Notes from May 2010

Change in travel plans (new production dates)

Due in part to delays in service work on our equipment, delays on receiving supplies ordered weeks ago, and the desire to gain access to the operations at Murakami when they start up again in August, we postponed our production shoot. We also decided to break up the final shoot into two separate shooting schedules, a little less than a week in Jordan Valley in July, and a little more than a week in the Treasure Valley area in August. Folks at the chambers in Vale, Nyssa, and Jordan Valley have been extremely helpful, and we are grateful for their support and interest in the project. Our list of contacts is growing and this slight delay we believe will end up adding value to the project. On another note, Pam and I will head down to Maxline in Wilsonville in a few days to price some new custom cases. My camera case recently busted, and Pam's been using old luggage cases to hold her sound gear.

May 21, 2010  –  permalink

One week from arrival (Southeast Oregon)

Everything seems to be lining up. A few leads have fallen through, but fortunately other opportunities have cropped up, including an invitation to visit Rodriguez Bakery in Nyssa. Regarding the trip route, we finally decided to go back to our original plan and limit our geographic coverage. We will spend most of our time in Ontario-Vale-Nyssa (aka the Treasure Valley), and head south to Jordan Valley to visit a few ranches. On our way to Jordan Valley, we'll pass by Owyhee Lake (a reservoir that backs up over 50 miles of water) and Leslie Gulch as we travel along the Succor Creek Byway. We're both pretty excited for the trip, but there remains a lot of little things that need to come together in order to make things roll smoothly. Though it can be stressful coordinating such production efforts, meeting new people in the region has been one of the driving factors in working on the project. As city dwellers, we rarely if ever get an opportunity to connect with and observe rural activities. While having a direct connect to the land can perhaps be found in urban gardening, the experience of being in this low density region is far from the city life of Portland.

May 15, 2010  –  permalink