After all, this was my 15th year. I’ve more or less figured out how to do this whole Burning Man thing. But it’s also the last year I plan on going for the foreseeable future. The annual cost - in time and money - from the UK is pretty crazy.
But I had to go and make this a final last blowout, so I planned various awesome photo projects. Sadly, the most expensive projects failed abjectedly. Milky Way night shots, requiring extra gear rental? Dashed by the cloudy skies the first week. Visiting one of the nearby mountain ridges for a night shot? Wrecked by the smoky skies the second week. Placing remote cameras on the Man for the burn? Destroyed by WiFi and antenna problems. Scheduled shoots the first 3 days of the event? Ruined by seriously heavy family medical emergencies off-playa that kept me and Jennifer in Reno.
Still. I was able to achieve some of the shots I planned. Two weeks on the playa beats two weeks pretty well anywhere else. And I have other exciting news bubbling away, ready to be announced.
Big huge thanks to everybody who helped this year. Bettie June, Crimson Rose and the whole Artery team for awesomely generous support. Gary Wilson for steadfast friendship and kind assistance. Campmates Vertumnus and Squishelle for helping manifest marvellous photo opps and camp generosity. The DPW Man Base crew, especially Mig, Pirate, Opa, Mairzy Doats and others I’m embarrassed not to remember their names. Syn, Lightning, Gregg, Brent, and the rest of the Temple crew for letting me hang out at their camp, documenting their awesome work.
And of course, for Jennifer, for holding everything together while so much seemed to be falling apart.
