This card was totally inspired by the crazy talented Chea Lamb of Chea Lamb photography in Arizona. She did it first and she did it best. I saw the idea last year and fell in love with it. I had completely forgotten about it until I came across Jacob's outfit. The outfit and the idea just seemed to go together. It was then that the insanity started. I went on a search for the girls' outfits, a Model A, and a chicken.
The girls' outfits were easy. The Model A and a chicken were a different story. I started by looking on flickr and the web for abandoned cars in fields in the area. I found something in Bodie, CA but couldn't convince Doug to drive 4.5 hours to get there. I attempted to make contact with a few folks on craigslist that were selling old Model A's but received no response. I began to give up hope that I would find one and so I screwed up my courage to ask permission to photograph the kids in front of an old patchwork barn I had seen near our home. There were "No Trespassing" signs everywhere and a long winding road to the home where I would need to ask permission. I telephoned Doug to let him know where I would be as I kept envisioning scenes from Cujo and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It didn't make me feel any better that as I neared the home there were signs that read, "Beware of the Dog" and "If you can read this, you're in range." As it turned out, the family living there were super friendly and agreed to let us come out and take a photograph that weekend.
Of course, immediately after this I made contact with a friendly gentleman that had not only one 1929 Model A but two and he was willing to let me use them but he wasn't available until the following Monday. As I had just purchased a chicken from a farm in Loomis (off of Craigslist) that very day, I was concerned about what to do with said chicken in the interim. In the end, we just took the picture at the patchwork barn. I decided that I couldn't handle two occasions of photographing three kids and a chicken so we didn't drive out for the shot with the Model A. It also worked out that the owner of the patchwork barn already had a flock of chickens and was happy to welcome another one. The kids had already named our little hen "Cabby Woodstocka" and were sad to see her go but I was relieved to have found a good home for her. Sometimes I get so caught up in the idea of my photo, that I forget important things such as "what do you do with the chicken after the picture is done??". A funny side note is that I later found out Doug's mom thought we had purchased the chicken for Thanksgiving dinner. Later in the day when she realized the chicken was no longer in our garage, she assumed we started to feel sorry for her and gave her away.
There were a lot of funny moments during the afternoon photography insanity. Jacob wouldn't stop eating the apples. Everyone's hats kept falling off. The chicken wouldn't pose properly. All three children would never look at the camera at the same time and if they did, one would have a crazy look on their face. It was cold and Anna kept making a break for the truck. The owner's herd of cattle came over and stood in a line watching us. The kids were so busy looking and moo'ing at them, I couldn't get their attention back. In the end, it was a miracle I got anything at all.
So, without further ado, here is a look at a few of the 200+ pictures I took to try and get 1 decent shot of my three kids with a chicken and a basket of apples.
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