Metso – Franklin & Sparta

Metso has been one of my top three lifetime clients, and for the past few years I’ve been fortunate that they’ve sent me out on adventures I’ll be telling my grandkids about.

In late 2018 and early 2019, I produced stock images, videos and even an article for them (yes I write too) from some pretty unique locations.  These places are always far from cities and quite rural, requiring at least a couple flights and a long drive into the country to get there.

First up was Franklin, North Carolina, a state I’d never visited.  It was the fall and the rolling hills in the West of the state were covered in deciduous trees that were just barely past their fall colour peak.  This was unexpected and a great perk to witness.  After a night at a local hotel, the client and I spent the day at a quarry, where Metso’s mobile rock crushing equipment was being used.  The local contractor at the quarry was a very accommodating host, and we all spent about 8 hours shooting in the rain.  My Nikon gear and 30 foot tripod were well protected from the elements and functioned perfectly all day.

The next shoot in early 2019 was in Sparta, Georgia.  This very small town didn’t even have the resources to put both the client and myself up for the night, so we stayed about 30 miles away and drove in the next morning.  It was a pretty active location, with multiple excavators, dozers, trucks and crushers bombing around the site all at once.  I was a little more on my own for the first while racing around and dodging gear while shooting from my 30 foot tripod, stills and b-roll for the video https://jonbenjamin.ca/portfolio/?filter=.video.

Both these shoots were a quick in and out, as my experience allows me to be very organized with my planing and execution of projects.  This is a benefit to me (so I can spend more time at home with my family) and to the client by keeping the budget to a minimum.  I’m always looking forward to future opportunities to work and collaborate with Metso.