Being in NYC each day was more exciting then working at the Photo Studio and most days I had more adventures before and after work then I did at work.
After two weeks I had already built most variations of the standard set ups a number of times and only once and while after that would I do anything really different.
The junior photographers did most of the table top shots and set them up themselves.
Cans of soup, piles of towels or a spread of some exciting “New” or “Improved” products across a table, WILD.
One of my favorite products was a painted wooden mock-up of a new Game Boy type hand held toy that had not even been made yet, but because the Christmas catalogues were made in June and July, things were planed ahead and the manufacturer was hoping that the toy would be ready by December.
You might think it would be hard to get Christmas decorations in the summer, but remember this was NYC and you can get anything you want at any time, you may have to look a little but when you find it you know that you pay a lot for it.
For one project the designer had me take a long subway ride out to far the ends of Brooklyn to find a place that would sell us old telephone poles that we had cut down to 3 or 4 feet.
They were to be used as part of a dock set and without a problem they were cut and delivered the next week.
The pole pieces might seem a little odd to people looking at what was coming into a building on Park Ave, but it was the 12 foot row boat that was truly fun to watch as the movers tried to get it in the freight elevator and up to the 15th floor.
During a busy period and needing more room for a project, the Studio rented an empty floor in our building to put up a large set that was too big for our regular space.
I did not do a lot of work in the fashion studios as most shots were simply done in front of any number of colored seamless paper roles that the Studio had.
For one special shot they paid to have 6 inch squares of gold leaf glued on a 4 x 8 piece on Masonite.
We all joked that it looked like Ring Ding wrappers (back then they were still wrapped in foil) and that it would have been a lot cheaper to do.
A lot of photo tricks that the photographers did back then can be done in Photoshop these days, but in 1981 we still had to do some things the hard way or sometimes maybe the crazy way.
One standard trick was doing double exposures with a background slide in the camera which resulted in any kind of image they wanted outside of windows.
For one shot in the fashion studio I was asked to put up a wall with a fireplace in it.
Real wood logs were in the fireplace sitting on a piece of plywood over the carpeting that was part of the set.
During the actual shot I was asked to stand behind the wall spraying lighter fluid down on the logs that had been painted with rubber cement and set afire.
For a few seconds there would be a big whoosh of flames, the photos taken and the fire quickly put out.
I was told that they did this all the time and that the fire they had the previous year was not all that bad.
It was not too surprising when the company comptroller gave me the details about the payoffs to the fire and other building inspectors and of course it was the UPS delivery man who was the local bookie and handled the football pool.
I did win twenty bucks one week.
I would need to go to the comptroller’s office almost every day to get purchase orders to buy paint or other items for the various shots, all of which had to be assigned to a specific account for each of the clients.
People seemed to gather in that office, there was always a lot of goofing off there and we often played darts.
Everyone would put up a dime on the table and take a shot and whoever was closest won the dimes.
One day while a bunch of us were playing darts the company president walked in and almost got hit by a dart.
Instead of yelling at us to get back to work he said:
“I’m sorry, I’ll come back later”
It is no wonder that the company had problems.
The fashion models were an interesting group.
The women always came in sweats with their high up or pulled back and then would spend an hour or more with the stylists in the dressing rooms and then come out for 10 minutes of work in front of the camera.
The male models always came in well dressed, with great tans.
I remember way day in the elevator hearing one model tell another that he had just gotten back from Greece where he had been working on his tan and what a great time he had there.
This was a time before tanning salons, tuff life.
There was an area of the Studio that had all the headshot books from the different modeling agencies in the City and each model had her own page with several photos of her in different poses and looks.
Account reps would work with clients to pick out several choices for each set-up.
The rep would then call the agencies and see who was available.
“I’ll take blonde number 15, 28 and 34 and brunette numbers 23, 57 and 109”.
One time we were doing a towel shot where the model was to stick her upper body through a hole in the table and wave her arms at all the pretty merchandise.
The model got to the Studio, saw the set-up and said “I don’t do towels” and left.
The junior photographers were always more than willing to make a few extra dollars to work as hand models when a shot called for it.
We did bring in a special “Leg Model” for one shot.
Leg and arm models were usually a bit older, maybe in their 30’s, but still had great limbs and the good ones always had work.
Watching a fashion shoot is fun because they will do anything to make the clothes fit and look right on the model.
They will cut a suit coat right up the back or use spring clamps to pull fabric tight.
Weights might be added to the hems of skirts to pull them down just right.
Food shots are also surprising in what they do.
Lard is sometimes used in place of ice cream and turkeys are basted in dish soap and cooked just enough to give then just the right color and texture.
There was a story that someone tried to eat a turkey after a shot and got very sick.
We all liked it when there was a shot with fresh fruit and veggies because everyone got to take some home after the shot was done.
Like in Theatre, the result only has to look right from the front and point of view of the camera lens and if is not seen then it may not be there and products might be (usually were) enhanced to look good.
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