.

Problem solving.

Jackie Jordan on the prowl in Bear Trap Canyon, on the Madison River.

Jackie Jordan on the prowl in Bear Trap Canyon, on the Madison River.

Jackie and Phoebe duel it out on Buck Hunter at Chico Hot Springs.

Jackie and Phoebe duel it out on Buck Hunter at Chico Hot Springs.

Tags: Assignments

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Geargrrrl May 2, 2015 at 19:06

Thanks for the sneak previews – can’t wait to see the finished product(s)!

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Fire Girl Jess May 3, 2015 at 12:05

You bet! Should be fun. Thanks for following along on the randomness…

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