Earlier in June, I had the opportunity to work with my friends at Couslon Oil photo shoot for one of their divisions, Road Runner Stores.

The objective of the photo shoot was to showcase Road Runner’s operations from both the consumer’s and the employee’s standpoints. The photos introduce Road Runner as an integral part of the community, dedicated to excellent customer service. Photos showcase that Road Runner is a local, Arkansas brand with a high-quality selection of products.

The photos can be found online, on social media, and they are also being used for other marketing and hiring materials.

I worked with Coulson Oil a few years ago on a project to photograph a few of their selected gas stations. I am extremely proud of this project. The goal of the project was simple: Coulson Oil was building a new corporate headquarters in North Little Rock, Arkansas and they wanted artwork of a few selected stations to hang on the walls. You can see more on this project on my blog.

I worked closely with Coulson’s Brand Loyalty Manager. She sent over a detailed creative brief showing the angle and style of photos they were looking for. Instead of paid talent, the Client preferred to use several of Road Runner’s team members to be both employees and customers. Throughout the photo shoot, I proofed photos in real time to my iPad using CamRanger so the Client could make angle and posing changes as need. We kept the lighting pretty basic and natural. We used a Profoto B10 with a Westcott Beauty Dish and another Profoto B1X as a kicker light as needed.

Over the two day photo shoot at both their Texarkana, Texas and Conway, Arkansas locations, we shot the same setup twice: with and without masks due to Covid-19. I wanted the Client to be able to use the photos down the road when (we hope) the pandemic has burned itself out and to be able to use them should the pandemic stick around for a while.

In addition to brand awareness photos, the Client also wanted a handful of beauty interiors to showcase the design and the cleanliness of the stores. During my gas station exteriors project mentioned earlier, I paid a visit inside each store for a visit to the ladies room, a Coke and bag of chips for the drive home. Each and every store I visited were remarkably clean and fresh… especially the restrooms. The restrooms have an all-in-one touch-free sink, soap dispenser and hand dryer.

Oh and if you’ve never had Champs Chicken-on-a-Stick…you’re missing out. They are hand-battered and cooked fresh daily. I know what you’re thinking…gas station food??? But this chicken was damn delicious.