Break On Through...

Atlas was holding the weight of the world on his shoulders, and then he decided to jump from the cover of the '09 Chicago Creative Directory (CCD). I thought I 'd help him with his jump and make this cover really memorable. Our CCD image had quite a team working with Atlas, including some great pigeons. They drew the "2009 ".  

Our photo worked similar to a 3D chalk drawing technique on pavement. By using dimension, shading and perspective from a single POV, we brought the flat image of Atlas to life. We created the illusion of Atlas breaking through the book 's cover to the other side, in view of all onlookers.

Many photographs were taken to accomplish this task, as well as our own need to jump over some unexpected hurdles. After scouting many plazas, the Daley Plaza (Chicago) was decided upon. As always, I covered (even during scouting) the location from many angles, including pigeons.  My scouting photos were actually used as the background for our final shot. You see, the fountain's water was colored deep orange for Halloween when we needed to shoot our models. Plus, the day was cloudy (almost overcast), compared to the original "plaza" location shoot. Our models were the crew of the CCD staff, along with some very kind clients/ friends of mine. The orange water, tall metal fences, show stage and huge speakers was our background.

The "in our face" real problems needed to equal out into solutions.  Once we all stopped laughing about how the orange squirting water, fences, etc. couldn't have been any less timely, specific editing and Photoshop were used to assemble our final photo. I felt like the world's weight was lifted from my shoulders. Too bad though...so for Atlas, he's still doing his Atlas thing with the globe. All the individual images of our photo: the globe, chalk, directory, a few pigeons, and some very expressive models needed sizing, perspective and shading. Thanks to all who took part, our studio's third consecutive CCD cover came to life.  

Now that the 2009 Chicago Creative Directory is out, be sure to say hi to the big guy walking the streets with the world on his back.