I talked to meet with my liaison at the Ranch before leaving for home, but we never were able to connect, so it was after I was back in Asheville preparing to meet the inevitable winter (after leaving the summer like weather we'd experienced at the Ranch) that I was able to send a link to the last two stop motion videos I had made - one for the Crash Test Dummies and one that featured 5 Walnut Wine Bar and the tunes of Ol Hoopty. End result: three weeks later I'm back on a plane headed to San Diego to spend a week at the Ranch photographing everything possible for a stop motion promotional video.
I never imagined I would be lucky enough to go there twice in one year, much less three times, so imagine my excitement at being able to go back with the objective of showing what it feels like to spend a week at the Ranch with my photos. Having been 7 previous times, I felt like I really knew what I needed to shoot to show that feeling - including wonder, peace, awe, appreciation, relaxation, contentment and satisfaction. I aimed to show the beauty of the Ranch - in the landscaping, the architecture, the incredible attention to detail in the decor, and in the natural landscape that we explore every morning at 6 am on the pre-breakfast hikes up the desert mountains. Starting your morning with a 2-7 mile hike, followed by a delicious healthy breakfast awaiting you, is almost a guarantee that you are going to have a wonderful day. Now follow that up with yoga classes with some of the best instructors I've ever had, classes for body sculpting, stretching, African dance and even hula hooping - there is an endless variety offered for every taste. Next, yet another delicious meal, some of which originates in the Ranch's organic garden, and all is beautifully presented and deliciously healthy. The afternoon offers even more things to do (such as the photography classes that I teach), but typically by this point if I'm not teaching, I'm taking time to read in a hammock, check email, get a massage or move between the roof top hot tub and ice cold plunge pool (now that makes you feel alive!).
It's easy to wax poetic about all the virtues of a week at the Ranch, but back to the photo assignment... After shooting practically non stop over the course of a week, I realized that I could have used a second week to really capture it all; alas, I had a "real" life in Asheville to return to. When I was hired I thought I would have about two months to create the video, but on my last day at the Ranch, my "boss" asked me "What would it take to get this video finished by the 23rd ( a mere 13 days later)?" Oh my. I had shot over 9000 still images, and even though I had been editing every day on my breaks and nights before going to bed, I still had over 7000 to edit when I left the Ranch. Beginning when I got on the plane in San Diego to head home, I edited the images down to about 1500 over the course of the next four days. Next, I had to find music that I could get the rights to use that would give the feeling and message I was after - no small thing.
Well, mission accomplished, though admittedly this make continue as a work in progress - already thinking of footage I'd like to substitute when I go back in July to teach again. Here it is on Vimeo as well as on the Ranch home page.
