Float Plane

Description

The Valdez oil spill made a challenging situation even more so. The year—1989. Dad had landed the Red Man Chewing Tobacco ad. The photo needed to tell the story of hunters flying in to a remote location and setting up camp. Dad needed to find the perfect lake for this photo. His research led him to Alaska and a snazzy red floatplane.

Once he got to Alaska, Dad flew all over Lake Clark National Park looking for the perfect lake. After a several days of scouting, he chose this one for the stunning turquoise blue waters and snow-capped mountains.

The oil spill made getting some of the props tricky. Then Dad and his assistant spent seven days sitting in a hotel room because of the rain. When he finally began shooting at the lake, the activity drew the attention of a suspicious park ranger who wanted to know what was in all of the bags that were being unloaded from the plane.

Obviously she’d never been around a commercial photographer. Things aren’t always as they seem. She was a bit surprised to learn the rifle bags had long sticks and the other bags were filled with inflated garbage bags just to make them look good for the photo.