September 24, 2005
Elijah Cobb’s Home and Studio
Cody, Wyoming

Been a great couple of days, here at Elijah’s. Developed over 300 sheets of 4×5 film and got to see all the images since leaving Omaha. Have done some strong stuff. I need to find a way to process film in the airstream with this cold ground water problem. It’s important to see the work as I shoot it. Would allow me to correct the problems and see how I am seeing as I go along. An excellent example of this is the Old Faithful work. I was unsure as to how much movement I wanted and sort of thought I wanted less. I ended up shooting twice as much film, so I could have it both ways. This also severely limited the amount of images I had to work with as the longer exposures where by far the best. Opposite of what I though. If I had the ability to run film that evening I could of done more with the longer exposure the following day. Must find a solution in the coming weeks

Have wondered around Cody a bit and me some very interesting people but still feel Cody is more of a one night tourist stop than anything else. For example there is no real leather shop in town to but supplies. Enjoy the folk’s we’ve met and the landscape is magnificent though and we have truly had a good time at Elijah’s.

Tomorrow I do my first town portrait.

Elijah at Sunset

The three of us

chicken

after 300 sheets of film!

IMAGES AROUND CODY:

September 20, 2005
Fishing Bridge Camp
Yellowstone
Wyoming

The day started out cloudless so we decided to stay and have another go at Old Faithful. But as sunset neared the clouds rolled in so we went in search of other bits and pieces and found a herd of Buffalo by the side of the road. Did a few interesting things. Down the road a bit further we ran into the most brilliant sunset. Good end to the day and out time in Yellowstone. Tomorrow back to Cody to run film and regroup. Plan to stay at Elijah Cobb’s home and studio. One of the photographers who lives in Cody and has offered me a place to run film. Looking forward to meeting him. Have really liked the work of his I have seen in the past. Then a film drop and this weekend I’ll do my first town portrait. You don’t know about that yet, but I’ll fill ya in later. Then back through Yellowstone to Jackson to hook up with Mike and Lorene Kravit, remember them, from the Bisbee Arizona days.
All in all Yellowstone has been a magical trip. Such great country and animals, although we never did see a bear or get to photograph the human photo animal pack. Around each bend is something new and almost foreign to what we are use to. Rivers with steam and geyser all other the place. Buffalo wondering down the road and a climate that runs from warm and sunny to snow all in the same day. This is the perfect time to be here, it must be super crowed in the summer. The atmosphere is a bit restrictive though, with far too many No and DO Not and Stay Out signs but I guess it’s necessary in this day and age.. Perhaps the perfect illustration of this was the little fat guy with his family over at Mammoth Terraces.
He’s got two big rocks in his fat little hands and his wife and two kids in tow. So he walks over to the railing and says to his family “How hard you think that stuff is? And wham throws a rock- I mean a big rock right at this ecosystem that’s been evolving for thousand if not millions of years and clobbers it. Who knows how many thousands of years work of work this fool undid. So as his kids giggle and his wife smiles, as they walk off with him juggling his other rock he says, with a laugh,” well I guess it ain’t that hard”. So yep I guess those signs are necessary. Almost got in his face but what’s the point. I ain’t gonna teach him or his kids anything and besides we where all to shocked to react. In retrospect I wish I’d gotten his license plate and reported him to the rangers.
Makes one wonder what we are evolving into. For many years people lived here in harmony with this land. Now we want to “make life better” and in the process destroy all we’ve been given. Someday soon we are all going to have to reassess our priorities or suffer some heavy consequences.
Tomorrow we leave Yellowstone

September 18, 2005
Fishing Bridge Camp
Yellowstone
Wyoming

I think all the animals had a meeting last night and decided to work with me today. Great images of Bison and Elk and that is saying a lot working with a 65mm.

Have come to realize that when photographing, in the National Parks, trying to create pristine images of animals or landscapes, for that matter, that look like they are in the wild is rather passé. Leaving in the roadways, building or fire hydrants adds a key element to these images and give them a true sense of place. Took me a good part of the day fighting with the photographs until I had this epiphany and then the photographs almost made themselves.

I have yet to photograph the strangest animal in the part. The human animal walking around with tons of photographic gear. I saw one pack today but was not quick enough. I hope that tomorrow we find another pack and they will allow me to do a portrait. Very important species of the park and I hope to be able to document them.

Truly a great place to work however I am quickly running out of film find myself being a bit too conservative on how much film I shoot. Hopefully Polaroid will come through with more film soon. Have to send another portfolio to them next week.

