road unpaved

i'm two weeks behind with my blogging. here we go.

a few weeks ago, i had the good fortune of contacted by "m". m asked if i would take headshots for some of her actresses participating in a for-television pilot.

i was a bit anxious the night before. i was supposed to be in granada hills the following saturday afternoon, but when i was getting ready to go to bed at 1:30 am, i had neither address nor schedule information.

sometime during my sleep the email came. for breakfast in the morning i had coffee, an email, a place to go to and a time to be there. anxiousness became excitement.

the good thing about having my parents in the oc is being able to stay with them on short notice. it makes my mom happy. i can count it as a visit with them. everyone wins. the bad thing is sometime i wake up the next day without a clean shirt or warm clothes to wear. on these occassions, the benefits of recyling seem quite clear :)

granada hills wasn't going to be a short drive. i stopped for an iced-coffee in westminster for wake-up insurance. unfortunately insurance expired too soon. i dozed off soon after...

if i had been more alert, i wouldn't have missed the turn, and if i hadn't missed the turn, i would have made it to the location on time. ok, no big deal. i would be just a little late, but then...surprise!!! the road ended. a couple blocks from where the address were, the road ended. there was road on this side. there was road on the other side, but for a good 30 yards or so in between there was no paved road.

easy grasshopper...think!
#1: range rovers are practical!!
#2: gps save time if not photo sessions!!!

"there is no spoon!" doh, there is no road! the road here must have buckled. the broken asphalt were probably carried away by the strong current that buckled it and by subsequent clean-up effort. what was left was a highly uneven dirt road with a deep gouge in the middle of it.

worry #1: the low clearance of my car won't make it.
worry #2: i will get stranded in the middle of the dirt road.
worry #3: worse yet, i can make it to the other side, but won't be able to make it back.

i drove a couple car lengths onto the precarious surface. my car's taut suspension refused to yield to the hostile terrain. like tip-toeing on eggs-shells, car and i made our way slowly to the other side.

finally, i had arrived. i met with m and with j. they were wonderfully nice as were the cast and crew. the large backyard of the house is on a hill. a stone stairway graced the hillside leading to a tennis court below. i rubbed my eyes. inside the tennis court there were two large living and breathing llamas, two llamas on centre court.

i had a great time photographing the cast, mostly headshots, and some group photos that could be used for the dvd cover later.

time flew, it was time for me to go. and then she came up and asked for her photos to be taken. i'm brazilian she said. i ended my day photographing this beauty in the backyard and on the hillside steps. the sun was setting. everything glowed golden...


the end.