Melanie Dunea

The Blog is back!

Finally… the blog is back. This time it is the making of  my new book My Last Supper 2, the Second Course. Of course I am still doing my “real ” job shooting for hire, this is just my hobby!
A confession: I have blog angst.. I suppose its because I feel like I don’t want to disappoint and well frankly I have too much to say. I guess that’s why Twitter is a bit of a relief, its short and sweet. Follow me at Mylastsupper.com
This book is due on April 1, 2011 but I’ll bet I can slide it in a bit late.. right? right?
Anyhow I am half way through the book, here’s a little recap, that will bring us up to date. Kinda a stream of consciousness.
Things I remember:
July 27th was the date of the first shoot.
Bill Telepan was scared that “Spanky” the 600 pound pig was gonna crush his newly reconstructed knee. (didn’t happen)
Daniel Humm brought his daughter to the shoot (lovely girl).
Ben Shewry took us to eat traditional meat pies from a local purveyor on the coast near Melbourne. (yum)
Flew into the middle of the state of Victoria near the outback to meet Dan Hunter at the Royal Mail hotel, stunning location. (I’ll go back to spend the night one day).
Peter Gilmore, I pulled up to the restaurant which is located across from the Sydney Opera House and has the most incredible view. To my horror a huge cruise ship blocked the View, had to find another location fast. (Sydney Harbor Bridge was an adequate second).
Michael White took me out on a cigarette boat for the morning. The highlight was the ride back from the location… I don’t think we touched the water, we flew.
I met Paul Liebrandt in a Kosher meat processing plant. I don’t think you want me to describe that.
Grant Achatz was shot at Alinea restaurant.. I always forget how cold Chicago is.
Laurent Gras arrived from the gym, he looked super rested and fit.
and that was 2010.

I got the Oprah hug.

Honestly, who cares about what I have to say? Please please don’t answer that, even to yourself. I have collapsed under the pressure from above, now I am tweeting for My Last Supper and My Country, I have a face book page for My Last Supper (like us please) and this blog. Geez the pressure to remember all of the passwords.

I am on hour 28 of a very long journey back from Australia, typing from 35,000 so if this is cuckoo nonsense, tough. To recap since I stopped blogging…Last great memorable shoot was a tie between  Steve Martin and Oprah. They were both so damn cool..I was super nervous for both shoots, what a waste of energy. The highlight was Steve Martin playing the banjo, I was worried that listening to the banjo all I would think about is the theme tune to deliverance.. not at all.  He was great!

Ok ready for the biggest nightmare that came my way recently??? Hope you are sitting down. This week I went to Australia to shoot four chefs for my new book, My Last Supper, the second course. (50 new chefs, same concept FYI). I had scouted this restaurant a few days before and picked out this amazing location for a shot of the chef with the Sydney Opera house in the background, it was going to be AMAZING. When I walked up to the shoot yesterday, a HUGE ENORMOUS GIGANTIC cruise ship was blocking the entire view. Can you imagine??? I was shocked to say the least. If there is anything I have learned in this business its that nothing goes as planned. So I found another angle and managed to get the Sydney Harbor Bridge looming in the background.  All was saved!

New Website

Welcome to my new website. Thanks to the fabulous Irene Shoikhet and Ramuntxo for not killing me during the process of creating the site. We launched 2 months late, (my fault) hey it’s not easy to find every single photo you want to post. Honestly, I don’t want to have to do that again. So please send comments and praise (ha-ha)  but be nice.

DUNZO!

Finally, 12 months later My Country is finished. Phew. It will be out 10/10/10 but you can pre-order on Amazon and B&N. Thanks to everyone who helped me.. I REALLY appreciate it.
x
Melanie

Trace Adkins + cowboy hat 7 feet tall, Melanie in boots 5′6″

Let’s just say that I had to stand on 2 boxes most of the time during the shoot cause TA is really tall,  in other words the shoot was a mini- work out. (thumbs up!). Trace and I got down to business immediately, to be honest there was no chit chat. Trace drank about eight cups of coffee straight up and did exactly what he was told (ohhh how I love that). He is amazingly professional, to be honest I think his acting gigs really helped him be a great subject when I asked him to move one inch, he moved one inch not 1 foot.  We did four different backdrops/ set up and the interview in an hour, bang bang bang and he was out.

