Pulling up in my Jaguar at a trendy downtown Calgary hotel is a fun way to make an entrance. Being in the city to photograph and film a magazine photo shoot taking place at the Calgary Opera House is also a quaint response to, "why are you here?" that carries a certain amount of gravitas. And then there's the icing on the cake of showing up at the shoot in the morning and being greeted by a cute girl with, "Oh hey, you must be one of the models". I know this is all shameless bragging, but it felt damn good. This is how you do a business trip, like a boss! :)
Nuvo Hotel Suites was a great place to stay, but unlike your regular hotel this one didn't have parking directly adjacent to it. It wasn't a big deal as they do provide you with a pass at a parking garage a block away, but I wasn't all that impressed when I found out that the spot just barely fit my car. Some of that 'feeling cool' momentum is lost when you're intensely focused on keeping your side view mirrors attached.
The room made up for it though.
The shoot itself was actually a lot of fun, but exhausting - and thankfully I was just there to capture the behind the scenes of it all. I did the same thing last year at Rouge Restaurant where we were doing a garden shoot.
My navigation skills seemed to be intact as I didn't have a problem finding my way around, but it definitely made me appreciate my small city commute back home. That's the thing about trips like this, they make you realize that the things that are supposedly bigger and better also come with unfortunate downsides. The nice hotel in a busy part of town. The big photo shoot that requires weeks of intensive planning and a crazy budget. The cute girl that finds you attractive . . . nah, just kidding, that last part is awesome.
Work like this is a nice change of pace and a sampling of a life that I feel I passed on when I decided not to move to Vancouver last year. However, it's also a reminder of how good things have gone since that decision.
You can see some pictures of my drive up here.
