Yes, yes, way behind on the posting (again!) but, that's what happens when wifi is hard to come by which it has been the past few days. Among other things, I have learned how very very dependent I am on being "connected". I think we all are. But, I have reconnected so, here we go...
Photo Shoot 101 - For any of you who have been involved in any kind of shoot (photo or TV) you understand that there are certain things you can control/select (talent, wardrobe, location, etc.) and certain things you can't - one big thing being the weather. In most cases, you try to be flexible enough to have a back-up plan and know that you need to be flexible and willing to go with it should the things beyond your control not work out as planned. AND, you have the challenge of shooting at dusk or dawn - in order to get the best natural light. That plays a huge role in the overall plan in terms of timing and making sure you have time to get there first thing in the morning. Add to that, the challenge of not driving after dark due to safety. So, okay, yeah. We had our work cut out for us.
Thankfully, on Wednesday, everything fell perfectly into place. And then some.
I mentioned flexibility. Typically, you try to plan (in great detail) most aspects of the shoot. You have a schedule. You have talent. You have wardrobe. You have location. Most of this is done in advance. When you're shooting on another continent and don't have the access to/detailed knowledge of locations and such first-hand, there's another layer of flexibility necessary.
We knew we'd have 4 days to shoot - and a back-up day if needed - to capture everything we had to get out of this shoot. Given that we needed an aerial shot (which I mentioned in my previous post) and were relying on having a helicopter to do it, that particular shot was scheduled and that was how we started off our Wednesday.
There was limited space on board the helicopter so, Mary Kate and myself stayed behind at the airstrip in Nanyuki, ate some breakfast and did work while we waited for the team to get back. And, how could I forget? On the way there, we made a quick stop at the Equator for a pic or two. No big deal.
As you can see, it was an absolutely gorgeous day. The team eventually returned and they were thrilled with what they got. Which were exactly what we needed and then some. Perfection. Here's a video of their helicopter landing.
Next topic of conversation once that was nailed? We needed to find a water pump for the next shot. And one that actually worked. Here's where that whole location scouting bit comes in. We had seen some pictures of pumps that had been mapped out but, we needed to see them in person to actually weigh out whether or not they would work. Were there trees too close to it? Would the light be right? Was it actually working? Was there a village near by with potential talent for the shot?
We talked about several possibilities. Some of the options were hours away and were risky in the sense that, if we drove there and it wasn't what we wanted, we'd end up killing an entire day. There was talk of taking the helicopter to get there quickly. Or even a small plane. Maybe we'd need to camp out at the location so we could be there at first light (many of these scenarios were...um...challenging for a city girl like me who hasn't really camped out since childhood and hates flying - ESPECIALLY in tiny planes).
Thankfully, the helicopter pilot knew of two potential locations that were within 30 minutes of the airstrip. If these worked - they'd be perfect. We could stay the night in Nanyuki and be on location at first light. Next step was to drive to the options and check them out. And of course, get lots of pictures along the way. Below is a pic of Mt. Kenya. Amazing. Flora informed us that Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton on the side of of the mountain. Just to give you some more perspective.
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