On the road again

I have had a few people enjoy my earlier post on my work/travel adventures. I wish I had done this blogging thing years ago. I have had lots of great experiences on the road that would have been good to share. Mmmm maybe I will dig in to my minds vault and drag a few of the old war stories out of hiding in coming months.

This week saw a return to the road. I have to say I am happiest when I shoot outside of New York. I am very lucky that magazines are willing to send me on my happy way. The more obscure and ordinary the place the better. It is a real privilege to land on some ones door in the middle of no where and be able to experience them and their lives however long or short my visit may be.

So here we go another action packed few days.

Sunday fly from NYC to Greensboro North Carolina for a Monday morning shoot. Evening flight out of La Guardia on my favorite airline US Airways, not. I have to say that a Sunday is probably the easiest day to get out of La Guardia. The car service driver is an ass, he arrived in a large Mercedes Benz (which has a small boot (trunk) for such a big car, I don't travel with a lot of gear, it all fits into a Lincoln Towncar no trouble) we get all the gear in and I always put the camera bag (Tenba shoulder bag) on the back seat with me, cozy, but he was having none of it. My bag was going to scratch up his fucking leather. So we had a small row, he took off and I got on the phone with dispatch. They sent a replacement, which took a while and clarified that company policy allowed for me to place my bag on the seat if I so wished. It was now 3.15pm we had a 5pm flight. The ride from my place in the East Village takes 20 minutes with no traffic. We sail over the Williamsburg bridge but the BQE is a nightmare, chock a block, one fender bender after another on each side. Shit now I am worried, will we make it. Slow going till the LIE and then we are off, thank fuck, I have never missed a flight, not to say there haven't been hairy moments. The flight is delayed of course but only slightly so we made it in plenty of time in the end.

Short flight, staying @ The Marriott downtown, pretty standard but pricey $ 169.00 a night. I know I am not picking up the tab but still I wouldn't be too jazzed if this was coming out of my own pocket. When I travel I usually do some advance research on my dining options, Chowhound is the best for this, its amazing what you can come accross. Roadside taco shacks in suburban Yuma Arizona spring to mind instantly whilst on GQ baseball shoot (below) tasty. Nothing came up for Greensboro but further research elsewhere unearthed Stameys Barbecue, but it was closed on Sundays, bummer. We (my assistant Joel and I) managed to find the happening strip. There were plenty of choices, a few reasonable looking restaurants and bars all with roof decks, its a college town and apparently Thursday night is party night in case you were wondering. We settled for Natty Greene's Pub and Brewing and the pork sandwich, yummy and a cold beer.

Tuesday breakfast, we had got a recommendation from a customer at the bar the night before. I always try and go where the locals go although sometimes they are more enamoured by chains like TGI Fridays and the Outback Steakhouse then the local hole in the wall, why would you ever want to go there ? Food was reasonable but expensive $ 26.00 for two, I had an omelet Joel some biscuits a side of bacon, we both had coffee and an orange juice. Seemed a little steep to me the dinner the night before was only $ 20.00 including beers.

The shoot was south of town. I won't go into details but we are in Nascar country so I will leave it at that. Had some minor technical difficulties in the midst of the action and had a lens pack it in. No worries after a quick change but it was still challenging shoot.

We finished up in the allotted time and managed a fine lunch back in town at Stameys (above) excellent BBQ, a short but concise menu. Joel and I had the sampler, BBQ chicken, pork, hush puppies and Carolina style vinegar slaw. In case you were wondering I do like food and I like to cook. Eating on the road is tough and it is hard to be healthy. One feels like you deserve a treat for all the effort you are putting in. I try but it is a battle, tasty greens are hard to find at times.

Back to the airport, what a cluster fuck, put some signs up Greensboro ! We were so close but yet so far. Apparently its an International airport so adequate signage for the visiting foreign masses would be appreciated. Flight was on time back to NYC.

