I could eat PB&J's everyday, although the ones I make don't look like these did. Shot Welches last month with the Marketing Drive crew who we absolutely love shooting with. Had to shoot a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the new Welch's bottle on a wood surface with some Concord grapes and light it to match a stock shot they were using for the background.

Stephanie, Mathew and me on set with our sandwiches styled by Mary Jane Sawyer from Ennis.

Waiting for client approval...they were in a meeting when we sent it to them....

This is what they do while Mike and I shoot

a small adjustment, and a little more waiting. Mathew didnt seem to mind.

and the finished piece. I just need to practice my pool skills now so I can at least challenge Mathew on the next one.

Fun day on Monday... Two sets going at the same time. An office set up which we built some extra walls for last week, and a couple with a stroller walking in a park. Couldnt shoot the park shot outside due to snow and frigid temps (and it's supposed to be Spring) but our stylist Courtney Kilmartin did a great job with her crew finding sod (and everything else) at this late date. The nursery thought she was a little nuts but we didn't... Kathleen Schiffman also did a great job with the hair and make up- wait till you see this little boy Charlie!

Been awhile since I blogged about our house construction. It's gone through many phases some better than others. Not to lump all contractors together but if we all did business the way they do our country would become a third world nation in a year...

Here was the foundation part of it. The guys actually creating the forms and pouring the cement were really nice guys and very efficient.

The finished foundation:

Shooting for Stop and Shop with Digitas and the Kingfish Media. We've been shooting for their new publication Small Victories as well as for their entertaining guide over the last few months.

Discussing layouts with Jessica Morel from Stop and Shop Laura McFadden and Jen O'Donnel from Kingfish Media and standing with his head cut off...James Love from Digitas:

Verne Cordova with the wardrobe and models:

Mike cleaning the windows:

and Verne, covering the windows:

Gathering by the monitor:

The talent: Kimberly Thomas-O'Loughlin with ImageMakers, Lilly David from Dynasty and Julian Henry from the Cameo Agency:

Lily was really enjoying herself:

On set with Heidi Wells from Ennis who did a great job with all the hair and makeup:

Reviewing some shots:

The finished shot:

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!