JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: The Pash Session

The Pash Session

By Andrew Johnson

3 Sep 2008

Due to financial situations, I had been unable to shoot with models over the last year. Recently, things have evened out and I once again have steady income. As such I returned to nude shoots. This time with local model/performance artist/mask-maker Pash.

This shoot turned out to be an adventure in of itself, with bad weather, wild animals from coyotes to birds of prey to a lone squirrel.

The shoot started out well enough. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast, it seemed likely we would be OK. We hiked out in the late afternoon, and arrived in a wash I have used before and started shooting, still watching the towering clouds building above us.

It was not long before the sun disappeared. This was followed by a light rain. Which quickly became a downpour. At this we hastily gathered our gear and ran through the rain for a rock formation that would provide shelter.

Here we waited out the rain. We were also fortunate that this was a formation that I had shot at before and was roomy enough underneath to get some pictures, like "Raindrops."

Eventually the rain let up, like late summer storms do, and we moved to the top of the formation. While shooting up here, we were serenaded by coyotes and ravens and even in the distance there was a rainbow (which was unfortunately too small and pale to work in any shot)

While moving on the ground to line up the perfect image, we heard what sounded like a jet plane flying overhead. It turned out to be a hawk, who after buzzing us, continued to soar on the post-storm air currents for quite some time.

Without distractions of weather we could get down to business. Pash has this incredible dance-like way of posing that you cannot help but watch. Sometimes she even wears a mask that she herself has made.

She also likes to meld with the rock, fitting where she can into the formations themselves. It was shortly after the image "Pash" was taken out the other side of that small crevasse came a ground squirrel running out the other side to take shelter under one of the more inaccessible rocks.

The afternoon passed and the clouds moved out, allowing the sun to re-emerge and turn the rocks a brilliant red. It was from here we moved out onto another hill where were were able to use the masks she brought. She wore an eagle mask and used the long flowing scarf to take advantage of the wind, which as if the play with us, calmed after a few minutes. But that did not stop us.

But all good things must come to an end and it was up on this hill that our shoot ended as the sun sank down behind the rocks, with a second rainbow to our east.