Behind The Lens: Photographing the Journey
When the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation asked us to create a poster to promote its license plate, we welcomed the opportunity to put on our advertising hats and have some fun. Much of the work we do here at M Creative is intended to encourage reflection, tap into subtle emotions, and quietly communicate sometimes difficult messages. Excited by the opportunity to be creative in a different way, this time we decided to tickle the funny bone (while still giving a good tug at the heart strings).
M Creative presented three concepts in “rough” form—hand-drawn illustration and type—in order to establish a clear creative direction. As soon as the client saw the concept we ultimately decided upon, she burst out in laughter. We had a winner! The concept demonstrated that a wide variety of people enjoy, and can help protect the Blue Ridge Parkway, by showing two ostensibly opposite personalities—a Hell’s Angel-type biker and a sweet little old lady—standing together in front of a Parkway overlook holding a BRPF plate. We all agreed that if the poster could capture the viewer’s attention and offer a chuckle, it would stand out among the dry, informational signage at the License Plate Agency.
The first step in putting together a photo shoot, after a rough has been approved, is creating a shot list. This includes a detailed description of the models (age, height, weight, hair color), clothing, props, location (if outside, cardinal orientation), lighting and time of day. We’ll often attach a few images for reference as well, that show the style, angles, and feel we’re trying to achieve. In this case, we were fortunate enough to be working with an exceptional photographer, Jonathan Burton, 2010 PPA Photographer of the Year, whose work included several images we could reference for style, lighting and overall feel. The staff of BRPF worked diligently to round up our models and all of our props, including a candy apple red vintage Chevrolet and a beautiful bright green Harley Davidson. An outside contact discovered a possible “little old lady” model, who turned out to be a perfect fit — an 89 year old Winston-Salem resident who confessed to the art director that she “really liked to drive fast.”
Determining the exact time and location for a shoot requires a good amount of thought. Our scheduled date of mid-October was perhaps a little late—we were on the cusp of losing all of our brilliant fall leaves to be left with a backdrop of barren branches. Choosing the best time of day in the mountains is also tricky because lighting conditions are difficult to predict (let alone the weather). Because we wanted intense shadows and highlights, an early evening shot using a combination of natural and artificial lighting made the most sense. At the recommendation of the photographer, we decided upon 5pm.
It turned out to be a beautiful fall day with hardly a cloud in a deep blue sky. The dramatic view East from our spot on the Parkway, the backdrop of our shot, was of lower ranges still vibrant with fall color intensified by the golden light of the sun. Our models put on their costumes—the “little old lady” was quite mobile and had perfect vision, so we had to dress her up more like the character we had in mind, providing her with glasses and a cane. The car and motorcycle were carefully positioned to fit within the vertical format of the poster frame, not to cover the landscape, nor to be hidden behind the models.
Jonathan first shot with his telephoto lens from across the Parkway. He wanted to be far enough out, and high enough up, to fully include the landscape. Telephoto lenses collapse distances between foreground, midground and background elements, having an equalizing effect. For this shot, the telephoto effect reduced our models and the license plate to a less than ideal size. Jonathan later opted to stand on a ladder and shoot using a wide angle lens, with our models standing closer to the vehicles and the overlook. Jonathan used a Vagabond portable power system with a remote flash and umbrella stand, as well as a second flash placed behind the models to illuminate the vehicles.
We were very pleased when we received the images from the shoot. The models and vehicles looked great, the lighting dramatic, the landscape clearly visible. Jonathan’s team did some Photoshop work to reposition the motorcycle in the background, which was not an easy task as the shadow of the bike had to move with it. They also made the grass in the foreground a little greener and added a subtle distressed vignette.
That’s everything that goes into a single shot. In some instances, there’s much more. We’re accustomed to thinking of movies as very involved productions, but sometimes we forget the work that goes into a well-crafted shot. And the fact is, the potency of single image can often be greater than 90 minutes of film.
Jon Hyland is one of the talented designers here at M Creative.
To learn more about the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation license plate, please visit brpfoundation.org/tag-program.
