This was a big one, a new client in the middle of the Covid pandemic, a new crew and to make it even more, interesting we received so much rain. ANWB, is a travellers' association in the Netherlands, supporting all ways of travel and everything else that comes with it, from insurance, clothing, and travel hardware. Jump!Ratail Amsterdam asked me to help out with their mission to change and focus on a younger audience for ANWB's clothing line Human Nature. Of course, I would help out. Currently, 4,5 million members ANWB has and they have been around for ages, which put a significant amount of pressure on the job.
On the first shoot day, I got to meet the 5 models, and pretty much during the introduction it started raining, and I’m not talking about a light drizzle of rain no, it started raining like it hadn’t been raining for years. So what does one do when the models are ready all dressed up in their outdoor outfits? Pausing the shoot was simply not an option and we had to keep rolling. Shooting with a weather-sealed camera like my Canon 1D that I'm using helps and the EF lenses can take a beating too so the camera can handle this type of weather for a while. My main challenge was to keep the glass of the lens dry, when there are drops on the lens you simply can't use the images as the client is after crips commercial shots. For me the rain felt like a blessing in the sky, I love that stuff because in moments like this everyone wants to help out and get together to make it work as a team and this is how the models get into the mission when you put them to work. A great way to capture ‘real’ outdoor moments which is what we were after. With this shoot, we are ‘rejuvenate’ the brand and getting wet during your adventures part of it. I think they should change the name of the sun cap to the rain cap, this is what they should call it cause it kept mostly my 50mm dry and saved the day so remember to always bring them. When it all got a little too wet I found myself hiding under the bounce board, little fact is when it gets soaked and heavy you can perfectly balance the bounce board on your head while shooting, even standing on a ladder amazing! After this rainy mission, everyone got to know each other very well and bonded over the adventure. The days after were easy and fun. It didn’t feel like work but more like a trip with a bunch of mates, we even forgot about the would being suppressed by Covid.
