For three days myself, 14 other amazing senior portrait photographers from around the country had the privilege of spending a long weekend with some even more amazing models and clients shooting from one side of southern Nevada to the other.
This is the story of One Collective ~ Las Vegas Edition 2021
To kick off the 1st of 3 days shooting we set up base camp with a really cool and massive RV. It had a complete kitchen, bbq, music, the whole nine yards. This provided a meeting place for outfit changes, lunch and having fun socializing with one another.
A couple hours north of Vegas there is a ghost town named Rhyolite. In the early 1900’s, it was once a bustling western town. The kind you see in the movies. The town had a bank, an opera, saloon, jail, a general store and lured thousands of people in with the prospect of gold and silver. But as quickly as it sprang up, it vanished into the memories of yesteryear.
Being a desolate ghost town, we started our styling off with a Western Chic look. Pulling inspiration from the uber popular Yellowstone series we knew this style would be a success and match the surrounding structures of which were the remnants of the jail, general store and bank.
From there we didn’t have to walk far to our next shooting spot, another area of the same derelict town of Rhyolite, called The Goldwell Outdoor museum. Being that a lot of the art was funky, colorful and contemporary, we went with a retro style for outfits.
The next two looks for the first day was a Boho style and parachute dresses both shot in the famous Amargosa Valley Sand Dunes. If you ever thought climbing a mountain was difficult, try climbing a mountain of sand! Talk about some stunning images! …and some stunningly sore calves too! HAA!
Starting off the second day, we ventured to an area that’s not necessarily a specific location, rather it's in the middle of no-man’s land, in the foot hills and opposite side of the famous Red Rocks Canyon. We dubbed this area Little Red Rocks. With a majestic view of the valley, of which the actual city of Las Vegas is in, it made for some unbelievable scenery.
For most of Little Red Rocks we were shooting brand’s lines of clothing. Desert Republic, out of Las Cruces provided styling for everyone and my model Averi sported a fun leopard print dress from Tribeca, located here in Austin.
During this time each photographer also shot a series of our own models and clients with a resort wear, editorial look.
Next, we were jetting to downtown Las Vegas for a 90’s themed style! Everyone was on.point with their outfits! We shot allies, street corners, murals, warehouses and in the middle of streets! My mamma always told me not to play in the street. But, I just can’t help but having fun “shooting” in the middle of streets!
Day three was one of the days I was looking forward to the most. To start we headed out to the other side of Vegas, toward Lake Mead and the Arizona border and ultimately to these flatter-than-a-pancake dry lake beds.
Bond. James Bond.
For this look we did a, you guessed it, James Bond style. Since it was a little cold and a little more windy than typical, we moved quickly. Didn’t matter though, because we all still got some great imagery.
For the last location of our journey we ended at Nelson’s Ghost Town. But, that didn’t stop us from shooting 3 looks! The first was a personal style where everyone wore an outfit that expressed who they are and what they enjoy wearing.
The next style was Sci-Fi/Electric Chic. Think of the cartoons Jetsons and Futurama or the comic books Out of this World and Space World. From ray gun blasters, to laser glasses, to sparkly boots and tights, science fiction was the name of the game!
The final style was 100% MadMax and everyone nailed their outfits for this. Friends were actually asking some of the models “were you doing something for some movie like MadMax!” Guess they hit the mark.
All in all, 3 days, 9 locations, 11 looks.
This journey and adventure was one of the best one’s yet. That said, next year’s Big Event for One Collective is already being planned and it will be sure to be just as epic!
Stay tuned!
🤙
Richard.
Comments