“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 697 (Tuesday) - on location

Random image #1 from
a location shoot, 2-1-22.

February already. Individual days and even entire weeks of January dragged on and felt like forever, and at the same time, the month as a whole went by quickly. So weird.

The first two days of this week have gone by quickly. Monday was at the office-office, and was out-straight, barely breathing busy. Today was scheduled as a remote day and was also busy. There were three location photo shoots today which elevated half the day to a new level of remoteness. 

The day's activity was dreaded until it was underway and then, like always, it was fun. This is the basic story almost every time I need to leave the house. There is preliminary dread, the route and arrival time are scheduled in Waze, all traffic scenarios are imagined, and the actual driving includes excessive levels of stress and colorful language. Once I’m at whatever the thing it is that has drawn me out of the house, it’s nearly always enjoyable. Then I feel dumb for all the angst on the front end. It’s super fun being this weird and neurotic. Really.

In my dozen years in marketing, I’ve been part of countless photo shoots. I’ve scheduled photographers and subjects, recruited models, planned props, swung by the hardware store for needed items, and been on site to guide the proceedings. While working at a marketing agency in Tennessee, location photo shoots included downtown shops for the Chamber of Commerce, an iron foundry, and an earth-moving company. There were studio shoots involving locally produced wine and pie. Once or twice, I was the photographer and a couple other times, a subject in the final photos.

Random image #2 from
a location shoot, 2-1-22.

Today’s shoots went without a hitch. Our photographer is hugely talented, puts people at ease, and could  make a stone statue smile. The locations were all in one city and methodically scheduled with the aid of online mapping for efficient travel between sites. Everything ran according to the schedule. A couple random shots of "stuff" were grabbed with my phone at one location.  

Three photo shoots were done, which was a good number for one day. More than that might have been too much, at least for me. There are several more to go. There was even a bonus office dog at the final location, a French bulldog named Nitro who was 100% adorable. Every office should have a dog. Or two. 

There was quality time spent in the Jeep, where the heated seats and steering wheel are still my favorite features. They almost make up for the lack of a CD player, not very impressive navigation system, and meager cargo space and nonexistent backseat leg room.

Wednesday has a couple more location shoots, then the work location reverts to normal for a couple days. The days as a desk jockey will include finishing plans for more photo shoots. We're in a groove now.