Don't Pay the Ferryman
ERESFJORD, NORWAY - 2025

This would be a decent location for a
shoot in the middle of summer, but in
the winter, after a foot of fresh snow, it
becomes a blowout location. Finding and
locking down permits for remote spots
like this is an integral part of our work;
in a single frame, there is no mileage for
a lame backdrop. It matters not one bit
that there isn’t a hotel within 50 miles -
that, in fact, is a positive.
The 1948 Porsche 356 works perfectly
as a prop too; its curves and the female
model’s curves have a harmony that then
visually elevates the harsh right angles
of the austere ferry ramp. There is a
calm serenity to the photograph, despite
the props being an unlikely fusion of
Stuttgart, Paris and Pittsburg.
These are the days in winter we long for -
days when a storm ends and there is fresh
snow on the ground and flat light. Our
props and cast are in place and we can
just leverage the opportunity. It probably
only happens to us once or possibly twice
a season, simply because the lead time
for production is too long to plan around
the weather and therefore when it does
happen, it is largely just luck.
All we can do, when we are presented
with an opportunity like this, is to try
and make the most of it. There are many
mundane days in the field when the
weather does not cooperate and these
perfect days are the payback days.
Chris de Burgh’s cult song from 1982,
Don’t Pay the Ferryman, seemed