Tuesday working on work and getting set to head out again 6.05pm flight to Des Moines Iowa from La Guardia. This time we leave plenty early, get an SUV for the gear so as to avoid another incident and take the mid town tunnel, smooth ! I get the call on the way out the three area airports have been shut down to arrivals and departures, weather ! Wheres the fuckin weather ? I don't see nothing not a cloud in my sky, no mention of anything when I checked online earlier. The airports a madhouse as people line up to rebook but we are showing as on time. Check in swiftly and head down to the food court on the lower level, we have time. From our vantage point there is some activity on the tarmac. Planes are lining up for departure but none are landing an ominous sign but we are still looking good. Time to head through security and to the gate. Anyways now its time for our fortunes to change. Showing a delay now, 1 hour no worries. Only problem at this part of the airport, American Airlines concourse, is that once you go through security your dining/drinking options are slim. There is no bar ! and we have been told to stay close to the gate as our situation could change in an instant, unlikely ! Then comes a gate change, a further delay another gate change and at last our plane is on its way, it has just left Boston and will be with us shortly, yipee. More musical chairs with a further gate change but they turn it around quickly and we are all aboard, its close to 10pm at least we will make an hour up with the time change.

Wednesday, got in early that morning, straight to bed at The Holiday Inn Downtown, sort of kind of, $ 100.00 per night and it feels it, but I am tired have a king bed and a mirrored wall next to it, retro chic.

We had an afternoon shoot so we had an easy morning. Joel did the Chowhound so we had fine breakfast choices. The top sounding spot it turns out was no longer in existence had been knocked down and replaced by a spanking new condo building, you got to check the date on the postings, but he was prepared and had a back up, nice one ! The Waveland Cafe on University. Taking the healthy route I opted for 2 fried eggs, country ham, hash browns, Joel went for the biscuits again this time topped off with scrambled eggs and we had coffees and orange juices. Excellent, top class breakfast, simple, super tasty and this was only $ 18.00. I do not eat like this at home by the way in case you are wondering.

As luck would have it this time I was photographing another race car related story, this time for a different magazine. We had a 3.00pm call time @ the Iowa Speedway 40 minutes east of town and our subject was due on set at 5.00pm and we would have him for all of two hours ! It was a glorious day with puffy clouds moving across the sky but there was a strong wind pummeling the track. We were shown possible locations by the track PR and now time to meet the race team PR and get the plan sorted. Everything was a little unorganized only to be compounded by the fact that as this was a race weekend, certain rules and regulations were now in play and it had been mandated that all cars needed to be in parc ferme (quarantine) at 6.00pm to prevent the mechanics doing extra work on them. Turns out work time is regulated so its an equal playing field for everyone. Also the teams had just arrived track side that afternoon and hadn't set up their pit boxes so the place was a little empty and devoid of race day atmosphere.

We settled on a spot on pit lane, got the car on site about 4.45pm and the driver would be with us shortly. I had my lighting set up worked out and had an idea of what I needed to do. Not to bore you with technicalities I normally use two camera set ups. A Hasselblad 503cw (has the winder on the side, removable) this has a prism and I use an on camera flash mounted to this. The second is a 553elx (winder built in on the bottom) which I use with the waist level finder and a Q Flash connected via pocket wizards (remotes). We had decided on set up #1 due to the wind. We were doing a couple of test polaroids and then CLUNK ! The winder stopped and the mirror locked up and lens jammed. Shit ! No time to panic. The one design flaw in the 503 set up is that you cannot remove the winder when the lens is on and now the whole thing is locked up, time to get the tool out and to try and unlock the beast. But first I decide to change the winder batteries which appears to do the trick. The camera kicks into life an off we go again. Two polaroids later CLUNK ! Fuck same again, try more batteries and again same thing happens, I play around with the batteries manage to get the camera fired up decide to take the lens off and move on. Time to use the back up 503cw. So off we go and all sounds good. When you have worked so long with a camera you become in tune with the sounds it makes, I find I can usually detect a fault if it appears to be missing a beat, intuition I guess. Everything sounds good then CLUNK. Fuck ! The subject has arrived on set and he's a couple of minutes behind schedule so I am up against the clock already. We have to change set ups move on to the 553elx and alter the lighting package. The driver is super young and very sweet, not panicked we engage in chat mostly about motor sport (see my Dan Patrick post below) and start the session.

