Scheduling a photo shoot requires coordinating a lot of schedules and can lead to quite the drama at times. And in general success in life and in business requires not only skill, but also perseverance, and a willingness to go the extra mile on occasion even in light of adversity. Such was the case with a recent project.
This shoot had a full team (make-up, hair, wardrobe, model), meaning 6 schedules (including mine and studio time) that all had to be lined up. The planning for this shoot actually goes about 6 weeks back when the concept was selected and the original casting was done.
The original cast was done with model A. Everything looked good until T-4 days. Then a message from the model that she had to be out of town for an excusable reason. Back to the drawing board. Rescheduling for the models availability, or finding a different model? If the team is smaller, or if there are extremely unique requirements for model choice I would reschedule. But for a team of this size, that’s challenging. OK, so new model. But because this shoot involved wardrobe that was specifically bought to the model’s measurements, it meant I could only pick models that had the same height, same shoe size, same basic measurements, and also had the right look and class for the shoot . That’s a radically smaller pool to choose from (6’, shoe size 8.5, and about 125lbs). That left me with 3 choices in my virtual rolodex. Contacting models – model B was interested, but had to see if she could get someone to take her shift at work. Model C was interested. No word from model D. T-3 days. Heard back from model B that she was unable to find a shift replacement, so she’s out of the pool unfortunately. Plans final again with model C, disaster avoided. Phew!
Fast forward to T-1 day, afternoon. Call from model C – car broke down out of town, holiday weekend, can’t find a mechanic, will not make it back. %&$*@~!!! Now with less than 24hrs to go it’s increasingly harder with such a small pool to find a replacement. Model C still working out if there’s anyway she can get her car fixed. OK, keep me posted, but I need to make contingency plans, or this shoot isn’t going to happen.
Day of shoot, 6:40am, still no word from model C. Then an e-mail from model D, she hadn’t checked her e-mail, sorry, maybe another time. Well, I’m down to the wire, this didn’t sound like a firm no. Yes it’s 6:40am, but she just used e-mail. Pick up the phone call her. Short conversation. She doesn’t have gas money and has to be at school. Sorry. Hmm, that didn’t work. Still no solution, clock ticking.
7am, doing my round on Facebook. See status msg from model D that she feels like she just missed a great opportunity. Hmm, maybe it’s time to prove that success does require perseverance. Text model D – is the reason she’s not available the gas money or the school schedule? There may be ways around that. Answer: gas money. OK, Google Maps – she lives 2 1/2 hrs from here. But it’s a nice day, and I enjoy getting out of town every once in a while. So, re-arrange day schedule. Leave town at T-7hrs to pick up model. But she has to be back at school the next morning. So we shoot until 11pm, and then after cleaning up the studio, another 5hrs of driving to get the model back home. Finally home myself by 5:30am. One hour of sleep before the next day starts. On the way I pulled of the side of the road to get a quick break for the eyes. Trooper knocks on the window - ‘Just taking a nap?’, ‘Yes, just needed a quick break’. ‘No problem, just making sure you were ok’….
But I did get the shot. And in the end that’s all that counts:
Credits: Kayla (model), Stace (make-up), Jessee (hair), Hallie (wardrobe)
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