Fremantle Dockers Photo-shoot

On the 25^th of September, I woke up bright and early to attend a photo shoot for a full page spread in the West Australian in support of Programmed sponsored Fremantle Dockers. I had been told about the photo shoot the night before at around 11pm and so had no idea what to expect.

I arrived at the Programmed Burswood office at around 7am and then went with Communications Officer, Kate Sossi, as well as three other employees to the studio in City Beach.

When we arrived at the shoot we all had our make up and hair done (including the men!) and put on our Programmed and Fremantle Dockers gear.

We were photographed in groups, with my group being the second shot. The studio was sectioned off and so there was no visibility of what was happening with the first group, but we could hear yelling, cheering and rock music.

As the time approached for our shoot we were all a little nervous, however, we were briefed on the idea behind the shoot and were shown images as to what it would look like. We were asked by the photographer to scream and shout as if we “were in a pub watching the grand final and the Dockers just won.”

After numerous shots at different angles and in different positions the photographer was finally happy and it was “a wrap!”

It was a really cool experience to be involved in a photo shoot, especially because it was a full page spread in the West Australian.

Despite the little time, Kate pulled the massive shoot together and got it done overnight. This efficiency just goes to show that as a public relations practitioner, you need to be quick on your feet and very assertive – regardless of what might get thrown at you. This also reinforced what I’ve learnt in my PR units at uni i.e. that public relations practitioners need to be good problem solvers and must not panic when they are thrown in the deep end. It also reinforced that having a contingency plan is a must – e.g. in the case of the photo shoot, if something was to happen to the photographer, who would take the shot that was required by Saturday, or who would be in the shot if someone backed out. All these things need to be considered.  Kate was also really great at helping those being photographed relax and be less nervous as she was just lightening the situation by making jokes and being silly. This also goes to show that you need to be a good people person to be in public relations. This also reinforced what I learnt in my PR units that your communications skills and people skills are of utmost importance as this is really a key part of the job – to communicate.

I have attached the photo (me far left) from the Saturdays West Australian below. Sadly the Fremantle Dockers were not victorious over the weekend, but there’s always next year!