This would be a decent location for a shoot in the middle of summer, but in the winter, after a foot of fresh snow, it becomes a blowout location. Finding and locking down permits for remote spots like this is an integral part of our work; in a single frame, there is no mileage for a lame backdrop. It matters not one bit that there isn’t a hotel within 50 miles - that, in fact, is a positive.
The 1948 Porsche 356 works perfectly as a prop too; its curves and the female model’s curves have a harmony that then visually elevates the harsh right angles of the austere ferry ramp. There is a calm serenity to the photograph, despite the props being an unlikely fusion of Stuttgart, Paris and Pittsburg.
These are the days in winter we long for - days when a storm ends and there is fresh snow on the ground and flat light. Our props and cast are in place and we can just leverage the opportunity. It probably only happens to us once or possibly twice a season, simply because the lead time for production is too long to plan around the weather and therefore when it does happen, it is largely just luck.
All we can do, when we are presented with an opportunity like this, is to try and make the most of it. There are many mundane days in the field when the weather does not cooperate and these perfect days are the payback days.
Chris de Burgh’s cult song from 1982, Don’t Pay the Ferryman, seemed a wry title for this photograph.
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