HALL OF FLAME CALENDAR 2018
A calendar for a cause
We had the privilege to be able to shoot the 31st edition of the Greater Vancouver firefighter’s “Hall of Flame Calendar 2018”. Each year, professional firefighters from the fire halls in the Greater Vancouver area volunteer to be chosen for a spot in the calendar. Its never an easy task to choose as there are so many fit and trim individuals in this amazing community. To solve this problem there is a great selection party each year, and this year was no different. Over 400 people showed up to help select their favourite firefighter to be feature in next year’s calendar, thanks to the great people at The Roxy Nightclub for hosting the event and making the night such a success.
We had a few pre-production meetings with the firefighter’s representatives and the creative team in which we nailed down the details of the concept and the schedule for shooting. Creative director Dona wanted to take the calendar into a new direction this year. Instead of the typical gritty firefighter shots, she came up with “a day in the life” concept which shows a different side to the men and women of the Vancouver firefighters. Then it was time for the firefighters to get “Calendar Ready”.
The creative team weren’t disappointed as all the talent definitely arrived ready for shooting. So much fun was had by all, with lots of banter between the guys as they gave each other a hard time when it was their turn to model in front of a crew of +-15 people. You can only imagine the fun all the ladies had on set with all the firefighters around. The hundreds of hours donated by the models and the creative team goes to show what a worthy cause this project supports.
The calendar was very lucky this year because as an overly male profession its hard to get a female firefighters to volunteer, but this year Sara volunteered and ended up being voted “Peoples Choice”.
The lighting set-up’s for the shoot were kept relatively simple, for time’s sake. As you can see in the behind the scenes photo‘s below, we rarely used more than 3 lights to keep the set compact and mobile. We were shooting in a working Fire Station, so we had to move out of the way very quickly when the various trucks and firefighters were responding to emergencies. Here are some sneak peeks and behind the scenes from the Calendar, for more information and pictures please follow the Vancouver Firefighters on Facebook and Instagram and don’t forget to pick up a copy of the calendar, more information on how you can do that below.
The Funds that are raised by this calendar are used to support the CKNW Orphans fund, the BCPFFA Burn Fund and many other charitable organizations in and around British Columbia, Canada. Knowing this, every single member of the team put their best foot forwards and worked hard to produce an amazing calendar that will raise thousands for these great causes. Over the years the calendar has raised over a million dollars for these charities and will continue to contribute for many years to come.
Please support this great project. You can get your copy of the calendar online at vancouverfirefighters.ca or at London Drugs and Selected Save-on-Foods stores.
Please check out Erichsaide.com for more shoots and booking info.
Creative team
Photographer : Erich Saide (@erichsaide)
Assistant : Vince Ferreira (@vince.in.vancouver)
Creative Director : Dona Sheer (@StylebyDona)
Hair and Make-up Artist : Shayna Coumont (@voilalounge)
Calendar Coordinator: Ryan Bifolchi
Calendar Coordinator: James Docherty