Day Trippers

{Endless Summer}

2011-06-11T06:12:00.032-06:00

I am so excited to finally be posting these pictures. This particular photo shoot has been marinating in my brain for a couple years now, I was starting to think we might not get around to doing it, but the way it finally came together was serendipitous, Bryce and I were having coffee with two of our uber talented photog friends Kevin Hulett and Kellie Larsen, to discuss working on a creative project together. I explained my vision to them, everyone chewed on it for a bit before we finally decided that the only time we were all going to be available to do it was pretty much... now. We gave ourselves 3 days.... 3 days to find a location, track down around 20 models and load the truck up with props. (Bryce's craigslist list addiction is paying off.... woohoo!) I actually don't think it could have gone any more perfectly, We had the perfect group of teens, found a killer location and all had so much muddy fun... I almost wished it would never end.

Thank you so much Bryce, Kellie and Kevin for for all your hard work, and a huge thanks to all the fabulous models we had on this project as well , you guys totally rocked it!!!! Muaaaaaah! Have an amazing summer;)

-Andi

Photographers: Andi Watkins, Bryce Hunt, Kevin Hulett, and Kellie Larsen.

{Angel Eyes}

2010-10-09T02:26:00.017-06:00

"I first caught sight of her on my way to the hotel office to check in. She walked past looking and smelling like a queen, and I caught myself wishing I'd worn a clean shirt. I've never liked redheads much, and it was the same with her, but the other way around. She looked the way an oxygen tank on the bottom of the ocean must look to a drowning sailor."

"Second time I saw her was just after my key hit the lock. I was half-dreaming about a safe evening with my shoes off, the radio on, a bucket of ice and some Ballantines. I heard a noise from the hotel pool and glanced over my shoulder. For a moment the picture was perfectly clear to me, a body floating on the surface, blood gently pooling from a head wound. I shook myself, had a double-take like some cartoon bunny and it was her again, her red hair drifting in the water like a halo..."

Thank you Angela for being your fabulous self, and to Tristan Smith for his amazing writing ability.

Photography Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{Little Green Bag}

2010-01-23T13:20:00.015-07:00

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{Small Town USA}

2009-08-31T21:44:00.031-06:00

Here are a series of pictures taken over a month ago by Bryce and myself... We were going out of town to pick up three separate items from "Craig's List". I never really thought much about the whole concept of "Craig's List" until this day, and I have to admit it sparked my curiosity... "who is this person selling their two year old swamp cooler?" and "who is this other person giving away their mean rooster?"... and why? they would have to live out in the middle of nowhere too... Well, We're gonna find out!
It was a nice day, we didn't take the interstate instead we drove down country roads with the windows down, smelled the smells of the small towns and marvelled at our picturesque surroundings we stopped and talked to folks along the way, some willing to give us gardening tips and even offer to cook us dinner while telling us their lives story. We met a mechanic who even replaced the master cylinder on the brakes of the old truck we were driving for ten bucks... ten bucks!!! and YES, we were driving completely without brakes for a little while... (the only way to take a daytrip back in time is to loose your breaks while coming down a hill into a small town and suddenly your back in the good ol' days, right? haha.) Of course we ran into a few UN-friendly characters as well, you know the type... they pull up with their beat up old truck looking like they haven't bathed in months, telling you if you step foot on their property they're gonna shoot ya! all the while semi-grinning with their tooth-less grins like they want to cook you up for dinner. Okay, wait. maybe that's just something that happens to us?... but ya know we really aren't out "lookin' for trouble" and in our defense the NO TRESPASSING signs were covered by tall weeds.... So let's just forget about that! We did actually pick up two of the three items we set out to purchase, we met several diverse interesting and quirky people along the way, people who will fill you up a paper bag with goodies from their garden, people who will help a stranger just because they want to, and people who keep a school bus full of toys in their backyard.... a little strange? absolutely. But all in all I found the simple life to be quite charming.... So here are a few pics we took along the way... and if you happened to meet us that day, shoot us an email, we have a bunch of pictures we would love for you to have:)

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{Breakfast of Champions}

2009-08-25T15:04:00.017-06:00

We met Bryce and Nicole a few weeks ago, when they came down to check out Sand Hallow Reservoir, where they will be competing in a Triathlon next month. They are an amazing couple they were both cheerleaders for the Utah Jazz, they showed us a few of their stunts... and I have to admit, I was beyond impressed.

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{WHO SAYS YOU CANT GO HOME}

2009-05-28T20:13:00.023-06:00

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."

-Maya Angelou

Today was unlike any day, the Pendleton's had had in a very long time... They were all together again, under the same roof they remembered so fondly, with the same bikes in the backyard, and the same delicious smells coming from the kitchen, The Pendleton's were home..

And then the storm hit...

