There isn’t a show that gets the Wonderful Machine office buzzing more than AMC’s The Walking Dead. So when I came across some recent Dead images on Harold Daniels’s website, I was beyond excited. I immediately contacted Harold to get the scoop on this zombie-filled shoot.
It turns out, the job wasn’t for an entertainment magazine spread or promotional items for the show. Instead, Harold was assigned this shoot by the Georgia Department of Economic Development, for their Georgia Travel Guide. This may seem odd, but the show is actually filmed on location in Georgia, and the Travel Guide is distributed nationwide as a way to promote the state as a destination for travel and film production.
“It was all about the cover,” Harold says of the shoot, adding, “There really wasn’t a lot of advance direction.” But he was excited for the shoot, mostly due to the “cool factor of being on the working set of such a popular show.”
As a veteran celebrity photographer, shooting someone like Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln isn’t atypical for Harold—but capturing zombies? That was completely different—and fun. Harold met up with Andrew and the zombies shortly after arriving on set and says, “it was very cool to meet the zombies before they went into hair and makeup, and then seeing the transformation in progress.”
After the actors had been zombie-fied, the shoot officially began. Luckily, everyone, from the crew to the star of the show turned out to be easy to work with. Harold elaborates,
Andrew was everything you hope a celebrity subject would be. He was a total professional—patient and gracious. He told me that he is an “amateur” photographer himself and was really curious about what I was doing, and about my camera, etc. Just a down to earth, friendly guy who loves living in the Highlands in Atlanta with his family.
The zombies were also pretty amazing at how they would transform their entire character when the camera was on. One minute they are chatting with you about the beautiful day and they next they want to eat your face off.
One of the only challenges on the shoot was portraying face-eating zombies in a way that wasn’t too grotesque for the cover of a state travel guide. But Harold pulled it off and the clients loved the images. “There was some trepidation about the cover of a travel guide being a tough looking guy with a big gun and a group of zombies saying, ‘Hey ya’ll come visit Georgia.’ But they got over it and the cover got a lot of press and online discussion.” And thus, Harold can now add “zombie shooter” to his resume.
Wonderful Machinists Amanda and Jess went down to Atlanta last week to show our books to a few friends at JWT, UPS, CNN, 22squared, and Big Sky. It’s a fun study of logos and branding to view all of their entrances at once:
Amanda Hanley in front of CNN (sorry, we don't have a shot of Big Sky's)
Our first stop was One CNN Center to meet with CNN’s creative team for Multimedia and Interactive Storytelling. One of their producers explained how they’re trying to veer away from using stock images: “I can’t use the same picture of a plane taking off one more time!” A graphic designer expressed the same need for original photography: “In the Health section, we might be covering a new advancement or medical rarity, and we need creative, conceptual images to illustrate it and draw the reader in.”
She was especially impressed with Bill Cramer’s work with doctors and CEO’s, and his ability to animate them into more engaging subjects. They also enjoyed Martin Sundberg’s lifestyle and video work, as they try to incorporate multimedia work whenever possible. Here’s his portfolio:
One producer recently had a situation where they needed images for a story about a Midwestern farmer who, in order to publicize his business, tweets from his tractor while he’s out in the field. Generally, technology trends like this change so frequently that there just aren’t enough stock images to choose from. The story itself was on a tight deadline and they needed an assignment photographer in a city/town that wasn’t familiar to producers, so the regional focus of our site was especially appealing to them.
We were also treated to a studio tour, so you may have spotted us in the background of the 11:00 AM broadcast of CNN News.
Next, we spent some time talking with one of 22squared’s art buyers, who says she’s been there since before it was 22squared. She was familiar with a number of our Atlanta-based photographers, especially Deborah W. Llewellyn and Harold Daniels. Always looking for “people, places, and things,” she responded most to books with a playful presentation, like Ryan Robinson’s humorous conceptual images. She was excited about their recent acquisition of the Baskin Robbins account, and she and her family have been big fans for years (and let’s face it, who doesn’t like ice cream?).
After lunch we made a stop at Blue Sky Agency, who handles all of Atlanta’s major sports franchises. One of their creative directors explained that they didn’t set out to focus on sports, and handle other accounts as well, but love working with the teams and are excited to fill that role.
That evening we went to Cypress St. Pint & Plate to meet up with a crowd of our Atlanta photographers. It was great to see them all face-to-face and enjoy a few rounds, especially since most of our correspondences are through phone and email. We learned that Ryan Gibson has a music background himself, which helps musicians let loose on his shoots; Jon Kownacki is actually from Detroit, “which explains why I swear a lot,” he jokes; and Deborah W. Llewellyn’s husband is an attorney who pulls double-duty as her official negotiator with clients.
