Billboards and Bill’s Board

Friday April 25th, 2008

With everyone taking their activities outside, what with the nice weather, I thought it appropriate to mention a few of our photographers billboards of late:

Thomas Magno’s landscape photography came in handy for this recent Sprint billboard campaign shot for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Kansas City is the “City of Fountains” and Nichols Fountain is a local icon, which made it difficult to get a clean shot on his first try. Thomas counted no less than 10 wedding parties littering the picture frame before deciding to return the following (early) morning.

Thomas’ shot above for the Walking Company, for ad agency Di Zinno Thomson, was actually NOT retouched to include the traffic light above. The art director preferred a more natural look, and Magno had a scaled miniature created just for the shoot. “I rigged the appropriate lighting (used slide projector bulbs powered by rechargable cordless drill batteries). Tested it here in Boston & had the model shipped to my Hotel on the Beach in Santa Monica. We would drag it out to the Beach each time we shot ( two sunsets and one dawn). The model had spikes so it could be held in the sand and not washed away.”

Thomas shot the image below for June Mountain Ski Area. It wasn’t a billboard (actually, the Walking Company ad above wasn’t either), but Thomas’ landscapes certainly fit the format.

Bill Cramer, however, did photograph this chef and her salad for a billboard ad:

Cramer shot this Philadelphia celebrity chef for Saladworks, a growing “make-your-own-salad” chain. And yes, it’s actually named the “Avocadolicious” salad. He shot the ad, which also is running in collateral, and another celebrity chef/salad ad for a forthcoming Saladworks campaign, all shot for the ad agency The Star Group.