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{Haunted Hotel}

2008-10-22T22:19:00.043-06:00

You may remember, a few months back, Bryce and I took a day trip with my daughter Gabby in search of some cool locations to have photo shoots... we found a lot of good stuff, but there was this one place in particular that I just cant stop thinking about, its an abandoned hotel in a very small town out in the middle of nowhere USA ... it definitely needs a little more exploring...
When we went there the first time with Gabby, we were only able to see the first couple rooms because she wouldn't go in with us, she didn't want anything to do with that place and the fact that there were a pair of little pink shoes on the front porch, as if the girl got snatched right out of them, did nothing to help that fact. This isn't exactly a ghost town, people live here, so I'm sure some kid just left them there.. but eerily enough there wasn't a person in sight, the town was silent. We snapped a couple pictures and headed home. Over the past couple months I have looked through those photos several times imagining what might be beyond those first couple rooms and wondering who might brave a photo shoot in an abandoned hotel... well my son Bryant's senior pictures is just about as perfect as it could get, plus as soon as he found out he could take his guitars, he was totally up for anything! So we packed up our gear and headed off for our day trip. When we arrived we walked right up to the hotel and oddly enough, sitting there on the porch 3 months later, was the same pair of little pink shoes. I looked around... once again, silence. A shiver ran down my spine but I was eager to get inside, so we pried a loose board off the window and climbed in.

It was dark and kind of creepy. The inside seemed a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. there were a lot of rooms {I guess so, it was a hotel after all} we followed the rickety staircase upstairs. The banister rail was all twisted and bent and you could see right through some of the broken steps. As we walked down the dark hallway on the second story, we all came to an abrupt halt. All of a sudden the floor was just GONE! It had fallen away. We stared at each other in disbelief, but the question we all asked ourselves as we stood there debating whether we could take another step forward OR backward, was "what's holding up the floor where we are standing now?" We looked around, the room on the left was also missing the floor, and not just the floor but one of the walls looked as if it could go at any time. I started to feel a tremendous amount of anxiety.. I mean seriously, the hotel looked like something tried to rip it in half! The floors were falling through and I swear--- I started expecting vines to come up under the floor boards and grab our feet and pull us down so the it could swallow us up! I wanted to get out of there... but we had come all this way to explore this place, so I had to compose myself--- breathe.

When we finally made it back down to the first floor I started to feel a little better even though the first floor was much bigger and much darker {because most of the windows down there were boarded up} at least we were on solid ground. "That must have been the kitchen" Bryce said as we walked past a large room. My mind started wandering as I eyed the cupboards. They looked like they could come to life at any moment. Each section was pulling away from the wall and tilting different directions like tall men with long arms ready to reach out and grab us if we walked through the room. We didn't. We found a place to set up in a room with a window and took some pictures. I was even starting to enjoy myself, until... wait a second, is that bed frame missing a leg or is the leg going through the floor? YEP, it's going through the floor... the boys voices began to fade in and out "oh, you didn't notice the door to basement? we passed it on our way to this room" CRAP!! You gotta be kidding me! If the second story floor could fall through, who's to say this one won't too? At that moment three things happened... A train flew by outside shooting through the silent town like a gunshot in the night... Birds! Flying from the direction of the kitchen as if they too wanted to find a way out, and couldn't. and, I think I died a little. I was frozen stiff but my mind was swimming into deeper and darker places. The hotel was shaking and I knew falling through to the basement would be far worse than anything I've ever seen in any scary movie. I imagined bank robbers hopping the train and needing a place to hide out and stash the loot. The basement of this place could definitely be that place. I kept picturing the shoes, where is the little girl? and then, "The Shining" enters my mind, a haunted hotel out in the middle of nowhere a ghostly little girl in the hallway on her big wheel... remember. Yeah. I cant take it anymore... I gotta get outta here! I head for the window we came in through, of course my pants get caught on a friggin' rusty nail... aRGHhhh the vines, they finally have me!!!

I can hear a swarm of Bikers pulling up, circling if you will. Bikers? In this silent town? Crap! We're gonners! I bet they came back for their loot! I don't care I'm going out. Where did they go? I swear I heard like 20 bikes just a second ago. Maybe they're ghosts? Do ghosts drive Harley's? Before I could even finish that thought, I turn around to look for them again and my heart just about fell out of my shirt when I turned and stood face to face with what must be the leader of their pack. This guy looked rough, definitely a guy who would stop at nothing to protect his loot! We stared each other down. Oh crap, here come the rest of them--- I never broke my stare, but I could feel them approaching. Where are the boys? Why didn't they follow me out? Why did the... "HEY LADY?" I turned back around slowly. "HEY LADY, CAN YOU TAKE OUR PICTURE?" Okay, this is normal, unlike The Creeper who is now directly behind me and probably getting ready to strangle me while I'm caught off guard. Pictures. They too are exploring. {or at least that's what I'm telling myself} Slowly but surely I'm drifting back to reality. The boys eventually followed me out. The bikers took off and four more trains came through at full speed while we took pictures near the tracks. I kept telling myself we were safe outside but I couldn't quite shake the boogey man feeling I was getting. I kept looking up to the windows of the hotel {now just on the other side of the tracks} It was starting to get dark, and anyone could be in there looking out at us waiting for it to get darker... It was definitely time to leave.

