Modeling in a Death Valley ghost town

Welcome to a Ruined Life

Welcome to a Ruined Life by Richard Lewis 2015

Just outside of Death Valley National Park is an old ghost town called Rhyolite. It is near the funky little city of Beatty, Nevada. The old buildings are a popular place to photograph. We stopped at Rhyolite, but the flat light from a rare fully overcast sky just wasn’t making for compelling photography.

Then I saw Aly. She and a friend were modeling for some photographers. When they took a break, I approached and asked if I could photograph them. Aly said she could give me a little time, so I posed her by one of the old buildings that had a lot of graffiti. The tattoo on her chest worked well with that in the background.

The few minutes I had to work with her were a lot of fun. You have to love a good model. Aly followed directions and did some nice improvisations. You can see, she wasn’t dressed for a cold and windy day, yet she never showed how cold she was until we were done and she ran to her car to warm up.

There is nothing like a chance encounter to make a questionable photography day a good one.

Enjoy