I arrived at the Nashville Superspeedway race track on a hot, sunny June afternoon for the Danielle Peck 2008 Chevy Calendar photo shoot. I was greeted and welcomed by Michael Jackson, the Chevy Calendar Project Manager. In addition, I was also greeted by independent photographer Ron Strong. I had previously met both of these gentlemen at the Jack Ingram Chevy Photo Shoot a few days prior. Ron invited me to shadow him for the shoot with Ms. Peck.
Shortly thereafter, Danielle Peck arrived and was escorted into the artist trailer provided by Chevy to prepare for her part of the shoot. Michael had a hair stylist/make-up person onsite to work with Danielle however, she brought her own hair stylist/make-up person to assist her.
While Danielle was busy preparing for the shoot. I went down onto the race track where the cars were being prepped. On the race track was a black Chevy SS pulled along side NASCAR Chevy team winner Jeff Gordon's #48 Lowe's Chevy Impala. The Chevy cars had their own crew cleaning, polishing and inspecting them for any dust or dirt that Ron Strong's professionally trained eye would detect.
Ron and his crew worked diligently to make sure the glare and shadowing wouldn't affect any of Ron's shots with Danielle. One of the crew members stood in for Danielle posing in different positions by the cars to check for glare and shadowing before Danielle was even brought onto the track.
Once Ron was satisfied with his set up shots and the car prep was complete, Danielle was brought down to the track from the artist trailer. She wore a long tube top style black blouse with blue jeans and black sandals. She also wore a large turquoise necklace and several braceletes and a couple of rings as accessories.
Ron met briefly with Danielle before escorting her to the stylish Chevy race cars. Keeping with the racing theme, Danielle's poses seemed to be starting the engines of many of the male crew members with her natural beauty and professional style.
The wind was an additional obstacle Ron and the crew had to deal with during Danielle's photo shoot. But Luke Palushaj, the Art Director for Chevy, came up with some additional posing suggestions for Danielle to help combat the wind. The wind was blowing Danielle's hair forward into and around her face so a large fan was brought in to blow her hair back in the other direction.
Danielle was a pro following the lead and direction of both Ron and Luke posing in whatever manner they requested to get just the right look for the shot. Her easy going attitude, and comical puns made what could have been a difficult situation light-hearted and fun.
If the male crew members response to Danielle's poses are any indication of the responses of other males, the 2008 Chevy Calendar will be in big demand.
Between photo take sessions Danielle waited under a large canopy tent and did interview video clips with a two man Chevy camera crew. I was told these clips were being done for all the artists and could be viewed on Chevy's website. However, a publication date was unknown at the time of Ms. Peck's shoot.
For additional high level information on the "behind the scenes" procedures of a Chevy Calendar Photo Shoot please see my Behind the Scenes at the 2008 Chevy Calendar Photo Shoot with Jack Ingram article.