Inessential Stuff

I wanted to play around with some off-camera lighting, so I needed some place dark. And I thought, if it’s going to be dark, it might as well be desolate and eerie. Chasity Donovan was game for such a shoot, so on a chilly (very chilly) Sunday night we headed out to a parking garage.

The one I wanted to use was closed (who knew they closed the Parkade on Sundays?), so we walked over to a different one, and found the upper-levels vacant: dark, desolate, and eerie. Perfect.
We also shot a few on the brief walk (which you’ll see at the beginning). I probably included too many pictures in the gallery. With Chasity’s great posing and the cool location and dramatic lighting, I just couldn’t narrow it down.

I know, I know. And I’m not even into cars. I have enjoyed, however, getting Hot Wheels cars for Marcus. It started when we bought little cars to keep him entertained on trips in the car. And slowly his collection has grown. I suspect I might even be enjoying our growing collection more than he.

Anyway, this past summer, when he was in Spain with Bonnie, I was able to set up an elaborate race track to test which of the Hot Wheels and Matchboxes were fastest. I tested all 93 cars (Marcus only knows of about 40 or so . . . the rest are ones I’ve bought and hidden away, you know, for future car trips). Of the 93 cars, 70 qualified (some couldn’t make it down the course). Those 70 then raced in a rigorous competition that was as elaborate as the track, and took almost a week to finish. It wasn’t single elimination; or double elimination. It was more like 69th elimination, because I had to determine the exact order of all the cars, from fastest to slowest.

And because I’m sure you are all very excited to know this, here are your winners in the various car-classes (the orange track is visible in the background).

First is the Bassline (Blue), the overall winner and winner of the Track Star Vehicles (which are cars with metal bases and plastic bodies). Next is the Ford GTX-1 (Yellow), Winner of the Mainstream Vehicles (7th Overall) (“Mainstream” cars have plastic bases and metal bodies). And finally, there is the 2006 Dodge Viper (Red), Winner of the Heavyweight Vehicles (13th Overall)(“Heavyweights” have metal bases and metal bodies).

I know. Faaaaaaaascinating.

We went to a tunnel on a rails-to-trails bike path outside of Cheney. There, we spent a couple hours, mole-like, underground (or at least under the road) trying out poses and lighting.

Shoots have different moods: some are more technical, some more formal, some more casual. This one made the pulse race. It was alive and dynamic, with lots of creative energy. I think we both had the sense that we were capturing some good stuff.

Of course, in the end, I’m a perfectionist, so the shots never quite as good as I want them to be. Still, I like what we got, and the shoot was one of those moments when I feel tremendously alive.