Model: Krikett

Krikett and I went to Charlotte with the hopes of creating some grungy, industrial style shots. We were disappointed to find that our decided upon location (which was thought to be deserted) was indeed buzzing with activity. We drove on, and soon found what appeared to be another deserted, dilapidated old building. We got closer and realized that it also had occupants, but after some discussion, we decided we'd give it a shot anyway.

The manager gave us his consent to shoot in his facility, with the one stipulation being that he was allowed to watch us work. I told him that was fine... but if he was going to stand around with us, I'd more than likely put him to work.

The general population of the facility pretty much stopped all operations once the long legged, blue haired Krikett walked into the building. Every resource they had, now seemed to be at our command. (It also provided me with about 9 extra "Art Directors", each with different ideas as to what they wanted to see out of the shoot.) The men were eager to carry strobe stands, move trucks, carry ladders... anything. Truly a cool bunch of guys.

At one point I heard one of the employees say, "I got a chainsaw in the car... if you want to use it." Another had a machete, and yet another produced an automatic pistol. (Did I mention this was in the middle of the day, in downtown Charlotte?)

We made our rounds throughout the building, using the storage room for "Junction", the main work floor for the window shot and "Trucktop" shots, and the shipping yard for various other shots.

Needless to say, we pretty much shut down the plant for the day. I guess these guys don't get this kind of traffic too often... and the manager was too busy helping me to tell them to get back to work. Many thanks to Frankie and Jimmy, and to all the guys that helped us while we were there

(As we were leaving, many of the employees stopped to get pictures with Krikett on their cell phone cams.)

Our next set was done on the streets of Charlotte, where the temperature dropped to 32 degrees almost as soon as the sun went down... This produced my favorite images of the shoot... but the entire experience was something I won't forget for quite some time.

Shot entirely with a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 ED DX

For more images, go to:

MZom.com