Behind The Scenes: Explore Wild Wear (2011). Model: Kathi
We don’t always like to admit that some of our best shots are not the ones we planned, but rather the ones resulting from some error occurring behind the scenes. For all the planning we do, sometimes fate takes over, and fate often comes with a sense of humor.
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 2px”]I never intended for Kathi to be inside the dumpster. On it, yes. Hiding behind it, yes. Inside the thing? No. That part was rather unintentional.
We were working on a series of mock ads that used seemingly careless situations to make a point. One had her standing in the middle of an intersection taking a selfie. Another had her walking into a street with a traffic cone on her head. Yet another had her “falling” off a mailbox. These came with tag lines such as, “Following your passion has challenges,” “When protection doesn’t fit, you’re doing it wrong,” and “Some moments are more exciting than others.” Each shot had an element of risk to it that we were able to mitigate through careful planning. At no point was the model in any serious risk of danger.
The shoot took place all over an urban neighborhood, encompassing several hours. This was one of those “you can’t believe what the photographer asked me to do” days and Kathi was a good sport going through multiple wardrobe changes and running from one set to another. We were both quite exhausted by the time we got down to the last concept, one which included a dumpster.
Dumpsters make for tricky props. First, they’re private property and therefore being in or on them technically constitutes trespassing; this is a safety issue to prevent people from sleeping in them and accidentally squished in the back of trash trucks. Second, they move which makes them dangerous and unpredictable. Third, one doesn’t always know what they’re going to find inside. Dumpsters have been known to attract both the disgusting and the bizarre. [/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 2px 0 8px”]Care had been taken to choose a dumpster that had been emptied earlier that day, served a business that wasn’t likely to be throwing away anything potentially hazardous or especially icky, and was facing the correct direction for waning sunlight. My concept originally had Kathi crouching behind the dumpster. Unfortunately, when we tried it the image lacked the punch I wanted. The dumpster was significantly larger than the crouching model, so the ratios appeared totally skewed.
After talking for a moment, considering the risks, Kathi agreed to try climbing on top of the dumpster. She felt certain that she would be able to balance along the side with no problem, something she was able to do long enough for me to drop five or six frames. Then, as she tried to actually stand on the edge of the dumpster, she lost her balance and chose to jump into the dumpster rather than risk falling. The shot of the jump itself wasn’t especially impressive, but this one, the moment she looked down and saw the rotting flowers on which she was standing, was perfect.
When fate intervenes in a photoshoot it often has a better idea. Kathi was a good sport and we ended up making the best of it as can be seen in the shot below. In fact, had she not jumped into the dumpster, I probably would have dropped this concept from the finished project. So, thanks to fate stepping in and gravity for doing its thing and giving us a shot better than what we had planned.[/one_half_last]
