Models: Ian Obermuller, Chloe Scheffe
Photography & styling: Chelsey Scheffe
Location: Painted Hills, Oregon
Arrival / Behind the scenes
Do I do anything but long posts these days?
Every once in a while, maybe once a year-ish a group of us (Fabio Governato, Ian Obermuller, Chloe Scheffe, and I, sometimes more) who went to school together take a photography trip to some stunning location just to get some new shots, escape, and have a bit of fun. Last year it was ‘the desert’ aka Eastern Washington and this year, the Painted Hills. How magnificent they were! I talked about this trip a bit in my last post, specifically that wooden sign. Go back and read it, if you’re curious.
We found ourselves winding (more like roller-coastering) through epic landscapes such as the green, sparse, craggy mountains you see there, and where at every new turn there was a massive cliff, a picturesque canyon, a vast, looming fog, flatlands littered with wind towers, or rolling hills carpeted with sheep. And yet the most unsettling thing I saw, aside from the decapitated goat on a random hillside, was an abandoned taco truck, nowhere near civilization. The drive was about 7 hours, give or take a few. We stayed in this tiny little town, called Mitchell of about 130 people—we were later told. The quaint, slanted motel we lodged in was perched on a hillside overlooking the main business loop of Mitchell. That lane was like a scene from a western. The town was slowly dying, buildings left abandoned and unkempt for years. It was so interesting and almost tragic.
Overall, the trip was relaxing, fun, creative, and quiet. Very quiet. I should’ve guessed we’d have no cell phone service or internet but the thought didn’t hit me until, well it hit me. At some point, my phone stopped its clock at 12am. Useless! That quiet was actually a really nice experience, one I think everyone should have from time to time. We looked to each other for conversation, sat around drawing, eating food, reading, and thinking. What novel ideas. At one point we also found Point Break on the telly.
I won’t slog you with more details but I highly suggest going to see those hills. Just once. Maybe stay in Mitchell, chat it up with the locals (they’re friendly), slow down, take in God’s beautiful, natural sculptures. There you’ll find inspiration, I think.
Last note: Fabio let me borrow his fancy pants camera to take a bit of video on this shoot. Hopefully I can cut that together soon.