I found Al Capone!

Ok, I was totally overdressed but it wasn’t my fault. The weather forecasters in Nashville were UP IN ARMS about the impending winter storm that was meant to hit. People were so freaked out that schools were closed for three days and grocery stores had their supplies sold out. Needless to say the worry rubbed off on me and I wore my arctic explorer 40 ton jacket and polar expedition boots, honestly there were but a few flakes. Dressed like Nanook the idiot, I went to the recording studio called the Castle to meet Darius Rucker who is currently recording his latest album.

The Castle is pretty amazing, it really looks like a building from the north of England circa 1066. Most interestingly, it’s claim to fame is that it was the rest stop and hideout for Al Capone. I even heard rumors of underground tunnels and “unofficial” grave cites, sadly there was no time for investigating that.

The idea was to shoot Darius in the studio while he recorded. However, as you know I am not a commando type photographer, I need time to set up. I arrived at the location to the lovely group of musicians heading out to lunch, this was good and meant there would be time for me to set up.  The room was a litter of instruments and cases, not so visual, ugh didn’t help that I was sweating due to my many layers. Fresh off the cushy Kate Gosselin cover shoot for People  Magazine where we had hair, makeup, a studio, basically everything at my fingertips, my heart was sunk. I pulled myself together, mopped by fevered brow and found a shot near the microphone, that really seemed to fit Darius’s cool, low-key demeanor.

He was lovely and pretty hilarious, which I didn’t expect. If you remember he canceled on me before, so in the back of my mind there might have been the teeeeeeniest weeniest of hidden annoyance, that disappeared the moment I met him. He is really passionate about the country genre and if you ask me, I think he is here to stay.

Randy Travis is always happy.

Wednesday night, I was sitting at my computer finishing up my year-end financial accounts, when I received the following email. “Randy(Travis) has 15 minutes to shoot, in Manistee, MI on Friday morning, can you do it?” I immediately replied, “Yes”, and (please cue theme song from the TV show Wonder Woman) I got busy with the planning.

First of all a bit of background, I had spent many summers on family road trips in our tomato red Nova driving around and around and around the great state of Michigan. I should be an expert on the geography of the state, not so much. Google maps to the rescue and I soon discovered that the town is located on the upper most corner of the state, supremely inconvenient for a daytrip from NYC. I went into turbo planning mode; I needed an assistant, airplane flights, a rental car, photography equipment, a location and helllooooo an idea of how to shoot. Not to mention that the next two days, were jam-packed with meetings and some realllllllly good Christmas parties, all of that needed to be cancelled, boo hoo!. Nevertheless when duty calls, and the good news was this would be Country singer number 43 out of 50 to complete my book and it seemed like my only chance to shoot Mr. Travis.

Thirty minutes later I had sorted out most of the logistics except the location, I called up the Litte River Casino Resort where Mr. Travis was staying to shoot a movie and started to explain, rather started to beg. I needed somewhere to shoot and I was pretty desperate. Thank god, I got connected straight to Eileen in marketing who understood and we arranged to meet the next afternoon to scout possible places in the casino to shoot.

As I have said before, all the best-laid plans NEVER GO AS PLANNED. Not to bore you, the journey took 14 hours and they lost our luggage. The first storm of winter didn’t help during our 3-hour drive from Grand Rapids to Manistee, which should have taken 1 hour and a half. I was glad for those Anti lock brakes as it was snowing and the road frozen because it was 11 degrees, (felt like -8). Not to worry, we drowned our sorrows in some delicious tootsie pops and Chuckles candy from the gas station. I told you before; this is a very glamorous profession. Finally we arrived at the casino, which was a rather nice Indian-themed, wooden cabin oasis in a white wonderland. When they showed me the 300-seat theater that I could shoot in, I almost dropped to the ground like the Pope and kissed the ground. I had imagined shooting in my room.

