Photo shoot in the Farrington Cabinet Works shop?
Once in a while a unique opportunity presents itself. A little while back craftsman tools asked me if they could do a photo shoot in my shop. I was stunned that they would want to use my shop. After all, my space packed with equipment, and there is just barley enough room for me much less actors and photographers. After I showed them the shop they decided to go with it right then and there. Again, I was stunned. I asked them why they like the space. They told me that my shop “looks like an average woodworkers shop, only a little more organized”. I was a little insulted by the comment, personally I think my shop looks like a woodworker’s paradise, but that is beside the point. Apparently, this was exactly what they were looking for because they wanted to appeal to the average woodworker.
The photo shoot was schedule for two days. Day one was to stage my shop with all sorts of craftsman tools, and to install some additional lighting. Day two was for shooting. On the first day a few stagehands were brought in to remove most of my tools and tidy up a little bit. They painted a couple of walls and cleaned up most of the dust. Once that was done they brought in the craftsman tools. I estimated that they hung several hundred craftsman tools on my shop wall. To me my shop now looked more like one of the aisles in the Sears hardware department. Once the staging guys were done the lighting crew came in and did their jobs.
Day two started early. Around 7 am the stagehands showed up and began a few last minute touchups. The photo shoot began at 9 sharp. For the next 11 hours virtually non-stop, photos were being taken at an alarming rate. All photos were taken in a digital format and each time one was taken it would pop up on a large computer screen for the craftsmen marketing team to view. From there, adjustments were made until every thing was perfect.
All in all it was a very interesting process to watch. It was great to see first hand the creative marketing process come to life. As a person with a general interest in business I was riveted the whole day. I had no idea the amount of work that goes into two pictures for a print ad. I will say that when they finally dialed in all the different elements both pictures were beautiful.
Every time I tell this story people always ask me the same question. Did you get any free tools? Unfortunately, I didn’t get any tools unless you count the pair of safety goggles that the stagehand left behind…
Tim the Photographer, working with the makeup artist. Meanwhile the "talent" must stand still.