Ron Shoots

…or maybe just a crazy photo crew! (Don’t ask what my assistant and I doing in this snapshot.) We found this funky roadside art on Highway 281 while driving from Fargo to Minot last week . The artist obviously made a serious lifetime commitment to enriching the lives of others. Gotta love it!

I’ve geo-marked the exact location on the Find Ron page!

Just received an email from OtterBox- they are replacing our laptop case for free! Read the “Real World Product Testing” post about how we backed over our laptop with our 9,000 lb Ford Excursion last week.

I sent a note over the weekend to their customer service team regarding our mishap. While OtterBox has a lifetime guarantee if anything goes wrong with their products, but the warranty certainly doesn’t cover this type of incident.

Many thanks to OtterBox and their customer team! Check out their cool products at www.otterbox.com.

One of those funny stories that happened in early September. Actually the story is more in the “synchronicity” category. Anyway, I had just started shooting with the Hasselblad H2D-39 with those beautiful 39 megapixel files. I pulled over to the side of the road to shoot my very first real images with the camera. When I get back into the car, the oldies radio station is playing Kodachrome, that song by Paul Simon. Being once an old school photographer, I remember those days, and here I am shooting with the next generation device.

Maybe the H2D-39 is the next Kodachrome? The juxtaposition of the Kodachrome song with the technology of the camera was intriguing to me.

(Lyrics posted in the sidebar.)

When we do a production, its really important that we have the right props and show the activity in the correct way. We often will book models that actively engage in the activity so that they bring the right props and “naturally” do the right thing. Such was the case in our hunting shoot a few days ago.

The image above represents 4 distinct types of hunting. While the general keyword might be “hunting” the extra information for the correct type of hunting is important in the sales process. While the image could be used by a travel company for an outdoors travel ad, a stronger audience might be a manufacturer of outdoor products or an outdoor magazine. Our goal is to make sure that the images are accurate to increase the opportunity to make a sale, and to prevent any potential embarassment to a client that might inadvertently use an image that had the wrong combination of props.

While I’m shooting, I constantly show the models the digital images to make sure the pictures are accurate. The models in a situation like the hunting shoot are our “experts” and help create authentic images.

The hunting images above are (left to right) pheasant, waterfowl, big game rifle and bow & arrow hunting.

Unique props really add value to a shoot! Yesterday, we shot with a 1966 Chevy Impala. The proud owner put $7,000 into the candy apple paint job, installed air lift hydraulics and restored the original interior. Perfect for our quasi-retro “Girl’s On The Road” shoot.

Unlike the motorcycle shoot the day before, this time we found an unused section of road so we could park the car on the highway for 3 uninterrupted hours. The skies were beautiful and mostly sunny, our only nemesis was a 20mph wind and 50 degree weather which made for a 30 degree wind chill factor!

At the end of the shoot, the car owner told us about a local car club, and said with a little notice, he could get us 10 more unique cars. Unique props add value two ways- not only are the shots cool, but provides our clients with a “one of a kind” image that’s likely not to be found anywhere else.

Our days start early, often when it’s still dark. We loaded the truck and began backing out of the parking lot when the front tire of our 9,000 lb Ford Excursion bumped over something. Momentary horror set in as my assistant and I looked at each other and simultaneously said “What was that!?” and perhaps a few forgettable phrases. Getting out of the truck, we realized the laptop case had been left next to the front tire and we had just backed over our brand new Apple 2.0Ghz laptop!

Fortunately, our laptop was protected by an OtterBox case. The side of the case was crushed, totally destroyed. Nestled inside was our laptop, safe and sound. Not a scratch! I touched the return key and the laptop sprung to life. Yes, we did some real world testing for OtterBox! Their web site says you can stand on the case, but never did I think that we would run over the case with the truck!

We’ll be ordering a replacement. If you plan on running over your laptop, you might want to check out an OtterBox at www.otterbox.com.

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Why did this happen? We broke one of our cardinal rules that we call the “idiot check” which is the last look around to make sure we haven’t forgotten something at a location, left something sitting outside the truck or anything else really dumb that can happen. It doesn’t matter if its 5:30am or you’re worn out from shooting all day- a last minute check can make all the difference in the world. You can be sure we look everywhere 3 times now!

