Mi Padre

One of the more controversial landmarks in Bakersfield is The Padre Hotel. After many stalled attempts by investors to restore the hotel, it was finally completed in 2009, and originally built in 1928. I've been wanting to shoot there since many of the local photographers have held sessions at The Padre. If you follow my Facebook posts, I've been inspired by http://blog.micmojo.com and his work with film.


I contacted models Taylor and Samantha, and Make-up Artist Heidi-Jo to find out if they were willing to collaborate. Thankfully, all three agreed and I booked the Corner Pocket Room for Sunday, March 5. I chose the Corner Pocket since it has windows on the North side and windows on the East side. Simply, sufficient window light with the hopes that I wouldn't need any speed lights.

The rates are really reasonable at The Padre, especially if you inquire about their Half-Day Rates.  I know what your thinking, Half-Day rate for some Afternoon Delight?  Business is business and it's cheaper than the more contemporary and sterile looking hotels in Bakersfield.

Heidi and Taylor met at my house at 9:00 to start the make-up process, then we headed Downtown to wait for our room to be readied.  As I was sitting in the Lobby, my cell phone rang and it was the front desk notifying me they were ready.  The Receptionist seemed alarmed as we were talking, I walked right up to the desk.  After checking in and setting up in the room, I brought out my four cameras.  Yup, my Nikon D700, Mamiya 645 1000S, Rolleiflex TLR, and my Nikon FE2 35mm.  I brought 8 rolls of film, from Portra 800 to Ilford 3200 Black and White.  I left my speed lights at home and figured I would do whatever it took to use only Natural Light, or Available Light
After an hour into the shoot, Samantha came upstairs for her Hair and Make-up.  Heidi does such an excellent job and because this is for fun, she can experiment and do "out of the box" work.  That's the beauty of collaborating, we aren't there for a client, we are there for us and to try different things.  I couldn't imagine doing photography full-time and then trying to squeeze in time for more artistic pursuits.

After shooting with Taylor and burning through one roll of Portra 800 120mm and half of the Portra 800 35mm, I switched over to Samantha.  I haven't worked with Samantha in over two years, but it didn't take long for us to get back in sync.  She has got to be one of the sweetest models I've worked with even if she is Canadian. lol.

We went through three wardrobe changes and another roll of Portra 800 120 mm, but I didn't finish the 35mm roll, and only finished half of the Ilford 3200.  So that means I'll need to shoot some more film.  It's hard trying to shoot with Film and Digital since most of the models are expecting their images quickly and developing color film takes some time.

So What Did I Learn?

Uhhh....nothing really except that keeping photography my hobby makes me appreciate the freedom I enjoy.  It doesn't mean that I don't fall into ruts, but at least my income won't suffer from when I'm uninspired.

Thanks Heidi, you are a wonderful Make-Up Artist and I enjoy your creativity.  Taylor and Samantha, you really make my job effortless.

I have some things in the hopper, but nothing that "wows" me.  Although, I'm looking forward to shooting my Aussie girl, Darnah in April.

As always, here's a Behind-The-Scenes shot of Heidi working on Samantha

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Location:The Padre Hotel