A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of once again pairing up with one of my very favorite photographers – Paul Johnson – to style and shoot some very stylish golf tech polos for our client Wicker & Dune.
It was going really well – the tunes were blaring, the creative ideas were flowing, the fans were blowing, the images were gorgeous and all was wonderful until …
First, a little background:
Each afternoon, I am responsible for picking up my youngest from her daycare center no later than 5:15pm. If I am later than 5:15pm, the staff – are normally all wonderful, loving, warm people – turn ugly. If you arrive at 5:30, you may find your child wandering alone in the parking lot with a note stapled to their shirt. Well, not really. But, I’ve been threatened to the brink of it.
Back to my story. All was going swimmingly. We were getting so many great shots – swapping shirts in and out, laying the out perfectly, trying different backgrounds, color combinations and props, etc. – when suddenly, I looked at the time on my phone when I went to check for messages. {Insert string of profanity here}. The time was 4:58pm and I was a good hour away from reaching the daycare centers doorstep.
Later that evening, when I arrived home, my usually mild mannered, sweet mother-in-law had a few words for me. Mainly, she wanted to know if I owned a watch. Okay, I deserved that. Guilty. But how do I explain to my family and friends what “getting caught up in the creative process” is like? The room was dark, the lights were bright only on the set – ideas were being fired off – the energy is amazing as the images get better and better … and, well, you lose your sense of time and space. And I love that feeling.
Here are a few outtakes from our shoot:
Paul setting up just the camera for the overhead first shots round of 18 shirts. It takes a lot longer than one would think to get each shirt perfectly positioned with folds and creases exactly where we want them.
The beautiful color range in Wicker & Dunes’ first collection all steamed and ready to be photographed.
As Paul shoots, I am at the monitor editing, changing, directing each shot until perfect. Sometimes we drop images directly into the design file to make sure we have exactly what we need.
It was a bonus having Tiffany – one of Paul’s wardrobe stylists – on set to help out. We had an especially long shot list of images we needed in one day – and with Tiffany’s help, we got it done.
Paul is wonderful to work with – he is always pleasant, accommodating and funny. And when you met him, let him tell you about how he used to play bass in a band with Moby (true story) and pretend to act surprised (little joke).
The end result of a long day’s work?
Next shoot for Wicker & Dune, we are hitting the links.
I think I better get a babysitter for that one …
~Amy
