Thunderbird

The photos in our “Behind the Camera” section are included because of certain extremes and impossibilities that occurred during production that were overcome to accomplish a successful shoot, which should never be anything but pleasure and fun. The photo we are showcasing this month is one of twenty we shot on a day that was really the result of knowing how to work without a safety net.

We all know what hurry up and then wait means. This project was hurry up and then hurry up faster. As I was getting home on a beautiful summer Friday evening (the start of maybe a weekend), I checked in with my studio’s answering machine. My long time buddy, John Perkins from Concept Two Advertising left a message, that he “needed a good photographer-fast.” That meant I still had two more days to work that week.

We had this massively huge and detailed project to shoot by Wednesday of the next week. Nearly every line item number on our estimate form had a cost entry. Needing to accomplish more than two days worth of prepping could provide, I started what was possible on Saturday. We organized our make-up/hair people, clothing stylist and stage rental. We found the white’55 Thunderbird required with only one phone call! Everything started to come together as if I was James Bond on a good day. Having a great track record with resources and alliances is so important since this shoot would not have been possible without them. Our casting needed to be held on Monday afternoon, which meant talent agencies needed to be contacted early Monday morning. It was imperative that we received comps early so we could cull through our choices and then hope they appear for the casting that was being held only a few hours later. Good fortune was with us once more because most of our choices arrived for the casting and like a magic switch turning on, we knew who the perfect models were once they walked through the door. Imagine, now we had sizes for our stylist to find the wardrobe for six people with the luxury of only one day. Our wardrobe stylist, Rodrick, performed a fantastic feat. He of course rented and purchased a huge amount of clothing to let John and I decide upon. At this point, both John and I were ready to rock.

On the day of the shoot, the ”Levey Team” was in full swing. The Thunderbird arrived on time, the make-up artists Marcia Forbes and Lilian Laureano did a fantastic job with our fantastic talent and everybody had an extremely productive day, which even included fun. In four days, albeit two of them were a Saturday and Sunday, we pulled together a huge day of shooting.

Thank you to everyone who was involved.