The Unexpected Weber Shoot

I can’t begin to describe how amazing this year has been.  It has been seriously off the hook.

Professionally, I have never been busier.  Add in the grilling and there is a reason we “cut the cord” at home.

After we wrapped up the last Weber shoot in June, I thought things might slow down a bit.  Wrong.  No sooner than I returned to my usual-unusual routine I received a phone call.  We were doing more.  Two weeks more.  

Thankfully, my vacation re-upped.  There’s a reason I call it “workcation.”

During our first week in June, the entire team reached an incredible rhythm, so it was exciting to know we were all back together again with Paul Elledge behind the lens.

Well, almost everyone.  While Jennie couldn’t get away from the test kitchen, Kelsey, who works at the Grill Academy, picked up her tongs.  Kelsey was a blast to work with and has, dare I say, some awesome grill chops.

For the first week, we found ourselves again shuttling around the western Chicago suburbs.  

Backyards, side yards, front yards, we covered it all.

Why the sign?  Partly to help talent, mostly to let people know we aren’t running a garage sale.  I’m not kidding.

One of the more difficult aspects of “guerrilla grilling,” is the lack of dependable running water.  It’s not “do we have water?”  It’s “does the hose reach?”  As is such, we picked up a portable washing station.  While wearing latex gloves while handling raw meat is a necessity, having “running” water makes clean-up and hand washing ten times easier.

The first week was perfect, until the last shot.  We had been smoking turkeys for a family holiday feast.  The table was set, the talent, which was a real family of eight, was seated, and then it hit.  

The microburst.  

We knew weather was coming and had been hustling to finish up.  However, the weather just wasn’t any weather, it was an all out storm.

I was in the front yard.  The set was in the back.  The rain hit, at first falling straight down.  Then the wind hit. The rain then started blowing sideways.  We grabbed on to the pop-ups and tried to get them down.  It was a raging battle.  I was so wet, the speaker on my iPhone was down for 24 hours.

In the backyard, it was an all-out dash to cover Paul’s equipment and for the crew to drop all of the metal poles they holding straight up in the air.  At least that’s what I told was happening.  I was stuck in the back of a box truck for awhile.

While the weather forced an early wrap, we had no idea at the extensive damage until we left.  Trees were down and the power was out everywhere. It was so bad, I ended up having to fly out the next morning versus late that night.  What a way to end the week.

With week one down, I was home to re-group and then back again a week later to finish up.  Upon our return, for a change of pace, we filmed off of Lake Michigan for two days.

The early call times made for some great sunrise watching while we set up our “grill station.”

The beach made a wonderful backdrop.

Speaking of the grills, our menus again spanned the spectrum.  

Ribs, steaks, paninis, shrimp skewers, fruit skewers, sea bass, lobsters, meatloaf, turkey, chicken, pork loins, and burgers.  

That was just two days!

We continued the theme we started back in March.  Real grilled food for real people.  Whatever the “food on grate” shot was, we grilled more for the talent.  Like countless scenes before, we watched as friends, family, or couples ate their way through the meals.  Paul would quiz us for tips, he is becoming quite the griller himself, and everyone would reach for the “extras” once the last shot was approved.

Once the work is out “in the wild,” I will be sure to point everyone to the final product.  When we wrapped up in June, the entire crew was bummed the week was over.  When we wrapped after week three, everyone was seriously bummed as we really knew we were done for 2014.  As Joanne said, “These kind of shoots don’t happen very often.”  There’s an energy, a palpable sense of passion, and no one ever went hungry.

It wouldn’t be a photo shoot post without a short video.  Here’s a quick set walk through. 

Note: While I wrote this post for myself, my work for Weber is compensated.  It by no means influences my passion or dedication in what I do.  I’m lucky to work with so many awesomely talented professionals.  I’ll let you guess if I had fun or not.