Thunder Valley Rally is an annual event at Cliff Castle Casino. Lots of Harleys, chrome, leather and tattoos. I got to spend two days wandering through row after row of every type of bike imaginable taking photos of what I found.
On the Sunday everyone present got the chance to judge the bikes entered in the bike show. The paint jobs on some of the bikes were mind-blowing.
The best tattoo I came across was a little gardener pushing a lawnmower across the center of this guy's bald spot. He looked like the twin brother of Dawg the Bounty Hunter and when I went over to get his name, sure enough, it was Dawg. He wasn't a bounty hunter he was the Pastor of the Prescott Valley Church of God. He was riding with a group called Bikers for Christ.
There were lots of classic bikes as well as choppers like this one. As if the bike weren't in your face enough the Glock in the lock sent a clear message. "Don't mess with my bike".
Foghat played Saturday night. I love shooting at the casino's Stargazer Pavilion. It's a relatively small intimate venue. The weather is always perfect and everyone knows me so I have unfettered access.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Harley Heaven
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Angel 4
I spent the morning with my friends at Guardian Air shooting Angel 4. It was a bitter sweet assignment as the new chopper replaces Angel 1 which went down after a mid-air collision with another medical chopper on approach to Flagstaff Medical Center last month. Seven people died in the crash including a Guardian Pilot and Flight Nurse. I have shot for Guardian for the past seven years doing everything from calendar shoots to ride-alongs on rescue missions. The pilots, flight nurses and paramedics are all heroes in my eyes going into harms way to help those in distress. I'll never forget watching Rocky, a flight nurse, start an IV on a patient who had been injured in an ATV accident as the helicopter bounced around the sky on the way to the hospital.
I had two great pilots help me with the shoot by putting the chopper wherever I needed it. After making some images on the tarmac at the airport JD flew me over to Flagstaff Medical Center and dropped me off to get some approach shots from the landing pad.
