I can maneuver my way around a stock photo site with the best of them. I know all of the ins and outs - my favorite places to look for that "almost" perfect image. I know how to tweak the search words just so, to convey the difficult concept I'm attempting to portray...granted, I inevitably end up with pages and pages of shockingly bad images to sort through (at least one naked person, several monkeys on bikes and circa 80s headshots no matter what my search topic happens to be).
I do all of this because my clients often need images fast and cheap, especially now that dollars need to stretch and budgets are becoming reminiscent of 1992. Needless to say, stock images have their place.
However, there are times when custom photography can't be beat. When these opportunities arise, I get to stand up from my chair, kiss my computer goodbye and do a photoshoot (one of my favorite aspects of this job). Not only is it exciting to create the perfect image, but it's also a wonderful opportunity to see another side of your client and the actual tangible product, service, facility you have been working so hard to promote.
I've had a lot of these opportunities in my years as a designer, but most recently I got the chance to photograph a new hospital on the verge of opening, and a community that fought hard to get that hospital opened. I was able to see the excitement from community members, the incredible facility and the passion and commitment of the staff - all of which were rewarding to witness.
Here are some shots of the crew (myself, the photographer and client) hard at work behind the scenes.
That's me in the back of an ambulance getting a "tour" from one of the hunky EMT guys we had just finished photographing.
We needed to shoot the cozy lobby area of the hospital...but since the hospital wasn't open yet (or finished), we had to make due with the low budget models on hand...that would be me. (My newspaper prop happened to have one of the ads I had just done for the hospital we were shooting that day, an ad within an ad within an ad!)
We had to "bunny suit up" for the shots in the OR. Bunny suits, by the way, add at least 300 lbs or so on camera...however, after we finished our shoot, the client and I seized the moment to get our self esteem back and get our badass on.
| posted by rosanneolson on 03.12.10 at 14:44 |
| HI Sara,
You look beautiful and effervescent as always. All my best,
Rosanne |
