In a series of meetings held in the fall of 2008, the 7th Sons (formerly the Night-Creatures) began determining the next steps in the group's future evolution.  One of those steps included the decision to arrange a band photo shoot in some potentially exotic locales.  The purpose was to acquire some interesting and unusual photos of the group that would get noticed.

As the band was contacting various photographers to inquire about their services.  Into this 'picture'... 

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Photo by Jeanette Lisalda

... stepped photographer, Bob Bernardo (yes, we know... the pun was shameless).  Bob brought to our project his professional skills, a very friendly and easy going attitude, and a willingness to work with us to capture everything we asked him to.... and more!  Together, we all planned a day-long road trip that began in the pre-dawn hours of late October of 2008.  We kicked off our trip with a meeting and breakfast at the only place open that time of morning... Denny's.

As we all (minus Rick) arrived and started gulping coffee and ordering food, we began conversing with Bob, and each other, about the possible events of the day.  We exchanged ideas about where to go, the types of locations we were looking for, and the look we wanted to get from our pictures.

The general idea was to treat this as a serious endeavor, but to have fun with it, and experience a great day out in the open spaces we would be traveling to.  There were three things we knew for sure at this point, and Bob rolled with all of it like the pro he is.  The first was that we would meet up our with bass player Rick Frost, and his wife Patti, at Cabazon and continue along our quest from there.  After the rendezvous with 'The Frosts', we would travel to our first destination, the second known event, which was somewhere along the road to Amboy outside of Twentynine Palms.  Once there, we would look for weather-worn, run-down buildings in the desert, or other interesting locations, where Bob would then shoot the first set of pictures.
 

One of Bob's, shot at a weather-worn and gutted one-room shack along Amboy Rd.

Bob moves for another shot before the arrival of the Desert Bighorn Sheep.
Photo by Jeanette Lisalda
 

After settling on a location near Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree National Monument, we parked our cars and began walking around and climbing up one series of rocks after another shooting in many directions.  Every way you turn is another amazing looking set of formations, and it is all breath-taking and awe-inspiring.  Eventually we climbed up to a height of nearly twenty-five feet, only to find that the boulders we were on abruptly ended and curved down quickly toward the desert floor.  We could see a trail there, that went off in several directions through the rocks between other large piles of boulders that were just a few feet away, but separated by the path.

Suddenly, as Bob was moving around and setting us up for another shot, Jeanette called out, "look... down there," and pointed to the desert floor.  Walking out from between these large sets of boulders came a Desert Bighorn Sheep, and it stood there motionless, staring at us for quite some time.  We were all amazed that this majestic animal stood there so long, seemingly unafraid, but at the same time appearing to be very curious as to what we were doing in its territory.  It moved around a little bit, but stayed within the same general area for close to fifteen minutes.  Then, slowly, the sheep turned and calmly walked back into the large crevice between the boulders it had come from.  At that moment, we felt very lucky to have seen this animal so close up and in the wild.  We were all talking about it, and smiling, with a shared feeling of 'wow... did that just happen' in our heads.  What happened next would really surprise us, and provide Bob with a once in a lifetime kind of shot.
 

As we jockeyed back to our former positions on the boulder and got ready for another photo, this Desert Bighorn Sheep re-emerged from between the rocks, and began scaling the steep boulder-face on the next set of rocks behind us.  He then quickly walked up beyond the height we were standing at, seemingly confident that we could not reach him because of the path between the two sets of boulders, and crossed over to another set of rocks directly behind where we had assembled for a photo.  Walking down the sloping boulder in our direction he stopped and stood directly behind us.  Nearly dumbfounded, we all stared in amazement.  In fact, we were stunned to see him boldly get so close.  We all slowly turned to pose, and the sheep began to take a few steps away.  Bob remained ready.  When the sheep stopped again and looked back at us, Bob captured the fantastic shot you see below, while Jeanette took the shot to the right of Bob... shooting us... and the Desert Bighorn Sheep standing behind us.
 

Jeanette Lisalda shoots Bob, shooting the 7th Sons, with a Desert Bighorn Sheep
 

This version of Bob's original photo has been slightly cropped and Sepia tinted, but it is still no less amazing a shot.  Take a look around our site and you will find many of the wonderful photographs that Bob shot of us on this one-day road trip.  We think you'll agree that they are some truly great shots, we believe only reveal a small part of what Bob is capable of doing with a camera.

Soon, we'll be adding more photos Bob took of our December 2008 concert with Eddie Money, at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

We could not be more pleased with the work that Bob did for us, and we are still marveling at the fact that he captured so many great shots in one day, not to mention the truly incredible photo shown above.  This is no exaggeration, considering that Joshua Tree National Park covers an area of 789,745 acres, or 1,234 square miles, with only 50 of these endangered Big Horn Sheep existing within the park boundaries.  We saw this same animal two more times within the next couple of hours... as if he was moving around with us and observing our actions.

Because of our 'almost spiritual-like' shared experiences of that day, one of the 7th Sons dubbed Bob Bernardo as 'the 6th 7th Son', and it has stuck since then.  We not only regard him as a friend who is fun to hang out with, but as a wonderfully gifted artist who is a pleasure to work with too.  This page is dedicated to you, Bob!

Jeanette Lisalda & Patti Frost at the shack off Amboy Road.
 

Acknowledging The Ladies

While this page is about Bob and his work, it wouldn't seem right if we didn't acknowledge the ladies that "went along for the ride" and made our day just a little better by their mere presence.  We'd also like to acknowledge Jeanette Lisalda for some very cool, behind-the-scenes photos she took that day of the band, of Bob in action, and of some of the wildlife, which we'll be sharing at some point in the future.  And, let us not forget Patti Frost, who we'd like to thank for joining us, putting up with our band antics, and for treating us to her smile and kindness in spite of all that, which just helped make our day that much brighter.

Thank You Ladies...

... and Thank You Bob!