It was snowing when I jumped in the truck and picked up Andrew Gettler to head down to the monthly open house at D.M. Gremlin’s. We ran the chance of snowfall closing the pass behind us, but it was a risk worth taking. The January 22nd open house and devmeet hosted by Wendy Levin was destined to be memorable.

Braving the weather were familiar faces, old friends, and even Nyx and Lonny who made the journey all the way from SF for the weekend. It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet models, photographers, and artists, many of whom I’ve been trading comments and messages with for years. An impromptu photoshoot formed from models and photographers present, taking on a loosely based fitness theme.

Wait, I did say loosely based fitness theme, right?

Arriving later in the evening was fantastic surprise for all of us. Danni Doll, Anne Wilson, and Liz Silverman performed aerial stunts and mesmerized us with their vertical flair. I’m sorta kicking myself now for not picking up the camera, but fortunately Andrew captured these amazing shots of their acrobatics.

They make it look so easy, don’t they?

Now I just have to figure out how to get the fire, barbed wire, water, and sparks all in the air with them…

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Cross-posted to deviantART.
Additional photos provided by Andrew Gettler
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

“Oh. My. God. That’s a lot of Donkeys!”

Nev stares in disbelief out the car window as we slow to a stop at the side of the road. Ordinarily, a comment like that might seem out of place, but at our exact time and place, it couldn’t be more apt. Acre after acre of donkeys stretch out before us. There are, indeed, a LOT of donkeys.

The objectives from early morning hours was to make a road trip to the closest place in CA that still stocks the exact types of barbed wire needed for upcoming photography projects. Accompanying me on the expedition is Nev, always up for a little adventure. Everything in between departure and destination is where whim takes us.

Our wandering takes us down dirt roads and through places lost in time. Places that have a rich history, and others, a history one will never know. On the list of places to return is Elmer Long’s bottle tree ranch, where acres of metal trees “grow” about five thousand glass bottles. And who could pass up a chance to ride the S.S. Minnow. . . in full view of the freeway just a few yards away. With the honking and veering, I’m surprised we didn’t cause an accident.

Nev points to a rusted water tower with a small hole in the side of it. “I can fit in there” she proclaims. Minutes later I squeeze through the sharp metal gash behind her. It’s seems a rather dull and ordinary venture until we look down to see what is crunching underfoot. In that moment every good horror movie leads up to, we realize we’re standing in a mass graveyard. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of bleached rodent bones fill the bottom of the water tank, undoubtably deposited there for years by nocturnal predators. We gleefully collect some of the more pristine trophies, bringing them back with us for some unforeseeable purpose.

The sun is low in the sky when we decide to take just one more road wherever it happens to lead. Donkeys. Uh-huh. Donkeys. When we started out on our little road day trip, a “donkey sanctuary” wasn’t what we expected to find. But, like so many wandering adventures, it’s the unexpected you’re really looking for. The sun goes down as the herds of pack animals watch us leave, and we’re still left to wonder, why the hell there’s so many donkeys.

The number is on the sign. Another adventure could be a phone call away. . .

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Cross-posted to deviantART.
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

Tickets for Burning Man 2010 go on sale January 13th. Mouse fingers are poised in that cyberspace line, camped out to snag the first tickets. For old-time burners it’s the kick-off, starting a tangible countdown to the burn. If you don’t got ‘em, get ‘em!

2009 saw our first year as an official camp. Incendiary Intent made a big hit, packing our little corner of the playa with visitors. Fiery drinks (literally), a fire-blazing sign, and mini-stage with the Mark V flamethrower lighting up the night.

Back for 2010 will be the Incendiary Intent Challenge. Not to go into details of how this originated, but it involves five alarm chili complete with Guatemalan insanity pepper, throat searing hot pepper vodka, and cheap warm beer. All served up during the heat of the day during triple digit temperatures. Yet another one of those awful, stupid, insane ideas that for some unknown reason everybody wants to try. . .

Our camp leader and mad alchemist, Nyx, is brewing up a new batch of insanely hot alcohol for the daring. . . and unsuspecting. Good times, watching grown men and women cry while their friends point and laugh. For some reason, they keep coming back. If only they knew what we REALLY have in store for Burning Man 2010!

Incendiary Intent. Making life’s bad decisions for you.

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Cross-posted to deviantART.
Additional photos provided by ^wynnesome and =KickStart011
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

Every so often an opportunity comes along you simply can’t pass up. When my neighbor - a real life, modern day, cattle-driving, rodeo roping, American cowboy - asked me if I wanted to do a photo shoot with a newborn calf, how could I say no?

The time window was short, and once again I was on the phone to Nev with the “what are you doing tomorrow?” conversation. Abandoning some of the more complicated (and questionable) concepts that came to mind, I decided to go with simple. The calf was cute. So was Nev. What else did we need?

Morning of the shoot it was raining. Sideways. Gusting winds, near freezing temperatures, and rain threatened to kill the shoot before it started. As our time window shortened, the skies cleared, winds slowed, and the best weather in weeks graced our little patch of earth. It was go time.

Offering to assist with the shoot, Dave was an absolute lifesaver. Between moving gear and arranging a mini-set out of feed hay, he ran interference to keep curious barnyard animals off the set and out of frame.

“The horses are eating the set again.”
Dave spent a good share of the shoot trying to shoo away hungry barnyard animals, angry geese, and a head-butting goat.

For her part, Nev was every bit the real deal. Slipping into the corral with the cows, she cooed at the calf wobbling towards her. After spending a little while getting to know the baby, she picked it up and carried it over to our shoot area. Giggling whenever the calf talked to her, she got right in to model with her new partner.

A little bit wholesome All-American working girl, a little bit sexy farmer’s daughter. Nothing like what Nev and I generally shoot. The next day I slipped my neighbor a CD and some prints as he left on a trip to visit with extended family in the midwest.

“These are great!” he told me. “I can’t wait to show these to my wife and grandchildren.”

Mission accomplished.

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Cross-posted to deviantART.
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

On February 21, I’ll be holding another of my Introductory Lighting Techniques Workshops.

This workshop is level-appropriate for beginning photographers, photographers who have limited experience shooting with studio strobes, as well as those whose experience lies with location/natural light.

The workshop will include discussion and demonstration of fundamental lighting techniques applicable to glamour, artistic, and portrait photography. The workshop will start with basic shooting scenarios and culminate in a full-production shoot with the workshop’s featured model on set, including makeup and styling by Lisa Berczel of Battledress Paint-n-Body.

For more information, and to register for the workshop, visit D. M. Gremlin Productions.