It’s not every day you get the opportunity to work on a project that is fun and charitable. However, this was the case when Vancouver-based photographer Erich Saide was asked to conceptualize and photograph the Vancouver Firefighters “Hall of Flame Calendar,” presented by London Drugs.
The Vancouver Firefighters are a selfless group of people who continuously put their lives on the line for others. They also love to give back, and one of the ways they do that is by creating and selling a calendar showing off the hunky firefighters. They donate the money to charities such as the CKNW Orphans Fund and the BCPFFA Burn Fund, as well as many other charitable organizations around British Columbia.
This calendar has been something that they have done for the past 31 years, but this year they wanted to take it in a different direction. Instead of the typical gritty firefighter shots, they came up with “a day in the life” concept which shows a different side of the men and women Vancouver firefighters.
Erich had a few pre-production meetings with the firefighter’s representatives and the creative team. They came to an agreement on the conceptual ideas and scheduled times that worked for everyone involved. Trying to find two days out of these 14 firefighters busy schedules, as well as finding the time to shoot in the firehouse was difficult.
The shoot was interesting to say the least. There was definitely a lot of extra female assistants in all the departments that were helping out. There were a lot of moving parts and people to keep track of but the production team did a great job on crowd control and keeping the models happy at all times.
When the shoot wrapped up, and the calendar was completed, they had a launch party to show off the final product. The feedback has been positive, to say the least, many ladies who attended the event were thrilled! People have said that this was the best calendar yet, and Erich has already been invited back to shoot next year’s calendar.
Getting to work with the heroes of the Vancouver Fire Department was my favorite part, and really learn to appreciate what these men and women do. They do such an important service to the community and it is a great thing to be able to assist them in the betterment of charities and people’s lives here in my home province.
See more of Erich at erichsaide.com!