the roadtrip breakdown.... thus far

I'm finally here at Palm Springs, CA! Whew! It's been an amazing few days.

I've had great times and great conversations with my absolutely amazing hosts: Mark and Dee Dee. I cannot thank them enough.

Quick breakdown (I'll write more about my visits when I have photos of those said visits):

Wednesday was all day driving, ending up in Glenwood Springs, CO for the night.

Thursday was Arches National Park and Monument Valley.

Friday most of the day was at Antelope Canyon and the latter part of the day was the Grand Canyon.

Saturday all day was at the Grand Canyon.

Today was Joshua Tree.


Visual stimuli overload!!



Lots of music and thoughts in between. Figured out some important things I need to deal with when I arrive back home.

But now, its time to live in the moment, and appreciate every second I have here in Palm Springs.

So with that being said, I'm going to explore the town until it's well past dark.





Ooooh, and I know who I'm going to be rooming with tomorrow through Thursday morning. Yay!

_____________________

R Michael Walker. From last summer - my first time being in Joshua Tree.

You can't always get what you want

but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need.

A few local things happening.

A new organization aimed to foster rewarding collaborations between the professional, creative forces of fine art figure photographers and figure drawing models has just been born here in the Twin Cities. It is called Phigural. Once I have more information, I will gladly pass it along here. I went last night to its first meeting, and it was very well received; I saw a lot of familiar faces and hopefully met some new people I will eventually have working relationships with.



So my original plan to get out to Palm Springs was to take a roadtrip down and shoot along the way before and after the workshop. That fell through because of the car's condition. I resolved to fly out there, and was gathering the capital to purchase the ticket when I was approached with an opportunity to travel with another Twin Cities photographer who just so happens to be taking the workshop that I'm modeling for. So I'm on another roadtrip, just not my own. But we will be hitting some marvelous hotspots, and hopefully get some amazing art out of this process. I know I'm going to be taking and shooting a lot of film myself!

My next week will consist of me preparing for this roadtrip and making sure I have all the necessary essencials without overpacking. But good news is, I can finally wear shorts again, as long as the weather cooperates. My legs need some sun.


Some amazing things have been happening lately, both good and bad. I'm just trying to sponge it all in, learn, and grow.





____________

Chip Willis.