The boys made fun of me a lot on the way home, but that stopped when we realized one of our cameras were missing! In my hasty exit I must have forgot it. So now we have to go back, and its dark, and we don't have a flashlight, and which room was it in? Are you freaking kidding me? CRAP! Yeah, I think I just died a little bit more. If it wasn't for the boys that camera would still be in the hotel of horror and that would be perfectly fine with me. The Creeper can have it! Oh yeah and from now on you may hear me refer to the boys as Scooby and Shaggy, and if you need to find me... I'll be hiding out in the Mystery Machine, like the chicken that I am!

KIDS, DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{Lady Luck on the Frontier}

2008-09-25T02:16:00.024-06:00

The honeymoon ended in Vegas, which is where our story begins... Chase is a welder living in Las Vegas, Shalesa a hairstylist and lover of vintage things, living in St. George until they move to Wyoming to live on a ranch... because Chase is also a cowboy.

Vintage Chic, Cowboy and Vegas, now that's a recipe for a good time!
We left early for Vegas, it was Me, Bryce and my friend Donna. We met them down on Fremont. Shalesa was abosolutely stunning, she has classic features, perfect smile and flawless skin, and if it couldn't get any better, she had the sweetest shoes ever! Chase cleans up pretty nice himself, he was rockin' those sweet cowboy boots.. they both have a really cool style. We were all loving the old school casinos... sadly there was no flying Elvis on this trip but there was "Glitter-Fab Santa", he rolled up in his pimped out wheelchair to see who could possibly be more interesting to photograph than himself... it was a toss up, so we let him join in for a second, before we quickly gave him the boot {or maybe Chase scared him off with the crazy snake eye} Get back to the North Pole Santa , it's nowhere near Christmas... you've still got work to do slacker!

The Fremont experience was definitely worth it but we were dying to see Chase's shop...
They are in the process of moving it too so they had a lot of random items laying around, some furniture that got left behind and machinery that created fire...If you have never been to a welder's shop {i cant imagine anyone who hasn't} you're missing out... for us it was like being kids in a candy store... but better, this candy store has anvils... excellent!

Chase and Shalesa, thank you so much for sharing your day and a bit of quarky comedy with us.. You both really were so amazing to work with and i hate to see you move away, we're going to miss you guys. you have to send me a picture of you on a horse though Shalesa, you're going to love it! so lucky lady, you got your cowboy now go ahead and ride off into the sunset...

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt

{Homeward Bound}

2008-09-19T16:00:00.016-06:00

As some of you know, from time to time my friend Bryce and I have worked together on photo shoots, He is an awesome Photographer, I value his input and we have a certain chemistry that just makes us work well together.... Lately we have been discussing a partnership on custom photo shoots, the shoots will be more "Art Inspired" and the models just regular people willing to let us take over and create something spectacular. Lacey's family is the first of many projects to come, we are scouting out fabulous locations and putting our minds together for unique ideas, we are very excited to start this project... This is going to be something completely different from Andrea Watkins Photography and Bryce Hunt Photography which we will still pursue independently. Here are a few of MY favorite photos from Lacey's family shoot. I'm going to let these pictures speak for themselves.. there is a story there, but it's not my story to tell.

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt 2008

{Day Trippers}

2008-09-19T00:53:00.024-06:00

So this was today. it was such a nice day for a drive ... Gabby and I took off with my friend Bryce who is also a photographer we were scoping out a specific spot that I have a photo shoot planned, and we ended up finding so much more! I swear between the two of us we must have shot a thousand pictures. Gabby was such a trooper, she really didn't know what was in store for her and it was a very long day, but she hung in there until the sun went down.... I swear that girl is made of steel. when we got home all she wanted was to go to "The Golden Spoon" so of course she got whatever she wanted (2 flavors swirled together with sprinkles.. :) we had such a good day, I love spending time with my Gabby, she is just so easy going she just takes whatever life throws at her and rolls with it, I'm really proud of her, she didn't complain once. We had a lot of fun, and got some really great ideas for future photo shoots... I really love this last shot, I wish I could take credit for it (the silhouette with the bubbles) but Bryce is the one who caught that... it was the perfect ending to our day.

Photographers: Andi Watkins and Bryce Hunt 2008