tonedeftony wrote:
I wish I could express how much I hate the heat right now- I know there's nothing I can do about it but it just destroys any motivation I have to go out and take photos. For my birthday, I was given a gigantisaurus cargo parachute. I draped it over the top of the kids' trampoline and it made this amazing backlit arena inside. My brain was swimming with ideas about model shoots, SFX stuff, videos and more. However, once inside it in the searing direct sunlight here in northern inland California, I wanted to say 'fuck the whole idea.' And it's representative of how it's been in my life for months.
I moved here from the cloudy, grey, gloomily beautiful coast about 18 months ago and I hate it here. It's noon here now and it's already 100 degrees. I have a ripping headache and it makes me want to puke to go outside right now. There are no clouds, no fog and the daytime temps have been hovering around 90-100 for two months now. The relentless, direct sunlight makes for ugly, overcontrasted scenes and makes it just uncomfortable to be outside. I don't have an indoor studio and the people I regularly work with understandably don't want to shoot in 100 degree conditions.
I waited all winter for conditions that would be suitable to models and we went from winter to summer in like two weeks here. Now, I feel like I'm left to wait until fall. Meanwhile, I'm keenly aware that at my age, I've lived more days than I have left.
I want to be out shooting but I don't want to be out frying like an ant under a magnifying glass.
I've been trying to shoot in the mornings and evenings, but the temps rise quickly and fall slowly.
So, how do you do it?
How do you deal with the heat?

It definitely can be too hot to have an enjoyable shoot in that part of the world during the summer

I have visited LA 4 times in the last 5 years ( pre covid of course ) and found some success in shooting during the mornings and evenings ( when temperatures are not at their peaks - nor is the degree of light  ) also a bit cooler near the Ocean

Znude! wrote:
Here in LA (that's Louisiana) it gets hot and the humidity makes it impossible to breath. I love shooting outdoors and I'm an outdoor sort of person. But it's damn near impossible to be creative when your body is in pain and dying.

In years past I did a shoot in a Louisiana swamp setting.  It involved someone that I'd worked well with previously (up north) and I thought it would be a great chance to play tourist.  Hah!  I was the worst equipped person in the world to try and take on that task.  I had absolutely no idea what I was really in for, on all sorts of fronts.

Enjoyed the visit otherwise, anything as long as I wasn't responsible for actually getting anything done and my brain wasn't required to actually solve any problems.  Professionally, I left with my tail between my legs and a great deal more humility in terms of what I was capable of pulling off.

I also made a note to myself to never move anywhere REALLY hot.  I wouldn't stand a chance. 

tonedeftony wrote:
.
So, how do you do it?
How do you deal with the heat?

A/C


On a visit to Florida in August (back in the day) I noted that most, if not all of the locals were huddled indoors, blinds closed, air on blast while the tourists baked on the beaches in the heat.

tonedeftony wrote:
I want to be out shooting but I don't want to be out frying like an ant under a magnifying glass.
I've been trying to shoot in the mornings and evenings, but the temps rise quickly and fall slowly.
So, how do you do it?
How do you deal with the heat?

When I lived in Las Vegas, there was really only one option for shooting in the summer: mornings. Evenings are generally much hotter. As noted, the (relatively) dry heat is more tolerable than a humid heat, but unless you're regularly getting temperatures over 100 degrees, the approach should work for you.

You won't have a long shooting time before it gets too hot, but if you start before sunrise and get set up, you should have a couple of hours with both good light and tolerable temperatures. Limiting, sure, but you can recover inside with air conditioning afterwards.

Ken Marcus Studios wrote:
Can any of you folka with more desert experience than I have make any suggestions as to what works better in the Vegas area: Air Conditioning, or Evaporative Coolers ?

KM

Use BOTH if you can!
My previous home was a 4br 2 story place with 2 central swamp coolers and 2 Central A/C units.
The swamp cooler easily lowered the temperature by 20 degrees in almost no time, the A/C would do the rest.

-----however-----

For the past decade or two the LV area grew and people planted grass and have swimming pools all over, so the average humidity is @ 12-15 percent on a 'dry' day.  Swamp coolers still work well with that type of humidity levels, but they work exponentially better for each percentage point the humidity level drops.   

Outlying areas (where a mutual friend says you moved to) have 4% avg humidity in the summer, which is FANTASTIC for swamp coolers!

The only other caveat is that swamp coolers do need maintenance.  Because of all the minerals in the tap water the pads get 'crusty' fairly quickly and need replacing.  Also will need to clean the bottom of the cooler and the pump inlet once in awhile for the same reason.

You also need to keep at least a few doors and windows open a little bit for the swamp cooled air to flow through the house.

Because swamp cooled air is constantly flowing, it feels much better, the air isn't stagnant.  The gain in humidity is PERFECT for operating an A/C, too.  When you first moved to the desert did you ever notice that cans of beer or soft drinks don't FEEL cold in the store's refrigerator?  Did you ever think your car AC wasn't working because it didn't feel cold in the car???  Those are common thoughts when people first move to the desert.  It's simply the lack of humidity that causes those sensations.
(It took me a few back and forth trips to the coast to realize that phenomenon.)

On days like today (rain clouds) I have to turn my AC waaaaaay up because I feel like I'm freezing, but on a normal day, even at 15 percent humidity I can't seem to get the house cool enough.

Ken Marcus Studios wrote:
Can any of you folka with more desert experience than I have make any suggestions as to what works better in the Vegas area: Air Conditioning, or Evaporative Coolers ?

KM

From Phoenix. My previous studio had only evap in the shooting area (warehouse). AC in the office areas. I could shoot in the warehouse just fine until the monsoon (humidity) hit.. then, forget about it.. I tried to improvise as much as I could by blowing fans from the AC area into the warehouse, but it just wasn't enough.  After that experience, I made sure that my next space (my current one, while not as big and versitile) has AC throughout. It was a "must have" when I was shopping around.

John Silva Photography wrote:
The last time I drove through Weaverville, I rolled up the windows, cranked up the AC and stepped on it till I got all the way to that cloudy, grey, gloomy, beautiful coast!!! LoL
John

You're wise to keep the pedal to the metal and get out of here- and you're lucky to have that option.