The day I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia it was extremely hot and humid. I was getting used to the intense travel schedule but at times the driving took its toll on me, especially on humid days. I carried a lot of lighting equipment because I wanted Future American President to have a consistent look throughout the book. The best way to achieve a consistent look is to have a consistent visual style and my lighting added that element. I couldn't control the weather in each state, but I could control the lighting if I used the same lighting recipe throughout the project.
I was getting ready to shoot when I noticed my strobe battery was dead. I'd charged all my batteries before starting this leg of the trip, or so I thought, but when I shot my first test image my lighting pack was dead. I'd packed an extra battery but left it in my rental car thinking I wouldn't need it. The car was parked 15 min. away but I had no choice but to make the trip back and get the spare battery. The battery weights about 15 lbs, but I ran back with it so I wouldn't keep my subjects waiting too long.
While most of my subjects were random strangers, a select few were people I had a connection with. My subject in Atlanta is the daughter of two celebrities; The actor Leon and Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Cynthia Bailey.
The day before I left for Atlanta, Zendaya had agreed to write the books foreword and I told this to my subject as we began shooting.. She is a big fan of Zendaya's and was excited to be in a book that included Zendaya.
After I finished shooting, Cynthia pulled out her cell phone and starting taking pictures to remember the day. I watched this identical scene take place over and over throughout the country and it always put a smile on my face.
The lesson from this trip was to always take my extra eqipment with me.. I was trying to cut down the weight of my gear, but I learned the hard way that it was better to have everything with me all the time.
Always Dream Big