Rain, Wind, and Water!

For one night only, Adam Chilson is offering the shoot opportunity of a lifetime. Over the course of a single night, a select number of photographers will gather for an action-packed shootout on a 20 foot reflection pool under a massive rain rig. Experience and shoot rain, wind, and water with four in-demand, professional models. Arrive at Dusk, and shoot ’till Dawn!

Shoot a range of models, themes, and lighting styles in the water and rain. From fine art nudes to mysterious fantasy themes, to powerful women commanding the elements. Rain, wind, and water FX, from delicate mists to a torrential downpour. Come away with final images that are sure to stand out in any photographer’s portfolio. It doesn’t get much better than this.

This is NOT just another group shoot. Attendance will be restricted to a maximum of eight photographers. With turn-based shooting, everyone has a chance to get some personal action through the lens. Each participant will be given time with each model on set, to direct and refine their own personal creative vision.

Featuring

Evina Luna
Fitness model, spokesperson, and character actor, Evina is a force to be reckoned with. She’s taken the lead on numerous ad campaigns such as WNK Wear, Monster Energy Drink, Coors, and Guitar Hero. This tall, statuesque model has placed in the Hawaiian Tropic bikini competitions several years running and graced the pages of fitness magazines. She’s even played the role of an undead scourge for Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. Get her started, and it’s all a photographer can do to keep up!

Nevaehlleh
Nev’s range and quiet professionalism have made her one of the most in-demand fine art nude models anywhere today. Her images are published in a multitude of magazines, advertisement, art journals, and galleries. Her diversity goes well beyond artistic nudes to cover fetish, horror, action, and any other genre one could possibly put her in. Nev brings something special to every photo shoot.

Nyx Valentine
An experienced fine art and fetish model, Nyx has been part of several award winning gallery exhibits and ground breaking artistic projects. Don’t let the quiet demeanor fool you, there’s no question she owns the space in front of the camera. Her background in dance, ballet, and fencing gives her movement impeccable grace and form. As a veteran of wind, water, and fire themes, Nyx is someone you don’t want to miss.

Leeanna Vamp
Dark, mysterious, and to die for, Leeanna is the temptress of your dreams. When she isn’t modeling or shooting video, Leeanna can be found at tradeshows and events spearheading the ad campaign for Evil Legion. With or without the fangs, she brings a dynamic element to every shot.

Itinerary

7:30 pm – Arrival and introductions at Adam Chilson’s studio

8:00  - 10:00 pm – Kick off the night with Evina on set as an amazonian warrior. Chainmaille, weapons, and heavy metal.

10:00 pm – Midnight – Catch your breath and watch the reflections as Nyx brings a serene presence to the waters. Even the slightest movement can break the mirror surface, creating ripples in the artistic nudes.

Midnight – 1:00 am – Midnight BBQ Dinner

1:00  - 3:00 am – The water is calm when Nev glides in, offering her own brand of form and grace to the stillness. But it doesn’t last long as winds kick up and she brings out the fury of the storm.

3:00 am ’till Dawn – Leeanna’s fangs come out and water runs red with blood. Race the sunrise before this nocturnal beauty retreats to the shadows.

What to Bring?

Laptop – Better believe you’ll be filling up those memory chips.

Towel – It’s a water set. You WILL get wet.

Snacks and Drinks – Dinner is provided at midnight. Best to bring something to keep you going in between shooting.

Event Fee: $350

No extra fee for model releases. Everything is covered in the tuition, including a signed model release from all models, set materials, makeup, and dinner.

Photographers who attended Adam’s July 24th Master Class may gain attendance at a special rate. Inquire.

A liability waiver must be signed by all participants. Sorry, no fire or flame FX during this event.

Event Details

For the first time ever, Adam Chilson is opening his personal photography studio to a very select number of photographers. This instruction-oriented workshop is available to photographers that are looking to expand range of skills, in addition to adding memorable imagery to their portfolios. Adam will be sharing his unique approach to set building, lighting techniques, and methods for shooting water inside a studio environment. This exclusive class is not being offered anywhere else. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Get one-on-one instruction from an award winning, published photographer, along with two experienced, professional models and a world-traveled makeup artist. Go step-by-step through the process of building a fully operational water set, with an emphasis on training photographers to replicate the same results in their own personal studio or shoot space. Come away with final images that are sure to stand out in any photographer’s portfolio.

This is NOT just another group shoot. Attendance will be restricted to a maximum of four photographers. No jostling for space or vying for the model’s attention. Everyone will be given personal time to focus their creative energy into capturing their own refined, polished imagery.

Featuring – Sophie Nova

Sophie is a fetish and fine art nude model originally from England, currently living in Los Angeles and working as a full-time model. She regularly travels and has worked all over the US and the UK. In addition to her appearances in several ad campaigns, Sophie as been published in numerous international magazines. She continues to model for workshops, and enjoys working with photographers of all skill levels.

