The blustery scene and biting, below-zero temperatures just now outside stand in stark, nasty contrast to the days last spring, when this body of work was created, and though I’m only separated from those Arctic-legit conditions by mere feet, the confines of my office stand as a warm, sound and cozy outpost in this barren tundra of Caledonia, NY.

Taken during a time-lapse photography session while camping in Idaho, this image was chosen for the opening spread of Camp Sight.

Part of me would like to pretend that the conditions outside require me to hunker down here for days on end, in this remote cabin, waiting for the weather to pass, surviving on the supply of venison we have stocked, and maybe some decent wine, and having to do my work by a good fire, and the light of an banged-up, old, hissing Coleman lantern.  The reality, though, is that I’ve got a quietly-glowing electric heater keeping my office warm, and need to leave shortly to bring my girlfriend’s daughter to her volleyball practice.  So much for wilderness solitude.  I suppose my short-lived daydream is driven by the state of mind that camping can bring, and a part of me is longing for the days when I used to do more of it.

The idea of getting away to enjoy time outdoors, leaving behind the responsibilities and pressures of work and our daily lives, unplugging from our electric umbilicals, and simply allowing ourselves to relax and breathe fresh air, is such an incredibly appealing one.  A bit elusive at the moment, perhaps, but the sentiment is there for me today, and I’m seeing this wintertime inspiration as an opportunity to plan ahead – to put that early-season camping trip on the calendar and just get out there before the lawn-mowing and garden-weeding days of summer take over.  Difficult to imagine today, but those humid, pickle-making summer afternoons will be here before we know it.

As a creative professional, one of the most important things I’ve always tried to do (for the good of my soul and sanity,) has been to carve-out time for personal work, especially when done in collaboration with good friends whose talents complement each other very nicely.  While not what I’d consider strictly “personal work,” the photography assignments I’ve had for Post, a fine, Rochester, New York – based magazine, have allowed me to do some much needed “creative-core therapy” on several different occasions – stuff that’s right in my wheelhouse, and some of what makes me tick.  In this case, the camping-related images were made to help illustrate a beautifully written Post magazine article titled Camp Sight, that was published in the July / August issue of 2014.

Written by Matt Smythe, and with layout and design by Rachel Spence, the article, through it’s storytelling, imagery and design, conveys the wonderful essence of camping and the importance of time spent in nature, of slowing down and recharging the soul, while offering its readers ideas and information sources to help those inspired to get off the couch and hit the great outdoors.

Following the direction of the story Matt had written – part of it inspired by some of our experiences camping together out west, the three of us talked about what we each thought were important points to communicate visually, and how to do that.  I did a little sketching-out of some of my ideas – the pictures I was forming in my mind, and began placing phone calls to a few friends, who would end up being my subjects for the photographs.

The deadlines that were being driven by the magazine’s production schedule were suggesting that I needed to get cracking and start executing the photography in late April – not exactly prime-time for creating imagery that revolves around what would normally be a heart-of-summer type of activity for most.  Trees were only beginning to bud at that point, and part of my creative thought-process was whether the lack of much greenery would detract from the emotional response we were hoping to achieve.  After a short bit, though, those thoughts had to be tossed aside, and the camera simply needed to be picked up and put to work.

We wound up arranging five different photography sessions during a couple of weeks straddling April and May.  The first three focused on the human element – people enjoying the outdoors through camping-related activities sort of thing.  Again, because of deadlines and everyone’s real-life schedules and responsibilities, we didn’t really have the luxury of actually getting out to go camping together on a long weekend.  For the most-part, I needed to get things done in the comforts of our own back yard.

Tents were set up out back on a couple occasions, sleeping bags were hauled-out of their storage totes in the basement, firewood and blankets were arranged just-so, and grocery-store trips for hot dogs and marshmallows were made in preparation for the photo-shoots.  In-between photography sessions, I found myself re-reading Matt’s manuscript to more fully absorb the message and soul of it, and Rachel was letting me know when I wasn’t hitting the nail on the head with the photographs – keeping me visually on-track.  The project turned out to be a great excuse for us to gather up some close friends, spend some time around a few campfires, get the kids all together to roast-up some Zwiegle’s hot dogs outside, and just enjoy being out in the fresh, spring air.  After having been pretty well cooped-up during the winter months, it was just what we needed to cure the cabin fever that we’d been plagued with.

Written by Matt Smythe, the Camp Sight story began with a handwritten journal entry that was inspired by our time spent camping in Idaho.

