So when Harvard Business Review calls and asks you...

So when Harvard Business Review calls and asks you to create a portrait of one of Ford Motor Company’s top executives…you do whatever you can to make it happen.

James Farley is Group Vice President for Global Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford Motor Company. Mr. Farley has a long title because, as I found out in my research, he has a HUGE job. He’s one of the most watched auto executives in the industry and Ford is on an absolute roll producing some great cars and amazing profits again.

Needless to say I leaped at the chance to take some portraits of Mr. Farley at Ford WHQ in Dearborn…the problem was that I was on vacation with my family in Florida on the only afternoon he was available for weeks. What to do, what to do?

After consulting with my Global Vice President of Domestic Affairs (my wife Kathleen who definitely has a tougher job than Mr. Farley), I did what anyone would do in this situation…I quickly booked a roundtrip ticket from Orlando to Detroit for the day of the shoot. Here’s how it all went down:

9:00 AM: My first assistant Josh Tyron departs Grand Rapids in my van loaded with gear and heads to the Detroit airport

9:15: I depart Orlando for Detroit

11:45: Josh picks me up curbside at the terminal

12:15-1:15 Arrive in Dearborn, eat lunch with Josh at a coney restaurant near Ford WHQ

1:30-2:15: Arrive at Ford WHQ to meet our PR handler, load in gear, scout

2:15-3:00: Set-up and do lighting tests at three locations

3:10-3:11: Mr. Farley arrives, exchange greetings, brief chit chat

3:11-3:25: Create portraits with Mr. Farley in the first two set-ups, all the while attempting to be very charming, funny and hoping to coax him into staying for the third set-up which is located down the hall quite a ways knowing this might push his patience

3:25: Thank Mr. Farley for his time but also suggest if he has just 3 more minutes we could shoot in one more nice spot down the hall. Mr. Farley checks his time piece (which was one of the coolest watches I’d ever seen)…he says he’d be happy to do one more portrait but needs to leave by 3:30

3:26-3:29: Complete last portrait and thank Mr. Farley again who turns out to be one of the nicest subjects I’ve shot under a very tight timeline

3:30-4:00: Break down gear and load out

4:30: Josh drops me back off at Detroit Airport

6:50: Depart from Detroit

9:04: Arrive in Orlando

9:08-9:33: Frantically search for my rental car (a Ford Flex!) in the airport parking ramp

9:35: Report rental car stolen with airport security

9:36: Realize I was searching for my car in the wrong parking ramp

9:37: Unreport stolen rental car, hug security guard

9:45: Find rental car and depart to reunite with my family

Credits:

Owen Edwards - Consulting Art Director/Photo Editor, Harvard Business Review