Kelly Watkins

Kelly Watkins

Kelly Watkins' photo on this week's cover of CityBeat doesn't have a name; it has a story.

"The location I spotted is about an hour drive," she says. "About 15 minutes into the drive, it starts pouring down rain in buckets. I'm thinking, This isn't looking too good, but I'm keeping the faith."

The rain kept coming as Watkins and her two subjects, a San Diego burlesque dancer who goes by the handle "Ophelia Handful" and Ophelia's young son, pulled into the shot location, a weird-looking, weathered office building at the foot of a mountain outside of Anza Borrego.

The parking lot in front of the building was filled with cars, which meant it would be hard for Watkins to get the perfect shot. The cars, coupled with the rain, were enough for the photographer to give up.

"So, just as I put my blinker on to turn into the lot so that I can turnaround and drive back home," Watkins explains, "a big, yellow school bus pulls into the lot. Out of the bus come all these children who run to these cars, get in, and the cars start pulling out one by one. And just as the last couple of cars pull out, the rains stops, the clouds part and a rainbow appears. Serious. It was fate."

"Untitled" by Kelly Watkins

Watkins' photos often start with just a sliver of inspiration-a strange location, a weird dream or just a vague image that pops into her head. It's not until the shoot itself that she eventually turns her ideas into well-composed, creative scenes, which often look like something out of a mysterious fantasy novel.

"I never know what the final piece is going to end up looking like," says Watkins, a mother of two who, just a few years ago, went from full-time to part-time graphic design so she could pursue her interest in photography. "I'm just looking for something different. I love the contrast of weird but beautiful at the same time, I guess. Not too weird-I'm not in it to shock people. I'm just attracted to things that are unique and different. Maybe it's a little on the dark side, and sometimes there's a little sadness, but you can usually find a sense of humor in my photos."

After the clouds parted for Watkins' shot that fateful day outside of Anza Borrego, she posed her two models in a way she felt conveyed the essence of a mother's relationship with her children.

"It's the day in the life of a mother and son," Watkins says with a laugh. "A little bit of playful chaos."

Watkins says her website, kelwatphoto.com, should be up and running by the end of this week.