So here it is the wordplay winner smasHRecord! We'd hoped to get this out sooner but it's been a very busy Fall and our clients come first.

That said, I can't tell you how much fun we had shooting this. We did the food at the studio in late August and then shot the contest at my house in late September. Casting and props were critical in this one so we held a casting a couple of weeks before and then Verne did an absolutely incredible job pulling props together to achieve what I was looking for.

You can click on the image here to make it bigger or go back to the website www.heathrobbins.com

We started early in the day setting up. The stage needed to be leveled and the background set up along with a number of strobes. I wanted it to feel like a state fair atmosphere so it had to feel like midday but I needed the strobes to fix all the deep shadows on everyone. Then we had the models come for hair and make up including my assistant Mike and rep Jenna who were both in the shot. By the time everyone was ready it was close to 3 in the afternoon and I had all my crew, my kids and the construction crew all watching the shot unfold. Believe it or not this image is the 3rd take and the only retouching we did was to adjust the windmill in the little girl's hand so it would be straight.

Here's some production stills from the lifestyle day:

My backyard as we were getting set up

Verne!

a little farther along in our staging

Verne cracking us up again

Cherstin

Me and Tim

Mike getting some make up

Love the shirt Mike!

Sarah

The competitors Tim, Ted and Curtis resting in the shade

Our number girls Cherstin, Sarah, Ashely and Ariane

Almost ready

a few hot dogs from Catrine

Final touches before we shot

Many thanks to our stylists Verne Cordova (props and staging), Kathleen Schiffman (H&MU), Catrine Kelty (food for liefestyle shot) and Heidi Wells (food styling for hot dog shot) as well as all the models they made this production as easy as it was fun!