5 Major Cities
15 Days
40 Crew
116 Models
9 Flights
10,900 Air Miles
36,200 Captures
1.1 Terabytes of Raw Data
4 Great Ad Agency Folks
2 Wonderful Clients
1 Amazing Photographer: Jonathan Chapman!
This was undoubtedly the longest and most complex shoot of my career. It was a lot like producing five overlapping shoots all at once. We had 40 crew, and 116 models throughout the project. The task was to feature small business owners in different cities who perfectly represent the wide variety and unique characteristics that are so special to these personally owned merchants. Of course they were all great enthusiasts of American Express, and we had no problem finding plenty to photograph. We found businesses in big cities, new neighborhoods, historic districts, wintery main streets, and classic suburbia.
Over the 15 day project, we would shoot 2-3 businesses per day for two days, then travel on to the next metropolitan location. Lather, rinse, repeat. We did this again and again, five times over. Delta was good to us on all 9 flights and over 10,900 miles. We stayed in a few finer hotels, and a few that simply had a great location for us logistically. One hotel had a broken elevator and we were given rooms on the ninth floor; no joke. Everyone made themselves at home in the motorhome during the shoot day, and 15-passenger mega-van for cruising the town.
We created a hybrid crew of four traveling members, supplemented by talented locals in each city. Many of the locals impressed me greatly and I’m excited to hire many of them again in the future. The large volume of data management, proper storage, and multiple backups were a major task! Chris Worlow (digi tech) did a fantastic job keeping it all very organized, and ready for presentation to the creatives throughout each day. And we couldn’t ask for a better right-hand-man to see us through the whole trip than Eric Schleicher!
Our images are cycling through the Shop Small website at: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/
And you can find many American Express Shop Small supporting businesses in YOUR local area at: http://shopsmallnow.americanexpress.com/
Here are a few of my favorite images:
Behind the scenes (and more) because it’s a great story!
Crew, by City:
New York NY
Tara Trullinger (Location Scout), Wendy Oswald Kinney (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Stacy Beneke (Hair & Makeup Artist), Devon Laudenslager (Stylist Asst), Gabe McCabe (Production Asst), John Fontana (Photo Asst), Root Brooklyn (Equipment), Pink Hippo (Motorhome).
New Orleans LA
Peter Wilson /Emporia (Location Scout), Mark Hannibal (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Christy Hebert (Stylist Asst), Gina Crozier (Hair & Makeup Artist), Bryan Tarnowski (Photo Assistant), Chris Quackenbush (Production Asst), Jessica Lee (Production Asst), Available Lighting (Equipment), Thats A Wrap (Motorhome).
Denver CO
James Dewhirst (Location Scout), Emily Smoot (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Jess Eaton (Stylist Asst), Dana Copeland (Hair & Makeup Artist), Jon Rose (Photo Asst), Eric Casanova (Production Asst), Blaine Hein (Production Asst), LSI Lighting Services (Equipment), Helman’s Movie Suites (Motorhome).
Napa Valley CA
Patrick Sprinkel /Scout Napa Valley (Location Scout), Erika Scott (Wardrobe Stylist), Maggie SanFilippo (Stylist Asst), Tamara Brown (Hair & Makeup Artist), Josh Harding (Photo Asst), Mark Hough (Production Asst), Marie Luna (Production Asst), Sammy’s Camera (Equipment), SwiftLeslie (Motorhome).
Detroit MI
Thomas Moisides (Location Scout), Erica Pedrosi (Wardrobe Stylist), Sandy Bowman (Stylist Asst), Camille Milroy (Stylist Asst), Sharla Mohney (Hair & Makeup Artist), Natalie Henry (Hair & Makeup Asst), Gordon Rettie (Photo Asst), Matt LaVere (Production Asst), Brian Laforge (Production Asst), Detroit Power & Light (Equipment), EARS Enterprises (Motorhome).