2 for 1 Friday!

Here’s just a little quickie that I couldn’t help but share.  Have you seen the Skoal pictures of Teach and his best bud, Alan Richman that I posted on Cooking Issues yesterday?  Well, I had the pleasure of taking Alan Richman’s photo and just feel compelled to describe how it happened.  Yes, the picture is worth a thousand words or maybe just the absence of words.  Nothing compares with what it was like to be there, though.  It’s one of those moments that you wait your entire life for and when it’s over, you instantly miss its fleeting presence in your life.

We shoot the Skoal photos in Dave’s lab, which is quite small.  In order to get the lighting, backdrop, and subject all placed correctly, we need to mount the camera in the doorway of the lab and only the subject can remain inside.  I poured Dean Richmond a shot of Aquavit, then stood in the doorway while he took his mark.  I explained the process: 1) Look into the camera, your fellow Skoaler’s eyes – serious, but not intense – holding your skoal glass directly in line with your 3rd shirt button; 2) Slam back the shot, tilting your head back so that your face is parallel to the ceiling; 3) Return to roughly your first pose position, but this time, almost stare down the camera with intensity.  Alright, Alan was set, and I stared through the viewfinder while several people crowded behind me in the doorway to watch.

First shot, piece of cake.  Alan has basically mastered the art of, “Hello.  Are you ready to drink?  I am.”  Second shot, a little shaky at first, but then he tipped back a bit further and another perfect shot.  At this point, we all leaned forward in anticipation as I coached, “Ok, Alan.  Now you’re going to come down and stare me down.  Give it to me!  I’m a competitor food critic!  Show me what’s up!  Blow me out of the water!”  Well…  he did.  He came down fast, snapping his head down like an axe, and leaning forward slightly to better reach out and kill the camera with the intensity of his glare.  Literally, the power of that 3rd stare was like setting off a hydrogen bomb in that little lab.  I’m lucky I managed to press the button on the camera before everyone standing in that doorway, myself included, literally arched backwards and flew backward out of the room.  “Oh my God!” someone yelled.  People were bent over, gasping for air.  I ran back to the camera, making sure that it hadn’t been my imagination, that I actually got the picture.  And there it was…  Amazing…