This is for future photographers looking for what it was like during the Post Golden Age of Photography.
Gold light in a motel in Missoula, Montana
Above photo is unrelated but going through the hard drive looking to find the second to last photo for this post, I saw this from a trip a few years before my tale I'm about to tell. And it is goldish.
From the archeological data I could find, the first message was September 1, 2016 at 1403 hours.
Tony says, and I'm paraphrasing here to get around potential copyright law suits from ADG,
"Hey there. We are looking for super eerie, hauntingly mysterious images of anything related to wines, wineries and/or vineyards. Gnarly old vines in fog come to mind. So does creepy, dark cellars. They don’t have to be obvious as to what they are of. They could take a little work to figure out and it would be okay
I went through my stock of vineyard stuff and sent some images off.
Above is unrelated also. Took a camera one year to Death Valley and made little compositions out of the daily find. They're all on leather drum head.
So, the next time I hear about the gnarly vine job was two years later. 2018. Again an email from Tony looking for stock images of creepy vineyard stuff. "Time is of the essence."
I was on location that day and couldn't get to it so he got nothing from me on that ask.
Visually, I was thinking about the #23 hexagram (Splitting Apart) of the I Ching on the photo above.
That was 2018 August. It's now January 09, 2019 at 0752 hours and this terse email comes in.
"Friday or early next week. I want to make sure it’s nasty weather. Going for super moody spooky mystic dark imagery.
Bring your Gortex."
We talk. It was about a shooting job. I was to shoot some old vines in the nastiest of weather to give it that authentic look. He found the different vineyards and I met the owners by the side of the road in downpours in the early morning so I could be let onto their property. We worked a deal that would pay me for one day of work. I gave him probably 5-6. But I did say this job I'd have to bill for the top shelf stuff, not the normal stem and shake, and that would be listed under "expendibles" on the invoice. It was a such a great job. Laying in mud, shooting in rain, dense fog, the entire inside of my car was caked with mud, one lens still doesn't work right.
Unrelated.
Self Portrait, Chico, California circa before now.
Shot most of the job using a $25 slide projector lens without an aperture.
What the slide projector lens can do. Remember what the directive was, "super eerie, hauntingly mysterious images of anything related to wines,"
I see this was shot May 03, 2019. That's pretty quick I think to have had it done and printed. It's a wrapper for cases of the wine. I don't think I've seen the packages out in the wild at this point.
ADG's waiting room. The signature metal wall using magnets to attach the art work.
Yesterday, I said I should tell the tale of a typical 3 year job from start to finish.
I pull out my copy.
Edited. Added a photo of a camera