Be sure to review Sophie’s extensive modeling portfolio

Model Mayhem, deviantART, and SophieNova.net

Also Featuring – Nevaehlleh

Nev’s range and quiet professionalism have made her one of the most in-demand fine art nude models anywhere today. Her images are published in a multitude of magazines, advertisement, art journals, and galleries. Her diversity goes well beyond artistic nudes to cover fetish, horror, action, and any other genre one could possibly put her in. Nev brings something special to every photo shoot.

Browse some of Nev’s incredible imagery.

Model Mayhem, deviantART, Incendiary Angel

Makeup, body paint, and SFX by Lisa Berczel of Battledress

Sponsored by top cosmetic manufacturers, this world-class makeup artist, stylist, designer, and body painter is bringing her magic to the set. Over the course of the day, she will transform Sophie into a mythical sea creature of beauty, allure, and destruction. Progress and behind-the-scenes shooting is encouraged throught the day.

Topics Covered in the Comprehensive Master Workshop

Advanced Set Building

• In one day, build a fully functional water set, rain rig, and reflection pool.
• Hands-on instruction during the building process.
• Running water lines to and from the set.
• Temperature balance in rain and water. How NOT to freeze your models
• “How-to” approach for the entire project, utilizing tools and materials readily available at any hardware store.

Electrical Rigging and Safety

• Preparation ahead of time in making the studio accident proof.
• Layout and design with lighting placement in mind.
• Control of water and spill management.
• Securing lights and other electrical devices around water.

Lighting & Shooting Techniques

• Multiple approaches to lighting rain and water FX.
• Light and shadow crafting in tight spaces.
• Fine art artistic nudes in a reflection pool.
• Lighting to get the most impact out of rain.
• Conception to realization: Creation of surreal, fantasy imagery.

Workshop Itinerary

10:00 am — Arrival and introductions at Adam Chilson’s studio.

10:30 – 11:30 am — Preparation of the shoot space, electrical rigging, safety protocols, and pre-construction planning.

11:30 am – 1:30 pm — Construction of the set. Running water lines in the studio, building the reflection pool, and setting up the rain rig for live water tests.

1:30 – 2:00 pm — Lunch break

2:00 – 3:00 pm — Lighting setup, staging, and test shooting with Nevaehlleh on set.

3:00 – 4:00 pm — Shooting fine art nudes with Nevaehlleh in the reflection pool.

4:00 – 5:00 pm — Dressing the set with thematic elements, dramatic lighting, and staging for the final shoot with Sophie Nova.

5:00 – 7:00 pm — Alternating shoot time for each individual photographer on the completed water set with Sophie Nova as a mythical siren.

Tuition: $1,000

No extra fee for model releases. Everything is covered in the tuition, including a signed model release from both models, set materials, makeup and special FX, and lunch.

Event Details

I blink. Several seconds go by in befuddled silence. Perched in the makeshift suspension rig a few feet above my studio floor, I stare down at the metal plating below. My imagination takes hold, envisioning a vicious net of barbed wire beneath where my model will be hanging. No, no I couldn’t possibly have heard what I thought I just heard.

“Uh, no?” I stammer, almost at a complete loss for words. “Um, uh. NO. We won’t be doing that.”

Shauna bursts out laughing, cheeks red with embarrassment.

“Wait, that didn’t come out right!” she giggles. “Oh, wow, that’s not what I meant at all!”

“Good,” I nod solemnly. “You were starting to scare me there.”

We laugh, the insanity of the miscommunication hitting home. She points to where several pre-stretched barbed wire lengths lay to the right of the set, explaining her concern about where the extra pieces would be when we actually started shooting. With good natured humor we attend the safety concern, making sure nothing but hard metal plates will break her fall if something goes terribly wrong.

Hours of setup later, Shauna and I stare at the completed barbed wire suspension rig, psyching ourselves up to the final challenge. Nine Inch Nails blasts on the stereo. The lights are set. Every safety check made. Twice. We’ve rehearsed the sequence several times, training our motions to the nest of barbed wire. The risks are very, very real, and we have no spotter. Just the two of us. We really shouldn’t be doing what we’re about to do.

In a long history of dangerous shoots, It’s a rare thing when I can feel my heart pounding and adrenaline spiking my veins. The forgotten rush. Not the reason why I push, but a welcome friend returning in the moment of action. I smile, looking at my model and seeing the same energy pulsing through her.

“You ready for this?” I ask

“Yes I am.”

“Let’s Rock.”

Twelve hours of setup. Five minutes getting her into the nest of barbed wire. Thirty seconds shooting. Get the image in one take.

I rush in, moving supports to take up her body weight while the most vicious strands of metal are cut away, falling at my feet on the floor beneath her. Shauna is breathing hard, red welts and scratches already visible on her skin. But, there’s a triumphant smile on her face despite the pain. She glances down, and my eyes follow to the one part of the exit strategy we hadn’t rehearsed. Coils and strands of sprung barbed wire lay about the floor beneath her. We laugh.

“Don’t worry,” I admonish. “That wire will totally cushion your fall.”

