SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

How do we create a mode or an era with our images?
Three or four years ago I created an image for a store that sold workout wear and athletic shoes. They wanted something harking back to our youth for a shoe sale they were promoting. So I was given a pair of shoes to shoot. I thought a pair of converse would be great but they wanted the shoe to be modern.
Anyway this is what I created. They seemed quite happy with this concept!
What do you think???
SS

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Photog8 Loc: Morriston, FL

A trip back in time....with new shoes...ya gotta love working with ad people. Very nice shot. Used to see lots of shoes hanging from wires, but usually there was a bar close by. ;-)

Robert Bailey Loc: Canada

I've seen lots of shoes hanging over wires. What does it symbolize? Is it a gang symbol?

RickBechtel

OK, what I want to know is, how many tries did it take to get the shoes dangling in exactly the right position...(:

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Rick, first, let me thank you for thinking it's the exactly right position!!! LoL
It only took 79 tries, and the 79th was a winner!
No, just kidding. This was a commercial shoot, so very little was left to chance. I thought this was a good angle etc. in relation to the pole and wires. So I stood on top of a 16 foot fruit ladder and positioned the shoes just right. It probably did take a couple tries. Move the ladder, climb up the ladder, check the framing, climb down the ladder, up the ladder and move the shoes, back down, move the ladder, back up and check the framing...., you get the idea!! LoL
I chose a day with no wind so they wouldn't be swinging around. I also chose the time of day to get the light right. I didn't add light. Adding light in itself would have been challenging, on location, 20 feet high! Then I moved the ladder over maybe 6 feet(don't really remember) and shot at an angle that got the framing pretty good and gave me a reasonable DoF.
All in all it was a pretty easy shot!
Thanks for looking!
SS

RickBechtel

Well, not exactly in keeping with tradition, but in the interest of photographic excellence, I guess we can forgive you. Makes me wonder, though, if those shoes I threw up there all those (undisclosed) years ago are still "hanging around."

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Nice! I think everyone has seen a pair of sport shoes thrown over a wire before.

That looks like a phone cable or CATV cable, not a power distribution line. Good! — I'm sure a few bozos have tried to retrieve their shoes from uninsulated power lines and been killed or maimed!

A high school classmate of mine was carbonized by a 230 Kilovolt power line back in 1973. He was retrieving a football stuck between the cable and an insulator on a power tower. His football buddies said it sounded like dynamite going off, and he glowed incandescent for about a minute until he burned loose. It was probably the most gruesome thing any of those folks would ever see. The local paper printed a photo of his carbonized body hanging from the wire, as a warning to the public not to climb power towers or poles.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

There are various kids of commercial shots. This one is what I call a concept illustration. It would be interesting to see the final ad with the copy so as to to better appreciate how the image was used.

There is the straight traditional catalog or product shot that simply and clearly defines the shape, color and style of the product. Sometimes a feature is also shown in an accompanying or inset shot, in this type of product it may be a special insole, arch support or a detail shot of the sole and heal of the shoe to accentuate its technical design or degree of traction. The photo-illustration usually shows the product in use, perhaps worn by a model (a fashion illustration) or in this case, an athlete lacing up or running with the product. In a concept illustration, in some instances, the product is shown in a non-traditional way or not shown at all. Many medical, pharmaceutical or personal hygiene products are advertised with photographs of harpy folks who are, ostensibly, enjoying life as a result of using the product, pictures of flowers, sunsets, fluffy pussycats and other lifestyles kinda shots.

Advertising photography can be creatively challenging and out of the box- that's when I especially enjoy doing it! It's very rewarding when an art director or a client comes to you with a verbal idea. a rough layout or copy and you can then visually express their concept successfully.