We had a wonderful time in Yountville on the 4th of July. It was a beautiful day and we met some wonderful Veterans. I did not sleep the night before as I was concerned that since we were shooting portraits in a tent, outdoors, that I would not get the shots I wanted. After setting up for an hour, our booth opened at Noon and we immediately drew a crowd. Some folks came by to see what we were about, a bit suspicious, but by 4pm that evening, we got portraits from all the “window Shoppers”!
My assistant Layla was fantastic! I had a hard time getting some of the fella’s to look at my lense and not her! We had planned to use my Model Release Application, but had printed forms for backup in case of no access to networks. Turns out the paper was just fine, it seems elderly Veterans in VA Retirement Homes are used to paperwork!
You can view the portraits here and the total accrued collection here.
We are going back in august to have an opening and art show in the Home art gallery, where we will present the framed portraits to the Veterans. We are also giving them 8 1/2 X 11 copies as some expressed concern about space for the portrait. I am also hard at work preparing a Coffee Table book of the prints that can be purchased at cost on www.Blurb.com.
Next location I plan on recording video as well. These guys at Yountville taught that we need to get their stories on film as well.
And Wow, can that crew tell stories!