Oyster Bed. The WPPI/RangeFinder Fine Art Portrait of 2018.
The location is Bisti Badlands, part of the far flung region of unusual and beautiful formations strewn about the southwestern United States that includes iconic imagery like Monument Valley. This particular arena is non-descript from the road. After all, "badlands" is a descriptive term, and there is nothing of note to see here.
Yet hidden beyond passing view are the most remarkable examples of natural erosion one is likely to encounter. I find these types of environments irresistible canvases on which to lay my human female brushstrokes. So I made my way to Bisti, camera gear and suitable lady friend in tow.
This "parking lot" is essentially a designated place to park your car, more or less indistinguishable from the rest of the surrounding landscape. It was a two day venture -- one day to scout best location options, the next day to shoot at the optimal time. Shooting outdoors is a co-operative collaboration with nature. The location, weather, time of year, time of day, and your patience, skill, and perseverance conspire to create something.
The area is expansive and there's the excitement of the "gem" just around the corner so there's a temptation and compulsion to explore to the point of exhaustion. So many interesting things to see, so many possibilities to create art, so little time, so much pain in my legs. The next day, my back, under the weight of the camera, lenses, and lighting gear 2 miles to the prime target, the cracked egg field.
The idea was to arrive a couple of hours before sunset. The "golden hour" where lighting is colorful, dramatic, rich, and the sky vibrant and true. An hour prior to that would give enough time to scout the best options, angles, and compositions. We arrived ahead of schedule and the checklist completed. As I got in position to get my shot, I see movement in the distance... strangers approaching. Turns out this location is remote, but not remote enough. The strangers were a motley crew of people including children, now wandering through the scene.
The shot I wanted wasn't going to be possible under the current circumstances. So I spend the time perfecting the composition, getting the lighting right, practicing the pose, and waiting them out. They start to leave, but not quite. They're curious as to what I'm doing. They mill about on a small hill nearby. The children running up and down. My light is fading. And I had intended to make it the 2 miles back to the car UNDER DAYLIGHT.
I'm starting to get frustrated that I'm not going to be able to make this happen and we should start packing up and leaving for our own safety. She tells me to chill out. She offers to remove her dress. I see the parents in the distance watching me, kids full of energy. I'm thinking hm... probably better not.
I may be unconventional. Some call me crazy. I used to be a conservative Christian, middle class engineer, with a wife and kids. I do this now. I'm defiant, unorthodox, rebellious, and at times just a bit hostile. But I'm not a monster. Well... my girlfriend calls me "monster", but lovingly, and it's so cute the way she says it. In any case, I wasn't about to let her get nude in front of children. Who needs the Karen headache to undoubtedly follow.
But as luck would have it, they darted behind the hill, she quickly snatched off her dress, I took the shot, and a couple more to be sure, she put on her dress and we were done. At this point the sun was down and we still had to pack up (and she wanted one more shot sitting on a rock with an umbrella). Now we were well beyond schedule and definitely walking back in the dark.
I take the last set of shots, pack up, and consult my phone for GPS guidance back to the car. I get a good look, and then it dies, out of battery, even though it reads 40%. Curse the software engineer who coded remaining battery charge levels.
Now we're dead reckoning back 2 miles in an undistinguished, dark landscape on a moonless night. That's about 90 minutes of labored, exhausted, uncertain trekking second guessing ourselves the whole way. And by a miracle of good fortune, we eventually see our lone rental car looming out of the darkness.
Dinner and Jacuzzi to the back to soothe aching muscles was a welcome reward for the day's hard physical and emotional toll. And of course, the award winning kingpin shot, Oyster Bed.
The shots are nice, but I think the real take away from this is the experience. The shot validates the effort -- you have something to show for it. But the experience of what it felt like is the lifelong reward. Really two experiences -- mine for the achievement of setting out and accomplishing a difficult task, hers for the exhilaration of being alive in the nude, in nature, and capturing a real life moment of art. You should try it some time.
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