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Assignment in USA (Inside story) (for the few who like to know how a job is executed….) New York Revisited. The New York picture was taken long before the 911 disaster. (1991). Getting an assignment like this takes a lot of pre-production. It is obvious that everything must be right, flight tickets, hotel reservations, car rental and so on. And of course the weather conditions had to be right at the time. Like every foreign job, I started with a plan of action (scenario) with all possible details for the crew. In this case the crew consisted of the art director from the advertising agency, only one assistant and myself. So not too great crew in order to stay within budget. A budget for an assignment like this was -even in 1991- over 100.000 dollars. So the responsibility in succeeding and getting the right picture(s) is great. The New York shot was taken from a military base (I think it was Govenors Island) to get the right point of view. All other possibilities were not suitable because of the great distance. It took me two days to get permission for entering the Military Base. Picture was taken on 10" x 8" Cambo techn. camera with a 800mm LF Nikon lens. (see insert). It took me (us) several days waiting to get the right lighting and making the shot. Back in Holland we did a lot of digital manipulation and retouch on a Quantel Paintbox to get the picture as the client, Tulip Computers, wanted. A nice view of the former (revisited) skyline of New York like some "utopian" city. Leaving New York -we stayed in NY for 7 days- we took a flight to Albuquerque and drove with a rental car to Farmington, and, after a break, to Monument Valley. Same procedure as in New York. Three days in a row to get the right sunset. Picture was also taken on 10"x8", Cambo techn. camera, Sinaron-wide angle 155mm lens. Kodak Ektachrome film. This pictures is, unlike the New York shot, not manipulated in any way except of course the insert. From Monument Valley we drove to Los Angeles (we stayed there for several days visiting some nice places like The Grand Canyon (just for fun) and took a plain back to Holland. So some hard work but also some days of pleasure. Both pictures were used as a public billboard in Europe.