"Get that magic light on your subjects as it peaks from behind the clouds - it's going to happen in about 3 minutes just before the sun sets, okay? And we need two different angles for the two art directors that you're working with right now." No problem!!
I had this opportunity recently while shooting various lifestyle photos for the Biltmore Estate for ads featuring their new Antler Hill Village. The assignment was to capture some lifestyle photos of people shopping, looking at art, and picnicking on the lawn while watching a band and enjoying a glass of wine. The catch was that in some situations I had to shoot the same scenes that filmmaker Paul Bonesteel was filming for a commercial - at the same time. Thankfully, Paul was gracious about having this photographer literally breathing down his neck trying to get the angle that "fit" within the scrims, etc that were set up. I had to be the silent photographer in these instances, as you can't have two people directing the same scene at the same time, obviously. One shot involved photographing three cute little kids devouring ice cream cones (now there is a dream shoot for a child: "Is your ice cream cone melting a little? Let me give you another, immediately"). It was an exercise in restraint to just shoot what was there vs. being able to interact with the children - it was a relief when Paul got what he needed and released them to me so I could let my bossy side out!
The "money shot", however, as art director Russ Shuler called it, was capturing a scene that involved about 30 models roaming around, while focusing in on one particular family "relaxing". Who can relax while a man with a video camera and megaphone is dangling above them in a cherry picker shouting out directions, while a female photographer is running on the sidelines trying to set up her own shot? My goal was to capture the feeling of a family enjoying themselves - relaxing on the picnic blanket, taking in the music of the band playing in the background, enjoying the wine being poured, and feeling free enough to let the kids run around joyfully. So, while asking the woman model to relax and snuggle with her husband, I bent down to talk to the two children, asking them to run in big circles around their parents so that I could create some motion in the photo. Did I mention that I was supposed to catch that brief "magic light" that happens as the sun is setting, peaking through the parting clouds, in the midst of all this chaos? Yes, I think I did.
