Perous Secret Diary - Keep Out: January 23, 2009

inclement shootings

lord hamilton was up to meet his assistant susie at farm gates at 5.45am.
ready to start hair and make-up with our model, in the kitchen at 6am.

as i was getting up at 6.30am, mrs.perou said, 'i heard the model going to bed at 1.30am'.
WTF?

model then overslept till hamilton went to fetch her.
she'd ignored everyone telling her to stop 'facebooking' and 'GO TO BED' last night.
she also said no-one had told her what time to get up and that she thought someone would come to wake her.

after hamilton had finished tearing a strip off princess, and after breakfast, we loaded up the pink and purple one and drove in drizzle to botany bay on the east coast of england.

the pink and purple one is max's large horse lorry which we kitted out with rails for clothes in the back (where the horses would stand) and a lounge area where we could work, sit and warm up.

we arrived at the beach later than we had intended, of course.
in time for the rain to start during shot 1.

by shot 2 the wind had picked up too.

and by shot 3, the model was in tears, had a runny nose and was shaking uncontrollably.
we were all drenched and the pink and purple one was threatening to blow over in the gale force winds.

i had hoped that between me and my two assistants, we'd get a chance to shoot some 'behind the scenes' scenes.
especially as the whole shoot seemed like some crazed adventure.
(driving the pink and purple i had said i felt like the exact opposite of cliff richard in 'summer holiday')
but the weather was so bad there just wasn't opportunity.

the 'white' cliffs of dover broadstairs.

midday.
i called the shoot off.
it was just too ridiculous: an impossible to shoot in situation.
i had been told that i must be crazy to try shooting on a beach in england in january...but i like a challenge and i HATE admitting defeat.

we decided to return to farm HQ and consider our options: maybe shoot in a barn instead.
driving back it started snowing, heavily.
it always rains when i shoot outside but THIS, i considered, was next level someone trying to fuck with me.

as we were setting up lights back at farm the rain stopped and the sun started shining.
so we hurriedly packed the perou-mobile and susie's car and sped back to the beach to do another 6 shots.

worked out the back of the perou-mobile with the model changing in the street.
freezing cold and windy.
but dry.

last shot in the bag as the light was fading.
can't quite believe we accomplished it.
fleur and hamilton driving the shoot on with good vibes and positive energy.

no-one would ever be able to tell from the photos how hard the conditions were that we shot in or the back story behind the photos.
HA!

back at farm, regrouped while fleur and joy packed clothes and accessories.
drove frances to the station.
then i drove lord hamilton, model, fleur, joy and sarah and all the clothes (utilising ALL available space) back to london.
turned around and drove myself back to farm: a nice 150 mile, 4hr round trip to end a very long day shooting in the wind and rain.

very, very tired.
but still had a great day.