Anzac Day 2017, Front Page
"We need something jazzy,
something a bit special Mr Jesser"
The words of two hungry editors, wanting a front page picture to place on the cover for Anzac Day edition of The Border Mail
Nothing to be worried about.. it's only short notice and I've got to deal with the Australian Defence Force, plus it's been raining for days.
I pitched a bag of ideas to the officer in charge at the local barracks.. Which I must add is a bloody good bloke.
- Soldier in Lake Hume Weir with gun.
- Soldiers with army vehicle, on sunset, on hill, behind barracks.
- Youngest soldier on barracks, with a WWII Veteran in town.
All of the above weren't no's but they were never going to be simple to pull off. Note the Colonel on the other end of the phone laughed a few times but agreed my ideas were awesome.
If we had time.
After some give and take, we agreed soldiers with an army vehicle on the barracks in a muddy training area would make for a good picture.
I rang my best mate and former Fairfax photographer Ben Eyles at short notice to help! We got clearance to enter the barracks and we were in! In the monster truck* loaded and ready to shoot.
We met a couple of friendly soldiers willing to model for an hour, nice guys, which always makes life easier!
The cloud was very moody after it just coated us in another layer of water. This was the perfect time. I with no military hand signals training assisted to position the huge vehicle into place.
Benny and I setup a couple of lights.
- One lighting the front of the vehicle,
- The second lighting the rear end of the vehicle.
- The third was a speedlight with green gel under the front wheel area.
- Last was lighting the two soldiers at the front.
After a few different setups, with one setup requiring two more speed lights, I was very happy with the end result.
I need to thank the local army barracks at Bandiana for helping make this possible and Ben for jumping in to help me at last minute.
Pictures: MARK JESSER / THE BORDER MAIL / Fairfax Media, ACM
*My vehicle which I consider to be huge, but realistically its probably not that big compared to a armoured military vehicle.
