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Back in the early 2010s, I was photographing calendars every year in the Dallas area for ExxonMobil. The timing was brutal: always in August with daytime high temps in the triple digits. Our goal was to shoot one truck super early in the morning, and another late in the evening. This schedule, when it was possible, provided us with the best light and least heat. Little did I know there was another, less obvious benefit, which I discovered on one project in a part of town known as Deep Ellum. The crew and I had arrived well before dawn and started setting up for our hero shot in front of Reno’s Bar and Grill. We were pretty oblivious to the other people wandering nearby.
A couple of hours passed, and we got plenty of images. At some point, well after we’d accomplished our goal, a police officer approached and suggested that we might want to pack up and head out because the area would soon be dominated by panhandlers and miscreants, who’d be all too happy to walk off with a camera or light or anything else of value. We took the officer’s advice and left with all of the gear accounted for – and numerous calendar-worthy images in “the can.”
A number of years ago, I was hired to photograph a super customized International road tractor immediately after a tradeshow in Las Vegas. The client wanted a beautiful setting that somehow conveyed a Vegas background, but there was just one “small” problem. The truck wasn’t street legal so any location had to be very close to the Convention Center, where the truck was on display. I “Google mapped” a number possible sites, looking for one that might work.
The most promising among these was the Las Vegas National Golf Course, which was just a mile or so away, well within my comfort level for moving an unlicensed truck on a public street. I knew we would need approval from the golf course’s management, so I visited the location early in the day and spoke with the general manager. After I made my request (aka pitch), he said, “The owners of this club allow no third party photography of the facility.” My heart sank. But then he added, “However, we close at 8 p.m., so you’re welcome to come back anytime after that to get your shot.” I regret that I didn’t get the guy’s business card because I certainly owed him a heartfelt “thank you” and maybe some money as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Photographers sometimes (often?) must go above and well beyond the standard level of duty to ensure that assignments are successful. This was the case for me about five years ago when a trailer manufacturer wanted images of several models that were scheduled to be displayed at the Mid America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ken. I was asked to photograph the trailers in appropriate settings in the Louisville area, but the plan had a few wrinkles: The client had no locations, no tractors (aka power units), no drivers – and, of course, no budget for any of this. Fortunately, Louisville has plenty of shippers and receivers that could provide perfect backdrops for the types of trailers we wanted to shoot, and I was able to sweettalk my way into three of them, offering nothing but sincere expressions of gratitude.
Luckily, finding tractors and drivers turned out to be equally easy and inexpensive. My friends at Navistar International had a huge display at the show that year, so I asked one my contacts there if the company would be willing to trade some equipment and manpower for photography after the show ended. To my great surprise and delight, the request was approved. We ended up with three tractors, a skilled and friendly driver – and, of course, great images for both of the manufacturers. It proves that a solid network of friends and associates is as good as gold – and sometimes better.