What happens when you get an assignment with a former runner up to miss California and the shoot is scheduled for the next day, you or I in this case cowboyed-up and started putting a plan together to get the images my client needed. A residential property management company that prides itself on providing luxury apartment and town home communities to people seeking all of the amenities of a small urban village living needed images that more or less glamorized some of the architectural elements of some of their units and community. On a previous assignment they had commissioned, their initial request was for straight architectural shots, simply beautiful details and interior photos of the units they planned to use for their marketing collateral. Normally I would jump on the assignment, no problem, no pre-shoot site visit needed, it's what I've been doing for years. Set-up my camera, wait for the light to be right, move a couple of strobe lights to provide some fill for the dark shadowed areas maybe also move some furniture around to provide the perfect composition in the foreground, a cinch, right. Until, I suggested - how about using some models or people for the photos, not really thinking a head of where I was going to find the talent on such a short notice. My client came back to me with, maybe we can use one model, depending on their rate. Thanks to a referral from a fellow women's swim wear supplier, Zanna was able to make it to the shoot and having the former swim suit modeling experience under her belt, made my client super happy, they were especially happy with the pool photos and as such requested another model for my latest assignment. This time instead of finding of having me scramble to find the talent, my client went directly to one of their preferred talent agencies that they have dealt with before and the next day former Miss California contender Ashley was at the site, towering in her pumps, she hovered well above my 5'10 diminutive size in comparison to her. With no assistant for the day, I went light, I mean, literally light. No large production equipment, simply a couple of Nikon speed lights and a manfrotto tripod, working quickly, checking my levels every time I switched camera angle or a light. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I was pressed for time since they only contracted Ashley for 2 hours. Luckily after all of the photos were checked off of the shot list, and having Ashley be willing to stay a little extra, I was happy, my client was happy and walked away with some great images that I was certain were going to turn out, just ok.
BG

