Surviving Palm Springs

I just got back from a couple of days in Palm Springs, California. If you've never been to Palm Springs there's one word to describe it, especially at this time of year: HOT! If you've been to Palm Springs this time of year, you know what I'm talking about.

I'm not talking about normal heat-- the kind that almost bounces off you even when the temperature goes into triple-digits. I'm talking about heat that gets under your skin. A deep, penetrating heat. A pervasive heat. And don't buy into that, "But it's a dry heat," crap. Dry or wet, Palm Springs' heat is relentless and unforgiving.

Making things worse, there were thunder storms Saturday night and it rained! Rain in Palm Springs over Labor Day weekend! That took the humidity way up high. It was like the hottest day in the center of some tropical rain forest.. Probably hotter!

I went to Palm Springs for my brother's 50th birthday. My brother lives and works in that sweltering oven. How he does it, I don't know.

So what does this have to do with photography? Well, my brother's friend (who threw the party) asked me to bring along a camera and be the event's official photographer. It didn't take me long to remember why I don't do weddings or similar events. It's way too hectic and demanding.

Yep! My hat's off to you people who make your livings shooting event photography. There's nothing laid back about it. You have this constant feeling washing over you that you're missing something that should be captured. And you also have this nagging concern that you might be messing up the images. After all, for most of these sorts of events, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing for the people attending and that's a heavy burden to lug around along with one's camera.

I must say I'm REAL happy to be back home out of the sweltering heat of Palm Springs and the heat that goes along with being an event's photographer.

The eye-candy posted along with this little travelogue is Margo. I shot her a while back and these images were captured using a single light source (a monolight) modified with a focusable Fresnel lens and barn doors. Camera was a Canon 20D with 85mm prime.