Here's the thing, I know I have at least 50 minutes with him and the car all I need is one frame from at least two different set ups and the magazine will be happy ? time to be calm and focused. And we are off ! But oh no we are not, now the pocket wizards are acting up. I have a back up to the back up but all this changing is cutting in to time and disrupting my flow. The first few polaroids are ok, everything needs to be finessed, finally about 5.30pm we are looking good !

In a session like this I have been given certain scenarios the magazine wants covered, driver in car, driver next to car, driver on own no car. Pretty straight forward but one needs to take a decent image and make it a little special. For me I start out with a plan and then see where we go, observe the subjects idiosyncrasies his mannerisms all the while looking @ whats going on around and see if I can incorporate some of the happenings into the shot. I am not a high concept shooter, I do not come with big ideas, ok sometimes I bring a few props, I like to think I find found moments although the shots are mostly staged. Joel was gracious enough to say that I/we have a habit of making something out of nothing. Its always a team effort no matter who I have working with me. We have worked together on a lot of fab shoots over the last couple of years and have been in plenty of tricky spots but have always pulled through. I enjoy the challenge. That's the thing with editorial photography there usually isn't the time to get to the heart of a subject. You got to work with what you got and make something of it. Its not always going to be a winner, it can't be but as long as you did everything in your power to make it the best photograph you could take given all the circumstances and have no regrets when its all over. Don't forget you can always ask someone to do something, worst they can do is say no and I never force anyone to do anything they are not comfortable with.

6.00pm and the car is rolled back to its trailer and put to bed. I continue to shoot portraits in and around and am in the groove. I know when its going well for me, it feels free and easy I see things and scenarios quick, don't give the subject time to think. Its 6.30pm and he's done, losing interest but more importantly I am done. The guys mother who has been observing the action was kind enough to come up to me after all was over and compliment me on my work ethic and how much effort I had put in to the shoot. That was very nice of her and I could tell she really meant it.

So after a rocky start everything settled down, no panic that is the key. Not to say that there is never panic. Every now and again things go wrong, there is no avoiding it, see my earlier post on why I no longer judge other photographers work when you see it published in a magazine here. One usually has a long period where the cameras function seemlessly but then all of a sudden out of the blue all hell breaks loose. Breakdowns will happen it is inevitable and its always at the most inopportune time. I travel with back ups to the back up but it still can be dicey you can never be too prepared.

It feels like we have been standing in the sun all day. The track is a concrete bowl, it wasn't super hot but between the wind and the adrenaline Joel and I feel we packed a full day in to a couple of hours. Time to treat ourselves, back in to town for some low calorie food.

Whats it going to be ? When in Des Moines it has to be the infamous 1lb sausage sandwich at true hole in the wall 'Kellys Little Nipper' on E 17th street. We both settle for the 1/2 lb version and fries. Its serious eats, tasty seasoned sausage meat with sauce, cheese and peppers on a locally prepared french loaf. Its really good. I can't finish mine but the bubbly bud lite drafts go down real easy. Honestly these beers were carbonated, fizzy fizzy fizzy. This place is a true dive, open kitchen next to the bar, hard living locals, everyone smoking, pool table smack bang in the middle, the jukebox banging out rock classics. This place was a real find.

It was still early, time for a night cap. We settled on El Bait Shop with its 100 beers on tap. We stayed for one and enjoyed a few songs from local band Brother Trucker. I have to be honest there appears to be a vibrancy in the downtown area lots of restaurants and bars, its pretty happening but we were of course a little early to see the revelry in full effect. Thursday and Friday nights are the choice evenings apparently.

Thursday, wake up 3.45am for a 6.05am flight back to La Guardia. Flights delayed by a half hour, minimal but adequate food court at the airport. Smooth but full flight to NYC. Ah back in civilisation as always great to be home but ready to go again. It always feel like I have been gone for an age its only been 36 hours since we left, its amazing how many experiences can be had in such a short time.