The next morning, around 10 a.m. Randy Travis arrived camera ready and already groomed thanks to his FAB personm, Mr. P. Mrs. Travis, his wife/ manager, reminded me that we had 15 minutes total for the shoot, so I had better stop talking and get working. I dropped the pleasantries and started to rush, shit I had to do the interview too! We spent about 3 minutes and 2 locations, and then I started the interview. The first thing that really struck me was that Randy Travis laughs a lot. It is really lovely; he literally is cracking up all the time. He is also in noooooooooo hurry. Unlike me, I was a sweaty tired, smoky (people can still smoke inside in the casino) and rushed mess. As I was doing the interview, I found myself cutting him off and hurrying him along, really professional eh? Helllllo Randy we had 2 minutes, HURRY UPPPPP!!!!! In about 10 minutes we were done, I had aged about two years, but Mr. Travis looked fresh as could be, walked out the door laughing into a car on his way to film the movie. Me, it only took 12 hours to get home.

If you look up cool in the dictionary you would find the words…Rosanne Cash.

Last Monday I shot the legendary artist Rosanne Cash. My new fave pal, Charlie Feldman had organized the shoot to take place in a palatial room at the BMI headquarters. Thanks Charlie! My assistants and I arrived super early and dragged the zillion bags of equipment upstairs, so we would be all set up by the time she arrived. I am soooo glad the bulk of this book was completed in the summer, working in the winter is logistically a nightmare. Or rather it seems much harder! Around 9:30 a.m. Rosanne walked in and I kid you not, we were dressed exactly alike. We both wore a black mu-mu, black leggings, tall boots and  a few big necklaces, but somehow she looked 1000% cooler and better. I wanted to go home and change. On a side note, while I am typing this I am listening to her new album titled,  The List which she GAVE to me. Yes people GAVE, yum yum I love a gift. The album is really good, it’s going straight on my ipod. Anyhow, the plan was to first shoot Rosanne with the two legendary songwriters Hal David and Paul Hampton, then we would shoot her for my book. Last week, Rosanne was nominated for a Grammy (her 9th) for the song  Sea of Hearbreak on her new album. Hal David and Paul Hampton co-wrote the song and this was the first time they all met. Ok, to be honest I had to Google Hal and Paul, sorry die hard music aficionados. I quickly learned that they are uber legends in the music world. Hal David wrote “Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head”, “Walk on By”, “What the World Needs Now is Love”, “I Say a Little Prayer” and “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” to name a few, amazing right????  Paul’s pedigree isn’t shabby either, his songs were recorded by everyone including his regular collaborator, Burt Bacharach. Jeez the pressure was on. Around 10:15 a.m., the songwriters walked in and the love fest began.  Mr. David did NOT stop smiling, honestly it was so infectious that I found myself with a really stupid grin on my face for the entire shoot. I let them chat, then it was time to crack the whip. We shot different set ups of the three of them against the backdrop and then Rosanne and I shot for my book. She has the MOST amazing smile, seriously look at pictures of her when she smiles, it lights the room up. We did the shoot really fast, she left and went  grocery shopping at Whole Foods.  I went home and changed.

