As we cruise into summer, let’s take a look at our latest batch of Wonderful Machine web ads which we ran over on Feature Shoot. The campaign consisted of four images running for one month and generating 150,000 impressions. We caught up with our featured photographers to get a bit of background info on each image.
The image is taken from a series called Flamin’ Redheads, a self-promotional mailout sent to creatives. It is one of a series of five individual characters, each with natural red hair, not aware that their hair is on fire. It is really a play on words, adding a humorous twist to the series. Each image was photographed in the studio with the actual smoke in the hair, using a smoke machine. The flames were photographed by burning straw in a metal bucket and were added after. I wanted the flames to be very subtle, as the smoke is what gives the visual drama and creates more humor as it becomes realistic without going over the top. It was a promotional piece, and I got the idea from a commission for a hair salon. The commission was to photograph various styled wigs, and we wanted a bit of drama. We put a styled wig on a mannequin head and set fire to it, then retouched the flaming wig to the model.
I took the image of the Bird’s Nest Stadium in late October 2009. I had arrived in Beijing after a months trip traveling around and across Russia and Mongolia on the Trans-Siberian rail network. It’s a very dramatic building, constantly changing with the varying light conditions due to all the complex angles. It was quite something to watch the transformation of it from day to night as they gradually switched the lights on and the sun went down. The inside of the stadium is equally captivating and grandiose. It’s a really fantastic piece of architecture and design.
This image was taken at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz. Steamer Lane is a great place to shoot surfing because of the cliffs that run along the side of the break, allowing you to shoot the surfers from above. It feels like you are able to view surfers in a stadium environment. Most of the surfers use the cliffs to access the waves as well. Instead of paddling out from the shore, they walk to the end of the cliffs and jump in the water. The surfer in this image was headed out along the cliffs to jump in.
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