Shot two really cool guys on motorcycles today. We found a road with minimal traffic not too far outside of Fargo, North Dakota. Our bikers cruised up and down the road while we got our “long” shots, then we shot close-ups with the bikes parked. The wind was blowing about 25mph almost blowing the laptop out of our hands.

Check out the behind-the-scenes video!
(Click on the screenshot below. Turn up the volume!)

Here’s one of the final images. For our studio, and usually for our clients, the goal is to find unique angles. We also seek simplicity or clean design. A clean design with “copyspace” gives the art director lots of space to drop in headlines or text. In the photo below, the art director can use either the sky or the road to add design elements.

Some days are filled with so much photographic opportunity that its hard to choose a favorite. Today, we shot a fuel tanker, some fabulous folks having pie and coffee at a truck stop diner, and beautiful North Dakota scenics at sunset.

Street-casting

However, one of the most interesting shoots today came from what we call “street-casting” which is when the production coordinator sees someone that we want to photograph and we set up a shoot on the spot. So anyway… Krista, our coordinator, sees a tall lanky truck driver in a cowboy hat walk by while we’re shooting the fuel tanker. Chasing him down, she quickly explains that we would like to do a photo shoot and the terms… payment, model release, etc. Within minutes, we have another shoot arranged. Now it’s my job along with Gray, my assistant, to quickly figure out some cool angles and lighting.

Skinner is easy to talk with, and as a people photographer, I need to help him feel comfortable immediately. Neither of us knew even 10 minutes ago, that we would be working together! In no time at all, we learn that his truck has a million miles on the engine with nothing more than oil changes, some diesel injectors and a couple of turbo fans. He hauls feed, lumber and livestock.

Look closely at the detail shot above. Somehow, I don’t think that pistol is a toy. By the end of the shoot, Skinner is making sure that I’ve shot every angle. We pack up our gear, and head to the diner. Looking back, we hear Skinner shifting through the gears as he muscles his truck back on to the highway.

Today, we worked with the some of the most wonderful people I have ever been priveleged to photograph. The three men are farmers in North Dakota. Two are father/son partners, and the third was a friend with a farm “just up the road”. I did learn that “just up the road” in North Dakota is about 30 miles!

Why use a flash on a sunny day?

You can see Gray holding the flash even though we were shooting on a gloriously sunny day. The flash is used for a “kicker” light or “rim” light on the edge of the subject to give the image just a little different look. In a few cases, like inside the barn, the flash became the main light. We’re using a Quantum T5D Flash with a Turbo 2×2 power supply. There’s a wireless transmitter on the camera that transmits the “fire” signal to the flash. The wireless is cool- allows us to position the light quickly and 50+ feet away from the camera.

Always looking for diffent angles

In shooting, I’m always looking for different angles! From laying on the ground, or standing on the platform of our production vehicle, we are always looking to change up the perspective. A typical shoot will also involve the “wide shot” that shows the entire landscape as well as a tight “detail” shot. For example, in the harvesting scenes, we have a full image of the combine tractor in the fields, and then we have a close-up of the farmer’s hands holding the soybeans that he has just harvested.

The best part of the day…

The highlight was lunch! Our crew was treated to a home-cooked meal complete with a baked ham, potato salad, rolls, baked beans and ice tea. And then to top it off, a home-baked “Juneberry” pie with ice cream. We were needing a serious siesta after that meal!

(Zoom in on the map on the Find Ron page and you can see the farmhouse.)

Just happened to catch a photo of these folks getting off their plane after a little shopping trip… NOT. Shoots are carefully planned, propped and shot. Today, we worked with the owner of a private jet and 2 sets of models. One set of models were in the “mature” demographic and the other in the “young, hip & cool” category. Wardrobe needs to be selected, prepped and styled. When we have the opportunity to work with big props that are not easily arranged, like a Citation twin engine jet, we’ll try to do two different types of shoots.

Crew at Work

Here’s our crew at work. Krista is styling and Gray is holding the reflector. I’m working with a Hensel ringflash on the Hasselblad H2D-39. The camera is tethered to an Apple MacBook.

One of the Shots

Teamwork!

Our studio has an awesome crew of talented production, editor and digital artist teams. These folks are the best!! We like to have fun, and laughing is the best path to creativity. Every single person contributes to the integrity of our images.

And did I say they like to have fun!

(Gray and Krista in Fargo, ND)