Change Is the Only Constant « William Ross

Change Is the Only Constant

Yep, you read that right. Impermanence is the one thing in this universe that is permanent. I’ve come to embrace the fact that this world exists as a string of paradoxes, one after another from the beginning to the end of time and from the end to the beginning of time. The only way out is exactly that—out. Taking action makes things change, but in one’s favor and in one’s control.

This is going to be a long post, folks… yes, I know I need to update my blog on a more regular basis so that each post has one topic and only a few images. It is what it is this time.

If you didn’t already know I go out in the middle of the night to the middle of nowhere to be alone, watch the sun rise, and capture the beauty no one else is there to see, here’s proof:

Did a shoot with Jordan Huffman, singer:

I hit a wall a little over a month ago wherein I stopped and looked at what I was doing, particularly because I was unhappy. Complacent and unhappy. Seeing that complacency from outside of myself really shook my core, and I asked myself, “What the F— am I doing?” I wasn’t shooting at the level I was teaching other people to shoot at one year ago in New York City. So I started the arduous task of producing a two-day fashion shoot that would normally be worth over $60,000—on a budget of about $700. I secured a shoot location—a mansion belonging to a friend, client, and neighbor. With the help of Kajan Padraig, Mill Valley Hat Box, Sandis Designs and Famous4 (and buying/returning shoes from Macy’s), I got the wardrobe I truly wanted after several rejections from other local clothiers. Mariah Valencia was my fantastic hairstylist/makeup artist who made sure everything was perfect. I got Lauren Purcell as my female model (we’d talked of doing a shoot for almost two years). My original male model flaked on the first day, so I called my friend Jesse Smith (of Soul Pie), and after we were both out late that night, he came the next day and the two of us knocked out all four looks thirty minutes ahead of schedule. (Of course, I did have to retouch the bags out from under his eyes for the first couple looks, as we were both running off of barely five hours’ sleep.)

I also got Kelsey Long to model two of Kajan Padraig’s other dresses which didn’t fit the overall story I was going for with Lauren and Jesse, so we did it up edgy with an out-there pop of color and flair.

(MORE HERE in “The Good Life”)

I was producer, director, stylist, photographer, and editor for this shoot, which was the best and biggest one of my life (not working as an assistant), and it has properly set the stage for high-end commercial work, which is what I feel most comfortable shooting. The images were so good that I nixed my original choices for a competition I was going to enter and spent a full day editing the shoot and getting it all done in under a week. Oh, and to win the People’s Choice Award (not the juried award), I need the most “Likes” through Facebook. So, could I get your vote? http://wmross.artistswanted.org/exposure2011 (But only if you really like it…)

And a couple behind-the-scenes photos:

The day after I got it all edited and submitted, I got a call from my friend Jim Davis (http://motomorphic.com), who asked if I wanted to go racing the coming weekend. I couldn’t pass that up, and the next night I was on the road to Buttonwillow Speedway down by Bakersfield to race the BBQ Rubber Chicken Piccata car at 24 Hours of LeMons. I got to drive a Volvo S40 with a Chevy V8 350 smallblock engine at speeds up to 118 in heavy traffic against an old Austin Cooper made to look like a lemon, a modified limo, the Super Troopers’ Ramrod, a white BMW with a styrofoam mohawk, and a number of other ridiculous cars. Endurance racing is very much a metaphor for life, in that one has to hold their line, not worry about the cars behind, to keep a good pace, focus for hours on end, and to not throw it away in one turn to pass a car if it will result in going off-track.