“And to think I was worried,” Shauna laughs, eyes aglow. “Looks like I got my barbed wire safety net after all!”

——-
Cross-posted to deviantART.
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

Model: Mya
Body Art: Alex Bezzina
Special Thanks to Ron Shade and STTP for making this possible!

No photoshop/post-production was involved in the creation of this image.

Buy it at deviantART.

I settle into a chair and sip whiskey to deaden the pain. Countless scratches, punctures, and relatively minor inflictions, most will heal in days. Reaching for the iPod remote, I hit replay one last time, closing my eyes in contemplation of a title for the shot displayed on my computer screen. When the song ends I shut down the stereo, close the laptop, and turn out the lights. In my head it’s finally quiet again.

Make no mistake, there is hesitation on my part, in sharing something so personal. Returning to barbed for the first time in years, it’s a project now driven by obsession. I see it in my dreams, undesired visions, speaking to me as if it possessed a life on some shared mental plane. It tells me what it wants to be, even as it defies me at every step, and takes revenge with every barb.

It’s been some time since Muse demanded I pour my heart and soul into something. Images that simply refuse to vanish from my mind. The only way to be rid of them is to see them through the lens. Muse is a cruel mistress, demanding her toll of blood, sweat, and tears in return for her gift. But, having walked through the valley of the artistic dead, and returned, I’ve learned through bitter experience that the only thing worse than her presence, is her absence.

Just the first, of many, images to come. Some destined for fine art, others making controversial social statements, yet others with no excuse except shock value, and others simply for the beauty in something that shouldn’t be. Only the beginning. As the lights go out in the studio, and the sun creeps up in the sky, this first image brings tranquility few will comprehend.

It’s quiet again. . . at least for now. . .

——-
Cross-posted to deviantART.
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

My gloves sit on the ground next to my work area, as if mocking me for disrespecting the wire. I knew better from the start. There is no doubt the price will be high by the time the images in my head are finalized through the lens. A quick bath in rubbing alcohol and duct tape takes care of the puncture, and the gloves go on. No reason to hasten the abuse. Pain is not the objective, merely part of the process.

Miles of barbed wire sit in tightly wound coils outside my studio, waiting to be released. Smaller batches corrode in vats of chemicals, becoming what I’ve seen in my dreams and waking flashes of inspiration. Challenges beyond anything I can anticipate lay in wait. The lure, siren’s call, and nemesis in one. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Barbed wire on the brain again. Angry. Brutal. Anguished. Tempermental. Perhaps a reflection of inner turmoil with nowhere to escape but in rusted metal and flesh. Something deeply personal infused in the imagery, unlike anything I’ve done before. A curse and a blessing, the torment inflicted by muse, desired or not.

I’ve held out as long as I can. Beyond all the tortured artist bullshit and wanker artspeak is a burning desire to create. I can’t make it go away. It’s noise in my head that gets louder and louder every day it’s ignored. It simply can’t be silenced until the imagery is captured through the lens. So it begins. . . until it is finally quiet again. . .

——-
Cross-posted to deviantART.
Copyright 2010 by Adam Chilson

Many of the studio and permanent outdoor sets at my ranch wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of a great number of friends. Zathros continues to be the man behind the curtain, fabricating props and constructing specialized pieces that form the backbone of nearly every set build. Paindancer took the brunt of the labor necessary to build the latest set, saving me from a near certain return to the hospital. I’ve said it before, and will say it again. I do not work alone.

Visiting from Northern CA, Nyx and Lonny brought mischief and mayhem with them. We spent most of the weekend (drinking) with Nev and Dave, making evil plans (and evil booze) for Burning Man 2010. First to shoot on the new set, Lonny planned and directed a personal project with Nev, culminating in these moving images.

The next day Emobi and I toured the backlot junkyard, making up a shoot concept as we went along. Emobi’s heritage brought some color to the theme, and soon our little battlescape idea developed into something deeper and more meaningful. Everyone pitched in, carefully assembling a reasonably stable set environment. Nyx took on makeup fx, adding the finishing touches to the models while we dressed the set.

Dave proved to be quite handy, taking on numerous small projects around the ranch that I was either to busy, or too lazy, to ever finish. Great dude to have on set, too, handling much of the construction and operating SFX during the shoot. Having the extra help wasn’t just a lifesaver, but let me snap some behind the scenes content for a series of instructional books now in the works.

Time constraints accelerated the series of shots faster than I would have liked, but then again I can be a tad detail oriented. Smoke FX and safety of the models dictated some of the composition. Yet another learning experience for me, and a massive step towards managing what will be a much larger and more dangerous set to come. For a concept hatched on the spot, and a set more-or-less built by moving my junkyard into the studio, we did pretty damn good!

——-

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

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…

——-

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

Model: Gwendelin-Artanis

**All profits from print sales will be shared between model and photographer equally**

General Disclaimer: This is REAL barbed wire. It is far more dangerous than it looks. Even with extreme safety precautions, it is very easy to get hurt. Please do NOT try this at home!

Buy it at deviantART.

Buy it at deviantART.