Today’s post is a big one!

A production that was meant to happen in March/April of 2021 was finally happening in October. After months of back and forth with the client and agency, Covid-19 variants and other delays, the time had finally come to create some new images for MINI South Africa customer care and service center for their internal company use.

The three day shoot would happen as follow.
Day 1: Service Centre in Sandton
Day 2 & 3: MINI Showroom in Midrand

Day 1 was all about photographing the processes happening in the authorized repair center. From disassembly to assembly, the spray bay, buff and polish and final soap and water wash. It’s difficult working in an active workshop. You have to be mindful that there is actual work that needs to be done and that you are in the way of most of the people there and also that you are there to do a job and get the shots the client has requested of you. It’s a fine balance.

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Day 2 we covered things on the showroom floor. From start to finish you have the client dropping off their car at the reception area and a pre-check being performed by a member of the staff. Browsing the showroom floor for some MINI branded sale items or having a coffee in the waiting area. Looking at some vehicles and the potential buyer and seller interactions.

This being in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic - and shortly after the winter surge - we also had to make sure to photograph images of the cars being steam cleaned and client, employee interactions with and without masks. This added another level of complexity, with time being a major commodity that there just never seems to be enough of. But we got it done and day 2 was a success much like day 1.

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Day 3 we were back in Midrand for the last stretch and this was mainly focused on the servicing part of the vehicles and checks by the technicians and a couple “hero” shots of the cars.

Click on images for a larger view.

These larger jobs always involve a big level of stress and a lot of expectations to manage, from your own to the client to the agency. I do enjoy the challenge of it for the most part. These are the kind of jobs that help you “level up” a little or sometimes - and a lot if you’re lucky.

They are however not possible without the help of a great team of folks.

Thanks to everyone that helped pull this together and for the months of patience to get here and pull it off. You all know who you are and I hope you know that you’re appreciated.

Thanks for reading