THE MAKING OF AN ADVERTISING PHOTOSHOOT IN DENVER
Before a COVID pandemic forced mask wearing, I was commissioned to manage a Denver commercial photography production for national brands. A Houston based advertising and marketing agency called The Company Of contacted me to bid on an advertising photography project. Although my proposal was higher than many others, I won the bid (thanks to a friend’s crossed fingers).
The commercial photoshoot aimed at creating marketing imagery for Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mr. Sparky Electricians and One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating. At that time, the ad-agency called The Company Of was in the process of being acquired by 9th Wonder, “a global strategic marketing, media and idea company with seven long hallways.”
To call advertising and commercial photography prestigious or glamorous is something of a misnomer. In my long career as a Denver commercial photographer, very few advertising photography productions have been as alluring or seductive as the kind shown on Mad Men. Of course, a Denver commercial photography production does not carry with it the same glittering eminence as in Manhattan or the west coast. Commercial photography assignments in Colorado are often aimed at creating traditional and familiar imagery.
Lifestyle photography for advertising photoshoot in Denver home.
Advertising photoshoots are usually a big production. And the Denver commercial photography production for Ben Franklin, Mr Sparky and One Hour was no exception. I paid the owners of a large mansion to use their home for the three day photoshoot. Then, I hired a make-up artist, a stylist, an assistant photographer, and a gaffer. I even hired producer Kari White to organize meals, track the shot list, manage the 6 models (talent) and the real technicians, plumbers and electricians. The ad agency flew in an art director and representatives from all three clients. All together, I had 26 people working together on this project.
My History…
Growing up in a photographer’s family I worked in my father’s Denver portrait studio. I processed film in the darkroom, finished large photographs on canvas and assisted on location Denver portrait and commercial photoshoots away from the studio. I helped carry equipment, set up umbrella lighting and eventually began making commercial photographs myself. These were the days long before digital photography. In fact, we used 4×5 cameras (one shot at a time) for interior, architectural photography and for large group portraits.
It must be interesting for young photographers in this century to fathom a photoshoot without instant feedback from an LCD screen. Or maybe it’s just dull for them to hear about pre-digital photography.
My first assisting gig ouside of my family photography operation was for a magazine photographer. I was just 18 at the time, so being asked to assist for a Penthouse Magazine photographer was pretty titillating. The first few minutes were, in fact, exhilerating. But once we really started working, the photoshoot was just as tedious as other photoshoots. Denver commercial photography projects are all hard work.
Part of the Denver commercial photography project was to create worker portraits designed to be used in print and web advertisements.
The advertising and commercial photography project for 9th Wonder was as detailed and exhaustive as any other. Actors from local talent agencies poesed as home owners while the sercice technicians were actual plumbers from One Hour Plumbing. Art director Carrie Caposino gave me a shot-list of presise ideas. And each item on the shot-list needed to be done with each actor/plumber combination. This part of the photoshoot was like producing a catalogue.
In the sequence below, I intentionally left in a shot that was nixed at the time. Notice the first shot (which was never even sent to the ad agency). From my low angle perspective, the service technician (Austin) has a porch light coming out of his head. So I used alternate angles as each shot was repeated sveral times. Throughout the three-day photoshoot, there was always an assistant or an art director behind me looking out for things I might have missed.
This foursome of images depict a set of image-ideas from the shot list. Actors posed as home owners while the sercice technicians were acual plumbers from One Hour Plumbing and Bejamin Franklin. Each idea from the shot-list had to be photographed many times using every actor and each service worker compination. This part of the photoshoot was like producing a catalouge.
In addition to the home-location part of the project, the advertising agency also wanted white seamless studio portraits of the service workers.
See more commercial and advertising photography on our main website HOME DeCroce Photography or COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Other posts about Denver commercial photography: Commercial Advertising Photographer, Commercial Photography During The Pandemic, Commercial Bee Photography Project, Commercial Photography for Oil and Gas
