A Great Shoot- 200th Post!

What a posting for the 200th. Unfortunately, I am unable to show the final results because it is for an ad that will come out in six months time or something like that. However, this shoot was different from any that I have seen in Chicago. In fact it was different from anything that I have ever seen in real life before.

We were back at Essanay sound stage 2. We were shooting 2 still life shots for an ad. One was of a house that had been burgled. The other was a bathtub overflowing. The ads were for an insurance company. This is the first time I have seen sets purpose built for a shoot. And not just that, the sets were built and then wrecked!! How cool is that?

Paul is a portrait photographer but he was trained by a still life photographer. He likes taking this type of job once in a while because it is a change of scene for him and he enjoys it.

However, more than that, I have never seen a person light a set before. This is the first time I have ever seen it.


This was the lighting for the overflowing bath shoot. There are 4x4800 watt powerpacks with four heads pointing into an umbrella! It looks like something from the matrix. I had to look after the packs to make sure the power charges up between each shot and the POP of the flash was loud. There was once Paul popped a shot when I was not expecting it and nearly jumped out of my skin!

There was a 'rigger' named Jay, who used a pump to make the effect of overflowing water. It was amazing, he made a small shelf around the edge of the bath tub and pumped water into the shelf to overflow. He used vaseline to control exactly where the water was overflowing. The he channeled the water of the ground and knew how to make the water flow just right!


This is overhead lighting for the room that was broken into. You can see that the umbrella is relatively simple, but there is so much use of flags and black cardboard to shape the light onto the set and wall!

Paul had a blast breaking the set to pieces. I think that is why he took the job!! He was pumped up.



The shoot went swimmingly well and the work day ended at a reasonable hour. Jason, Shin and I decided to go out for dinner. We had sushi at a swish joint. I did not take a photo but I had the greatest beef maki. :)


After dinner, we hung out a t a hookah joint. I have never done anything like this before, but what the heck, it is only a herbal smoke. It was like inhaling gaseous strawberries. We had a hoot trying to blow smoke rings. None of us had a clue.


It was nice to go out with Jason and Shin instead of coming back to the apartment by myself. They promise to take me out again to see more of the nightlife of Chicago. Looking forward to it. :)