Day of the Cowboy and Cowgirl 2013

In March of 2011 I graduated from Full Sail University with my Bachelor of Science Degree in Film Production.  I skipped the graduation ceremony to go work on a movie called The Adventures of Loop and Rhett in Tucson Arizona.  A good friend of mine Michael Tushaus was producing and playing one of the lead roles and he invited me to come work on the project as a Camera Assistant.  On the production besides gaining experience and learning new skills, I made lifelong friends.  Two of those friends are Loop Rawlins and Joey Dillon.

Cast and Crew of Adventures of Loop and Rhett.  Photo taken by Collette Lash.

Loop at the time was working on the Cirque Du Soleil show Viva Elvis doing his rope twirling and gun slinging act and was playing the other lead along Michael Tushaus in the movie.  Joey Dillon was and is a multiple world title holder in Trick Gunpinning and Handling.  He was playing one of the many colorful characters in the movie and he also was our gun coach and on set armorer, something he does on large budget movies such as Gangster Squad and Jonah Hex.

Yesterday was Day of the Cowboy and Cowgirl at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles California and Joey and Loop were both performing an act together for three shows throughout the day's events.  I had a blast at the event at the Autry.  The museum's general admission price of $10 got you into the event as well.  You also got a free gift:  Western Amerykanski, Polish Poster Art & The Western.  I've had a chance to flip through it a little and there's really cool pictures of posters and is a fascinating read on the history and culture of Poland after the Soviet Collapse.

The museum of course was open and they were also debuting a new collection of firearms donated by George Gamble.  The collection included weapons used by Teddy Roosevelt and other notable persons in American History.  There were plenty of things to do for all ages throughout the day so I highly recommend attending the event next year.  I attended all three of Joey's and Loop's shows and got some fantastic photos you can see here.

Here you see Loop extinguishing a match with the crack of a whip.

Here's Joey doing his thing.

A mini reunion for 4 of those involved with The Adventures of Loop and Rhett.

New Music Video!

Right before I moved to Los Angeles, I shot a music video for The Solid Suns for their song The Garden.  The video is finally finished and uploaded as of this morning.  I definitely didn't get all the shots I wanted but in the end it is what it is and I'm proud of it.

When we showed up to shoot the performance portion out at the dry lake bed outside Las Vegas, my only concern going in was the potential of cops showing up and shutting us down for having a generator and several bright lights without a permit out in the middle of what I assume is protected land.  When we got there we were plagued by high winds.  When shouting, you had to be within three feet of the person you're talking to in order to make yourself heard.  Luckily I had rope in my car because we had to tie the lights to the vehicles to avoid them blowing over.  I felt accomplished that by the end of the night we only lost one light and a drum cymbal the wind.

Shooting it, there was sand blowing in our eyes and ears.  The result was some of the most badass footage I've ever shot.  The wind was so intense it added to the look.  The band members hair was all over the place and their cloths were on the verge of being torn to shreds.  In the end, if it wasn't for the help I received from my pals and fellow shooters Michael Tushaus and Michael Su, I would have had to call it due to the weather.  I couldn't have done it without them.  I'm very proud of this one:

THE GARDEN