Today might just offer some of that same relief for me.  The sun is out, the temperature is in the low twenties, and we’ve got at least a short break from the extreme-cold days that were present when I began writing this post.  Looks like a good afternoon to put the snowshoes on and explore the trails for a while, and try to soak up a little bit of winter sun before hitting a busy work week, and the returning cold.

Camera:  Canon EOS 5D Mark3

The post On Campfires and Coleman Fuel – Photography for Post appeared first on Grant Taylor Photography, Inc..

A near-full moon rising over The Owyhee, while Rebecca and Matt get after some rising browns.

September has long passed.  The seven-degree air and new-fallen snow on the boughs of the backyard fir trees seems so far removed from the dry heat of the desert canyons we camped in just a few months ago.  Those canyon-river days are just below the surface, though, and if I close my eyes against the winter scene outside, I can be back there in just a few short moments.

Colby at home on the South Fork one evening, with a moose in the shadows of the riverbank downstream.  This is Idaho.

It has been incredibly interesting and inspiring to witness the evolution of this film project that began taking shape on great trout waters in southeast Oregon in September of 2011.  Not long after our return back home from that first trip out west, came the realization that there was an important story to be told, and after a couple of phone calls between here and Kansas, a few Friday lunch meetings over bacon cheeseburgers and cold beer, Matt Smythe and I suddenly found ourselves flying out to Kansas to get the ball rolling.    We had made the trip to connect and work with the lads from Rockhouse Motion (Matt White and Dustin Lutt.)  In doing so, the heartbeat of A Deliberate Life had begun to thump.

Matt and Dustin, of Rockhouse Motion, conferring while framing up a scene on The Owyhee

The intent of this initial excursion to Kansas was twofold, really.  While a collaboration of this sort had been the topic of discussion for a short while, the four of us were still just getting to know each other, learning how to work together for the first time.  We also needed to create a promotional video that would serve as a statement of intent for the larger film project, and that could aid us in drawing some support and sponsorship to move forward with.  The resulting video was a four-minute piece that was filmed with a RED Epic and Canon DSLR’s, edited and finalized in a little over two days.  Click here to watch the video.  (It was during this trip, also, that Silo4 was formed – the name we’ve given to the collaboration of creative minds responsible for A Deliberate Life, but also one that will continue to live, and be a platform through which Matt and I can tell great stories and create cool stuff with other similarly-minded people.)

Rebecca on the Henry’s Fork during a morning session.

September 2012 found us heading back to those same waters we had been on twelve months prior.  This time, though we had new friends along, and had a greater purpose – beginning to capture the story and imagery that would eventually become the final film and its trailers.  Matt and I had flown across the country to Boise, Idaho, and were met at the airport by Matt White, Dustin Lutt, and Bryan Keeler, who had made the trip from Kansas and South Dakota, arriving just ahead of us.  From there, we headed into town and connected with our friends, Rebecca Garlock and Robert Nelson, with whom we’d begin our journey.  After gathering up our gear and taking on a few days worth of supplies, we headed west into Oregon.

The Coleman 8-Person Instant Tents we were provided with really did set up in one minute, and proved to be perfect shelters for our expedition!.

Robert exhibited great prowess in keeping us all well nourished with his camp-cooking talents.  I think we were all wishing he’d be along for the whole trip.  We had been really nicely outfitted by Coleman Camping Gear, with tents, sleeping bags, folding chairs, headlamps, flashlights, lanterns – enough stuff to very comfortably allow nine people to stay on the rivers and film for ten days time.  I really can’t say enough about what that kind of support meant to our project.  A handful of other important backers had come on board very early on, too.  Kast Gear, Thomas & Thomas, Howler Bros., SmithFly, Rio, Loon Outdoors, Fly Fusion, Brower Moffitt – all pitched-in to a lend a hand in a tremendous show of support for what we were doing.  For all of that, we are so very grateful.

Settled in around a good fire on a chilly night along the Henry’s Fork.  (Each tent is lit with a single pod from a Coleman Quad LED Lantern.)

After a few days of filming in southeast Oregon, on the Owyhee River, we traveled eastward back to Boise for a brief re-charge, and then onward to the Idaho Falls area to continue filming on the South Fork and Henry’s Fork of the Snake River.  Colby Hackbarth and Brent Griffeth, of Kast Gear, were our hosts on the South Fork, and their families greeted our arrival with bear-hugs and a beautiful, Mexican dinner one evening.  As with Rebecca and Ross, Matt and I had fished with Colby during our 2011 trip and had formed a friendship very quickly.  During our few days with Colby and Brent on the South Fork, we set up camp at a site in Caribou National Forest.  Our days on the river each began at one of the boat launches in Swan Valley, Idaho, that were within a short drive and would end around the campfire in the evening.  (Due to a ban on fires during our time in Oregon, we hadn’t been able to enjoy any good campfires until now, and now, in the chilly evenings, we felt fortunate to have them.)

