I've just returned from teaching in Boston for Nikonians and a week of teaching for Maine Media Workshops. I managed to squeeze a couples days at home and today I find myself on yet another plane. My flight tonight was full, all 15 of us. I'm headed to Sidney, MT for a 3 day assignment shooting pipeline work.
This social media thing is great, the client I'm shooting for find me through my blog. This is actually the third job I'm shooting for him. Rick has been a long time reader of my blog, he like my industrial work and my use of small strobes in cleaver ways.
Sidney, MT is a small town, so small that I was unable to find a hotel room available in town. I'm having to drive about 50 mile south to the town of Glendive to find a room. This is going to add an additional hour on both sides of the day, sunrise and Sundown.
You might be interested in how these sort of assignments come about and how much direction I'm provide. This is the third time I'm shooting for this client, they found me by reading my blog. Isn't social media great!
The company I'm shooting for is a pipeline company, they are in the process of laying pipe in the ground somewhere in North Dakota. My client has provided me with a short list of activities going on associated with the project that they would like photographed. They have also provided me a contact at their local office in Sidney, MT.
I phoned the local contact to introduced myself a few days ago and again today. It is important to me to make this call, get to know the sort of person I'll be dealing with. It is also my opportunity to find out more specifics regarding what is actually happening on the ground. I also take this opportunity to assure them that I know what I'm doing and that I have all my own personal perfection equipment.
Through these photo conversations with my local contact, I've learned that the crews working on the pipeline start about 6:30 AM and end at about 4PM. This tells me that if I want some late sunset images with people in the photos, I'll need to arrange a few guys to hang around as models. This is where a couple of 6 packs come in handy.
I've made arrangements to meet my contact at 7AM tomorrow morning, I'll have to have the mandator safety meeting before we head out to see the project. It will be during this time that I make GPS notes where certain activities are taking place, I want to be able to return on my own to photograph as I wish. I prefer to shoot without an escort, I think it's boring for them and a waste of their time to hang around. We'll see how things go. DT
