savanna

The first five days of the trip have been busy ones, with early mornings and full work days. After the mild weather of the coast, it took me two or three days to fully acclimate to the warm, humid conditions here.

Today was the first day of the trip not devoted to work, and after the morning thunderstorms had passed through I called Salome and told her I was on the way. We drove up into Lake County, to a 500-acre oak savanna site where I'd done some research in the past and so knew my way around.

It was a 15-minute walk in, mostly on gravel trails. There was a little sun at first, then the clouds returned. There was enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitos down, and to make it a pleasant day. We circled around off the trail into a small wet depression not very visible from the trail or from the multi-million dollar Lake Forest homes just a quarter-mile away.

We did most of the shoot with Salome standing knee-deep in the wetland; for part of the time she held a two-foot long garter snake we'd captured on the way in. Then we crossed into the nearby oak savanna, one of the best remaining examples of this community type in the world, and did another series (sans snake, we'd released it near the first wetland) standing in the dense sedges of a smaller marsh. Both of us, because to get the shots, I had to be knee deep in the marsh too. We kept it shorter this time, there were a few more bugs in this area more sheltered from the wind.

As usual, Salome served above and beyond the call of duty in the name of art. Her legs were pretty scratched up by the time we got back to the trail, and she had picked up a few readily visible mosquito bites. I've shot with her 7 or 8 times now, and it seems she endures heat, cold, wind, freezing rain, mud, or something equally challenging each time.

It may be a while til I'm able to post photos. I shot with three cameras this time, 35mm and medium format B&W film, and digital with two lenses including a rented 18mm wide angle. But I only have my work laptop with me this trip, so will probably accumulate CF cards and download them all at home in about 10 days... three shoots to go, and one of those may be all film. I have five 2GB cards with me, used one today, and can easily get more if I run short. I'll probably get a head start on processing film while here, but of course have no easy way to scan til I return home.