The Roblog

Two of last year’s highlights were photo shoots for Google Fiber’s products in-situ: routers, mesh extenders, wi-fi accoutrements. In both cases, we shot at houses with good furniture in Birmingham. Then, the ever-talented Ande Fanning punched the scenes up with fabulous props. Of course, big credit goes to GFiber for digging that toucan as much as we did. It’s easy to get excited on-set about the direction a picture is going. It’s also easy for decision-makers on zoom to nix the unusual in favor of the safe. Props all around, because that’s the stuff that makes a photo catch the eye.

The other refreshing approach to this shoot was not having to perfectly hide the cords, which, as you know, are simply part of modern life. One of my interests and strengths in photography is finding the sweet spot between precision and imperfection. It could be just a character flaw that maps luckily to clients I get to work with. But I really believe that, while it’s important to get the details right, our world is too flexible to hold everything so tightly in place. A picture needs to breathe.

Many thanks to Big Communications for bringing me in on this project. I love working with them. Creative Direction by Shannon Harris at Big; expert production by Kristin Dober at Big; Props, styling, and make-it-happen by Ande Fanning; G&E by Seth Newell and Thomas Trollope at Ala Grip Co.; and original art by Odette.