It's funny, one thing has always stood out for me that came from those years way back when: Always Be Prepared.
A perfect example was a couple of weeks ago. I was hired to shoot a group shot for an international hotel chain. After seeing the mock up and an example of what the client was looking for I was thinking this will be a simple minimal lighting shoot. I'm bringing two assistants because we budgeted for two. On the drive down I'm telling the assistants that this shot should not take long and should be a simple lighting set up. We brought every light that we have "just in case" but I'm thinking "no way, one light, done".
We get to the location and the first hurdle is clearing the cars from the set (parking lot) which was to be the background. Second is picking camera angle and moving the scissors lift into position. Third is dealing with the wind which just happened to pick up and the temperature which was rather chilly. At this point I realize what I thought would be an easy shot turns into something a heck of a lot more involved. Luckily (after talking with my assistants that morning) we had everything we needed. The group shot of twenty-five employee's shot from above took six lights, various clamps for support in the wind, heaters, and some fun loving people. Here are some production stills from the shoot.
