Atlantic Standard Time

Brainstorming with Design Director Luke Hayman and Photo Editor Ayanna Quint we came up with a number of fun and intriguing ways to illustrate The Atlantic’s All The Single Ladies about the growing demographic of happily single women. We in fact had too many strong ideas, and as most of the crew I found via top Los Angeles ad shoots, I looked to respect their time for this comparatively modest editorial day.

The somewhat novel approach of bringing in the story’s writer as the model for the illustrative photographs adds complications (and time), as we want to balance her needs and preferences with the narrative of the story. Our Prop Stylist, Ward Robinson, brought an array of wedding related pieces, including a full-on real wedding cake, cake toppers and a choice of several bouquets, but as our time was running thin I looked to cut one of planned shots to avoid overtime for the crew (as we had no budget for it). But Ward and others in the crew (including amazing Wardrobe Stylist Jill Roth) assured me that they were fully on-board with making this story look awesome, and that came first. So, the bouquet shot stayed in the schedule.

I was deeply appreciative of the crew’s support of the magazine and me, and we managed to finish all of the shots without serious OT. And, of course, the shot that I had looked to cut became the universal favorite of the magazine’s creative team, becoming the story opener.

Top Image: Ignoring the bouquet, this shot of writer Kate Bolick comes the opener

Second Images: Alternate takes that were not used (left); cake topper leg model is Erin Spencer (right)

Bottom Image: Our romantic crew cut the cake: Ward Robinson, Erin Spencer, Jill Roth, Kate Bolick, Matt Hoover, Cheryl Calo, Chris Buck.