Jon Kownacki, Ryan Gibson, Stan Kaady, Calvin Lockwood, Jim Llewellyn, Harold Daniels, Deborah W. Llewellyn, Amanda Hanley, and David Smith
The next morning we greeted JWT’s creative team with a spread of portfolios and breakfast (kept the two separated of course – no spills). Can’t recall a broader client base: they work with the US Marine Corps, the US Virgin Islands, and FEMA. One art director responded to Terry Vine’s resort work, and loved his presentation of three books in one case, each featuring a different side of his lifestyle/travel work. Aside: No Plastic Sleeves just had a nice post about Terry’s branding collaboration with his rep Patti Schumann.
Another art director was very impressed with Tyler Stableford’s work, especially his recent project photographing the U.S. Air Force: “I had the amazing opportunity to fly with these guys for 90 minutes with five F-16s over the Rocky Mountains, all at my service to get the best possible shots!” Tyler said. He made an exciting, in-air behind the scenes video from that shoot: http://www.tylerstableford.com/portfolio.php?dirid=11 (get your Top Gun fix for the week).
We ended our stay with a stop at UPS’s headquarters, where we sat down with one of their graphic designers to share a few books and talk about our website. UPS is looking for authentic-feeling lifestyle shooters for their internal and external advertising: “We want to capture a driver on the road, talking with customers, and everything in between.” They were especially happy with Wonderful Machine’s international reach: “When we open up a new market,” she explained, “We want to show our trucks and employees on a real street in Shanghai, on a real doorstep in Thailand – you can tell if it’s done in a studio so we steer clear of that.”
Luckily we made it back into Philly before the snow hit again. So all in all it was a great trip and we’re looking forward to the next opportunity to head down!
-Amanda Hanley and Neil Binkley
After lunch we made a stop at Blue Sky Agency, who handles all of Atlanta’s major sports franchises. One of their creative directors explained that they didn’t set out to focus on sports, and handle other accounts as well, but love working with the teams and are happy to fill that role. They were exciting about an upcoming project that required a gritty, almost photojournalistic take on a racing event that draws thousands of fans to camp out in a small southeastern town. They enjoy these kinds of unconventional takes on sporting events as is allows them to search outside the box for the right photographer.
That evening we went to Cypress St. Pint & Plate to meet up with a crowd of our Atlanta photographers. For such an email- and phone call-heavy industry, it was great to meet them all face-to-face and enjoy a few rounds. We learned that Ryan Gibson has a music background himself, which helps him make let musicians let loose at his shoots; Jon Kownacki is actually from Detroit, “which explains why I swear a lot,” he admitted; and Deborah W. Llewellyn’s husband is an attorney who pulls double-duty as her official negotiator with clients. We were all witness to the opening of a cask beer that night, so if you’re into $26/glass beverages of unfiltered, “live” beer, head downtown to these guys.
The next morning we held a portfolio breakfast at JWT, located outside the business of the city center. Due to office maneuvers, they were all recently shuffled around with the creatives in one building and everyone else in the adjacent building, until they all reunite sometime this year in a new spot. We greeted their team with a spread of portfolios and breakfast (kept the two separated of course – no spills!) sure to start off the day right. Can’t recall a more different base of clients: they work with the US Marine Corps, the US Virgin Islands, and FEMA. One art director responded to Terry Vine’s resort work, and loved his presentation of three book in one case, each featuring a different side of lifestyle/travel work. Another art director was very impressed with Tyler Stableford’s work, especially his recent Air Force images: “I had the amazing opportunity to fly with these guys, for 90 minutes with five F-16s over the Rocky Mountains, all at my service to get the best possible shots!” Tyler said. Here is a trailer he produced from that shoot: www.tylerstableford.com/photos/fighterpilots.mov
We ended our stay with a stop of UPS’s headquarters; their building is incredible and one creative there said that they built it so that it looked like “someone had dropped it in the middle of a forest.” We sat down with one of their graphic designers to share a few books and talk about the site. UPS is looking for authentic-feeling lifestyle shooters for their internal and external advertising: “We want to capture a driver on the road, talking with customers, and everything in between.” They were especially happy about Wonderful Machine’s international reach: “When we open up a new market,” she explained, “We want to show our trucks and employees on a real street in Shanghai, on a real doorstep in Thailand – you can tell if it’s done in a studio so we steer clear of that.”
Luckily we made it back into Philly before the snow hit again. So all in all it was a great trip and we’re looking forward to the next opportunity to head down!
RT @jaredsoares: My tumblr is getting a quick update. Recent work and tearsheets. More to come soon. Check out what I've been up to. http:/…
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