the great folks at First Bank and Trust. I was rolled into a website
redesign project by my good friends George and Tif at palantir.net
(who's wedding I photographed last year).
Basically, we went around to all of their five branches and notable
places in the communities that they serve. While absolutely frigid
and windy, we lucked out with spectacular (looking) weather and many
happy accidents, like landscaper's leaf blowers blowing dust that
looked like early morning fog, and the sunset being perfectly
reflected in the windows of Skokie's Northlight Theatre. Two minutes
later, it was gone.
The people at First Bank were beyond cooperative, especially
considering that they were going through their yearly review with the
Federal Bank while we were shooting. I also had the bizarre
experience of walking up to a teller and asking her to hand us a wad
of cash, and after she happily handed a stack of hundred dollar bills
to Tif (playing hand model), I played back the scene in my mind and
realized just how it could have been taken the wrong way if she
didn't have the right sense of humor.
Thanks to Tif, Jill, Duncan, and Simon for braving the cold with me,
and making this a really refreshing commercial assignment.
-Sam