Ross changing flies during a morning on the Henry’s Fork.

The final leg of our trip saw us meeting up with Ross Slayton for a few days on the Henry’s Fork.  Ross was fired up to be back out on his favorite waters with us in tow, and was, once again, a great host to all of us during our time with him.  During our final day together, we took a trip into Yellowstone National Park to check out some of the wildlife and geological wonders before rounding out the day with some fishing on the Firehole and Nez Perce.  It was heartbreaking to only be in a place like that for a day, but I’ve got it marked high on my list of places that need a return trip.

Matt Smythe on the Nez Perce.

The following month, Matt and I made our way back to Kansas to check out the three-minute trailer that Dusty and Whitey had created, spent a couple days laying out the structure of the 18-minute trailer, recording voice-overs and sifting through a mound of audio clips to pull out the key components for the greater story.  Whitey had also connected with a very talented musical artist in Kansas named Tim Coons, who had graciously provided some of his gorgeous pieces for use in the film’s soundtrack.  All of it just fit together so very nicely.

Ross Slayton on the Firehole.  Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Before we knew it, the film had been invited to be part of the 2013 International Fly Fishing Film Festival, a.k.a IF4, and is now making its way around the U.S. and Canada, with future stops in South America.  The “touring version” of A Deliberate Life is an eighteen-minute, extended length trailer that sits among some very fine company on the festival tour.  The three-minute version of the film trailer can be seen on the Silo4 Vimeo page, here.  Matt Smythe and I had the pleasure of representing Silo4 and attending the film tour kick-off in Denver, Colorado in early January.  We’ve just recently made arrangements to schedule a stop in our “hometown” of Rochester, New York.  The films of the IF4 will hit the screens of Little Theater on May 17.  Tickets for all of the shows along the film tour may be purchased here.

Aileen Nishimura enjoying an early evening on the Owyhee River.

I really need to give a huge holler and thank-you to a small handful of core-group friends who have given of their talents and their time to help Silo4 piece together some missing parts of our thousand-piece puzzle – logos, promotional and press-kits, web sites, movie posters, DVD packaging, so many things that have been made possible because of folks like Tim Winter, T.C. Pellett, and Rebecca Garlock.  Another loud shout needs to be hollered at Luke and Michael Bantam of Dreamcast Idaho, Aileen Nishimura, Rachel Jean Morgan and Brian Forsmann for bringing their wonderful energy to our time together on the Owyhee.  See you all again soon, hopefully!

Luke, a good fishin’ pup, from Dreamcast Idaho, cooling off in the Owyhee.

I feel a bit compelled, too, as I sometimes do, to apologize for the sparse nature of this post.  I could share so much more, and hate to sometimes have to condense things into just the basics.  I think that to really tell the whole story of how this whole thing came to be, the energy and emotion that went into creating it, the friendships forged and the territory explored, so much more needs to be said.  For now, though, I think it’s wise to simply let the film trailers and photographs express some of those things on their own.

Find Silo4 on Facebook, and give us a holler!  To download the official, 33-minute version of A Deliberate Life, from Vimeo On Demand, please click right here!  If you’d prefer to own a stunning, Blu-Ray Disc version of A Deliberate Life, please visit the Silo4 site!

Camera:  Canon EOS 5D Mark3

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Two weeks ago, I was contacted by Katy Collar, a designer friend of mine, who was in the early stages of a freelance project for Up The Creek Farm.  Katy would be designing a new logo for the farm, as well as a website.  She was in need of photography for the project, and thought that my visual approach and style would be a nice fit!  I was thrilled that she thought so, and excited about the possibility of a fun side-project!  The two of us met for a lunch meeting at Orange Glory Café a couple days later with our pens and notepads, and I listened to the details and particulars of what Katy was going to accomplish.

Katy thought that she would need six to eight images that together conveyed the feel of the farm in a way that stirs the viewer’s “romantic” senses.  Beautiful landscapes, stunning horses, interesting details, and the strong connection between horse and human.  Oh, and all of that with gorgeous light.

