| Almost anything can trigger ideas for concept stock | | | | office, which was actually limited to the reception area. |
| photography. While planning a recent stock trip to | | | | We had the woman tango dancer, her young |
| Buenos Aires, it seemed everyone kept asking me if I | | | | daughter, and a man tango dancer. The fourth model |
| was going to shoot tango. Yet, for whatever reason, | | | | was to meet us later at the second location. This was |
| tango was not appealing to me. But because I was | | | | a pretty low-key shoot. Just Paula and me, our models |
| being asked so much I decided to see if there was | | | | and one ProFoto 7b power pack with two heads. We |
| something there that did appeal to me. | | | | were shooting with a Canon 5D. We spent an hour in |
| I started trying to think outside the box, so to speak, | | | | the office shooting tango dancing, mother and |
| about how I could put my own spin on some Tango | | | | daughter at work, and both the woman and the man |
| dancers. Cliché’s appeal to me, and one popped | | | | karate-kicking the monitor (with the help of a little |
| into mind. “It takes two to tango”. There might be | | | | post-shoot Photoshop work). |
| something there. Plus, dancing can be a metaphor for | | | | Following the office portion of the shoot, we left for |
| teamwork, an essential and always needed business | | | | the nearby Puerto Madera section of Buenos Aires. |
| concept. I could have them holding a contract and pen | | | | This is a trendy waterfront area with lots of new |
| to indicate sealing the deal, agreement and negotiation. | | | | shops, cafes and a cool suspension footbridge. We |
| Plus, tango also has that dramatic element to it. | | | | started with a little tango dancing on the bridge and |
| I started picturing tango in an office. It could be | | | | then switched to a fight scene between the men, |
| dramatic and conceptual. Might be worth investigating | | | | again using the ProFoto 7b. After a half hour of |
| further. The next step for me is to see if I can base a | | | | shooting a security guard ushered us off the bridge. |
| shoot around the tango concept. It occurred to me that | | | | We then shot various activities in the immediate |
| tango dancers are, or at least probably are, athletic. | | | | surrounding area including working at a laptop at an |
| Maybe I could add in some other “athletic” shots | | | | outdoor café and strolling by the shops with mother, |
| in. One technique I use for brainstorming is to think of | | | | father and daughter. There was also a business park |
| opposite. One opposite of two people dancing | | | | and we used the buildings as a background and had |
| is…fighting. | | | | the models on each other’s shoulders with the top |
| At this point I felt I had enough to base a shoot around. | | | | person scanning the horizon, some more fighting |
| I had my Argentine producer (and fellow shooter), | | | | scenes, and, to finish up, shot the models sprinting |
| Paula Zacharias, check on models and an office we | | | | towards and past the camera. |
| could shoot in. She found two tango dancers both of | | | | A simple half-day shoot with free locations and model |
| who also know some martial arts. One of them | | | | fees amounting to $150.00. Not bad! I got 35 selects |
| suggested another friend of theirs who was also a | | | | into Blend Images. The images recently went up so I |
| martial artist. We decided to go with the three of them. | | | | don’t have any sales information yet but I am |
| When the woman tango dancer asked if she could | | | | confident, from experience of two things. First, these |
| bring her young daughter to the shoot we decided to | | | | images will sell. Second, you never know if an image is |
| add some mother daughter shots as well. | | | | going to sell. Hmmmm…. |
| It turned into a really fun shoot. We started in the | | | | |