Without the continued help of folks like Polaroid, my Private Clients (God Bless Them!) and the folks at The Gallery at The Katonah General Store, Elizabeth Larkin and Myron and June Goldfinger this trip would not be possible. Despite all my bitchen I say a prayer of thanks each night that Grandfather has sent you my way. Hokahey!

Image 1a

Image 2b

Mamoth

Mamoth 2

Heather at Mamoth

Buffalo

Buffalo and Heather

Buffalo and Child

Buffalo in our Camp

DMK shooting Buffalo

Elk 1

Elk 2

Image 1aa

Three Buffalo

Two Buffalo

Two Buffalo 1

Yellowstone River

Yellowstone Falls 1

Yellowstone Falls 2

Yellowstone River 1

September 16,2005
Yellowstone Camp
Wyoming

Arrived here yesterday afternoon. Cody was a complete bust. Neither the stores nor galleries held our interest for long and we felt a bit depressed by the time we headed out. Tried to connect with a few folks of interest in town but to no avail. So much for my candy store it was all nutra sweet.

As the altitude rose so did our moods and by the time we arrived in Yellowstone we were back on the bus so to speak. If only we had the bus I’ve about 300 sheets of film to process and the film drawer is overflowing. Within the next week we have got to stop and run film.
Yellowstone is a candy store. Buffalo, Elk, Geysers and spectacular landscapes around each bend in the road. Up at 6 am this morning to catch the fog over Yellowstone Lake then west and north chasing the Geysers. Stopped at Old Faithful but need to wait for a cloudless sky to make it work. One of the few times I’ve looked for a blue sky with no clouds. Coming home tonight we go to watch the full moon rise over the Yellowstone River and walking Henry I was treated to a falling star.

Churning Caldron

Churning Caldron 2

dmk shooting churning caldron

Hills

Sunset

Moonrise

Moonrise 1

Buffalo

September 11, 2005
Greystone Camp
Greystone, Wyoming

Grand day traveled only 50 miles but met some great people and did some fine portraits. After leaving Sibley Lake we headed west down HWY 14 through the Bighorn Mountains. Up here the mountains are speckled with high mountain pasture and many ranchers run their cattle up here during the summer months. Sure enough, it was not long before we passed some ranch hands working cattle by the side of the road. Great photograph so we found a place to turn around ( yep, a few miles down the road) and headed back.
Only two problems the sun was hot and white over head and as we rounded a curve they pass us going the other way. Shoot, a few miles down the road we found another turn a round and headed west again. After a few miles the road started down the mountain and we figured they were long gone. Then through a cut in the trees we saw their horse trailer down in a gulch and sure enough we found a forest road going off in that direction. Well, I reasoned if their big old horse trailer could go down and turn around so could our very small and getting smaller all the time airstream, so down we went.
At the bottom of the road we had the pleasure to meet Mr. Wayne Barnett- owner of the Barnett Ranch and Clint and Carrie Besaley. After a round of introductions and some small talk portraits where in order and I did two very good ones! The sun went behind the clouds just as I began so I had wonderful soft light! Wayne’s family has been ranching in the area for generations and we learned a lot about the operation in these mountains.
Turns out that not only do Clint and Carrie run cattle but they do very special leather work as well. They made both of their own saddles, special design with all the features they need but super lightweight for mountain work, as well as knife sheaths and many other very special leather items. Their address is Box 628 Greybull, Wyoming 82426 if you’d like to write them about a leather project. I mean their work is good.
October 15th is when they will bring the cattle down the mountain for the winter and we got an invite to come back and photograph that. If we are still in the area we won’t miss it for the world.
So off we went heading west again and passed a great old school house with a for sale sign. Again turned around and drove in to meet Mr. John McGough of Shell Wyoming. Had a good visit with John, he is a very gentle man with deep concerns for the historical side of life. I enjoyed his company immensely. John bought the old school house in the ‘80’s and has been restoring it. Quite a super job he has done but is now moving on to other projects so it’s up for sale. You can see it at:
http://www.wyomingstoneschool.com/
He is having some problems with the site so you may need to check back but it is a very cool old building and the remodel is excellent! If only I was ready to settle down…… After the second portrait of the day with the sun going behind the clouds again giving me that wonderful soft light we were on our way. Just a few miles down the road we entered Greybull and found our home for the night. Only sad note of the day is that the trailer brakes faded and let us half way down the mountain on HWY 14. But not too worry the truck breaks are strong and tomorrow after we reach Cody we’ll deal with it.

Dang where ever we go there we are

Let’s see that’s Heather then Clint and Carrie Basaley, me and Wayne Barnnet

Wayne showing me some of his photographs of ranch life- they where quite good.

should this be titled “Worken Cowboy”?

Heather, John McGough and DMK at his stone school house-gallery-bookstore

Leaving John’s