During our meeting, Katy and I were realizing that with the onset of fall, the changing weather, and our jam-packed schedules, we needed to hustle and get out to create images while the leaves were still on the trees!  We scheduled a meeting with Brandy, the farm manager to get things rolling.  Late that Sunday afternoon, we all met at Up The Creek to talk about needs, ideas, scheduling, and to scout the land and stables.  We planned our shoot for the following Saturday, each of us agreeing to keep our fingers crossed and say plenty of “perfect weather prayers!”

I had watched the weather anxiously in the few days leading up to October 9th, and was so excited to have that “perfect forecast” that we had wished for!  As I loaded camera gear into the truck around six that morning, I could tell that there was some light cloud cover up there in the diminishing darkness.  I think that, standing alone in the dark driveway, I startled myself a little bit when I spoke out loud to the clouds, “Please don’t thicken up!”

I pulled into the curving driveway at Up The Creek Farm a few minutes before seven.  The house was quiet.  I was the first of the creative crew to show up, so I opened the main gate by the stables and drove out into the pasture.  After closing the gate behind me, I stood there in the cool fog for a minute to soak it all in and decide where to begin.  I could see several deer through the fog, not too far away, and small flocks of Canada geese were coming in to land in the pond to my south.  I hopped back in the truck, took a tug of Starbucks Pike Place Roast, and drove down the gravel utility road to my first spot.  The sun wasn’t quite over the horizon yet, but there was soothing, subtle light on the scene before me.  I got the camera out, chose my lens, set the tripod low to the ground, and squatted behind the camera to look.  My rear-end hovered just above the cold, dew-covered grass.  It was too early to get wet.

Continuing down the road, I stopped to photograph another landscape, then proceeded on to find a third.  I was looking for some special trees that would catch the sun as it rose over the woods to the east.

About now, Brandy, Katy, and her husband, Curtis, rolled through the fog in a white farm pickup and joined me.  Brandy had brought coffees and a box of donuts.  I claimed the pumpkin one, and walked through the wet grass with Katy to show her what I had captured so far, and what I was looking at next.  She liked it, and we stood there, sipping our coffees, waiting for the right light to come.  Once the sun started to clear the woods, I went to the camera and started to capture the scene.  At one point, I asked Katy if she could see that flock of geese way out to the west.  “Now you watch,” I told her.  “Those Canadas are going to come in toward us,  south of the big tree, then bank left to line up on the pond.  That should put them in the upper right of the frame.”  Katy looked at me questioningly, one of those “Whatever, dude” looks.  I squatted behind the tripod with my eye to the camera and waited.  Moments later, the geese came, banked exactly as they were supposed to, into the frame, perfect!  Click, click, click!  We looked at each other in amazement and exchanged a big “high-five!”  Yes, that just happened!  Are we a dynamite team, or what?

We were soon joined by Miguel, one of the horse groomers, and Tigerlily, a stunning bay.  I really enjoyed watching the interaction and connection between these two, especially after learning that Tigerlily hadn’t initially meshed well with Miguel.  Over time, he had gained her trust.  Knowing this little story is part of the reason that I love the image of the two of them silhouetted on the knoll in the sunrise light so very much.

The day would only continue to inspire us.  We moved nicely through the day from place to place, idea to idea, paddock to paddock, and seemed to get some really nice images from each!  We kept to our schedule without feeling directed or hindered by it, and it all really just kind of “flowed.”  We also worked with Jésus and Armando, Tonto and Tank, Caprice, Nicole, Lilly and Reilly.  Some human, some horse, some dog.  Each with a wonderfully unique personality and character.

We worked energetically all day, and ended our shoot with the sun falling in the western sky.  Faces kissed by the wind and sun, and slightly chilled, we parted ways.  Heading home, I could think of nothing better than a side-trip for a steaming dish of pasta bolognese at Veneto to cap of a day as perfect as this one had been.  After a night of sound sleep, I woke early, and hauled my carcass and laptop to the Monroe/Oxford Starbucks for a “coffee and editing” session.  Sitting in a cozy chair in the corner, in the span of a couple hours, I was able to take our 1,350 images from the farm, and whittle them down to 350 for Katy to choose from.  I can bring my personal picks down to 20, I think, some of which you see here.  I’ll look forward to seeing Katy’s picks, and the progress of the website as she designs it!

Reilly. He likes pumpkin donuts, too.

Curtis, Katy, and Brandy.

During the work week, Katy is a Senior Designer in the Vine Design division of Partners and Napier.

Thank you so much, to all of those involved with our great day!

Camera:  Canon EOS 5D Mark 2.

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