Saving the World isn’t just for the movies!

Being a photographer you used to being asked to do some pretty daft things. But when I was called up by Jim Swan at the Leith Agency to discuss a shoot that involved a car blowing up on behalf of the Scottish Government  I was a little surprised and well interested. When I saw the visuals I loved the environmental concept and the film poster style of the campaign, something that suited my more theatrical approach to photography.

I did start the process of researching literally blowing a car up, which no matter who you are, let’s admit it, we all want to do! However, the client wanting to use a £70,000 Mercedes lead us down the retouch route.

The shoots themselves were relatively straight forward, especially after getting my assistant Elliot and friend Mihaela to run through the actors rolls with banana and croissant in hand as well as getting Elliot swinging around in a harness. That meant I was all prepped for lighting and the crucial comping angles to match the backgrounds. Thanks to Sarah Lauder for her epic production skills!