The CMA’s

All well laid plans.. or what’s the phrase?  Not soooooo fast, I was a proud ticket holder for this year’s CMA (Country Music Awards) ready to sit in the audience, armed with a flask full of whiskey and prepared to have a grand ole night with a pal. Until People Magazine (a great and loyal client) called and hired me to shoot backstage during the show. The idea was to shoot what they call a “photo booth”, we would set up a white backdrop mini-studio and as soon as the artists finished the red carpet, they would be brought to me for a quick snap. The logistics were a NIGHTMARE, first of all we were asked  to arrive at the Sommet center (pronounced Sooome-ay?!?!?) center at 11:30am for a 4pm start. We were instructed to enter the building from four blocks away and hand carry every single piece of equipment into the arena. All I can say is thank god I go to the gym and poo poo to those who think this job is glamorous. When I accepted the job which I was really excited about,  I quickly got my priorities in order, what could I wear that would last for 12 hours and that I could work in?!?! A rather unremarkable shirt dress and some tall boots is what I decided on, I was NOT the belle of the ball.

Upon arrival and discovery that we were in effect trapped in a basement, my never-ending obsession reared it’s ugly head, what to eat?!!?!? My dear friend Paula ran on a food search and returned with the only thing possible, chicken wings and fries grrrrrrrrrreat. Once the red carpet hotted up around 5pm, we were shooting up a storm. There were some old pals like Michelle Branch, who looked amazing. The regal, elegant and stunning Barbara Mandrell, please please let me be so lovely and look so good when I grow up. She had an amazing dress that costs $9000 but next time you see her ask her about her shoes! hee hee. My Kenny (Chesney) passed by with his ADORABLE mom. It was nice to see some many familiar faces from the PR people to the artists, everyone looking  dressed up and super cute.  Around midnight while we waited for Taylor Swift, I counted up our day’s work,  we shot 60 people.!!! Olan mills and Glamor Shots can eat their hearts out!

Kenny and Moi

Mel shoots Mel!

The only way I was going to get to the legendary singer Mel Tillis was to meet him on the road during his tour.  After consulting schedule, Lindsay, Ontario seemed like the place that was going to work for both of us. Traveling to Canada on a work permit is a nightmare. Firstly you have to fill in a “carnet” listing all of serial numbers of all of your equipment, then when you arrive at the border there is always a big interrogation just short of a strip search. So I decided my assistant Joanna and I would travel in as “tourists”. So much for my short lived promise at Miranda Lampert’s prison shoot that I would never do anything illegal again. Will I be arrested for an admission like this??? Shhh, dont report me!

Traveling to Lindsay was a pain and once we arrived to my horror the motel was straight out of a Cohen Brothers movie.  Needless to say, I slept in my clothes.  The next morning nice and wrinkly, we arrived at the lovely Academy Theater for a scout and to figure out how in the HELL I was going to shoot Mel Tillis. I had discussed the possibility of shooting on the tour bus which wasn’t due to arrive for a few hours. I always try to do a few set ups with each subject in case one doesn’t work later.  So I started to look, I found and started to pre-light an average shot using the theater doors, a bit of a dorky “movement shot” then the tour bus rolled into town. I looked out the window and it seemed like one cute instrument carrying man after another came out of the bus. My husband shouldn’t be jealous though, because it looked like they were on average about 6 years old.

I went to introduce myself to Mr. Tillis (henceforth know as Mel) and he seemed ready to start shooting. I didn’t have a  clue what to do and thought about asking him if he could leave his bus and give me two hours to work it out. Of course I didn’t, I just panicked internally, felt like I had to diarrhea or vomit and said “shoot you right where you are of course”.  He was sitting at the table with the latest Jeanette Wallis book, a map, a beer, a book of Suduko and some beef jerky, dressed in a super cool leather Bomber jacket and jeans. It was perfect!  On a side note, in case you don’t know Mel Tillis stutters when he speaks but not when he sings, his guitar start says m-m-m-m-m-mel, hilarious eh?

Well what a charmer, filling me with great stories about one “ass” in particular who is in my book, sorry can’t tell you who! In the end I got some really nice shots on the bus.. it was almost worth the bedbugs from the hotel,kidding. Next stop St Miguel de Allende, Mexico for Day of the Dead.. no country music there.

Mel shoots Mel.