We’ve all seen the eye-catching photographs that go along with any marketing collateral piece, but few of us have actually caught a glimpse of the work that goes into creating them.

In many instances an organization looking for a great photograph to add into a marketing piece, Web site or press material will check out one of the popular stock photography sites such as iStockphoto, Jupiter Images or Getty Images. But when the photo you are looking for is a 40 foot bus wrapped in your organization’s colors and logo, the image search might be limited on a stock site. Ok, or just nonexistent. That’s when you need to look into other options such as preparing a shoot yourself or hiring a professional photographer.

Such was the case for Childhelp and their “End Child Abuse Now!” National bus tour. The bus was scheduled to tour the Los Angeles and San Diego area over a week and a half to support existing events and raise awareness through high traffic areas and media availabilities. Childhelp knew they wanted to grab some shots of the bus in front of iconic and well-known structures around the LA area to be used in collateral and press material. With that in mind I packed up my camera and an arsenal of lenses for three days in LA.

Before leaving we had mapped out a number of locations we knew we wanted to capture the bus in front of including; the Nokia Plaza, Staples Center, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Blvd, the Hollywood sign and finally Santa Monica Pier. On a Tuesday afternoon we set about traveling to each site. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as point and shoot.

When the object of your shot is a 40 foot bus coming down the road, sometimes you have to do multiple takes and a lot of maneuvering to get the right shot. Unfortunately, traffic and a wide turn radius vehicle limit your flexibility. To coordinate our attempts we equipped a radio on the bus and one I carried with me to signal the bus ahead. As we were coming up to an area we wanted to photograph, I would jump off the bus and run up or across the street to get an opposing view as the bus traveled down the road.

Often I would take photos of the Childhelp bus just as it reached the right spot in the frame, only to have the picture dashed by a car skirting in front. In some locations, such as Santa Monica Pier, the bus had to drive around the block four or five times until we nailed the angle and timing we needed to create a dramatic looking shot.

At the end of the day our efforts were rewarded by some great captures that will be used in future press and collateral material throughout the remainder of the national tour. In addition, the bus received some great exposure traveling through these high traffic tourist destinations.

Just remember if you are looking to create some shots for future material of your own, to be prepared with a route or shot sheet and bring the proper equipment. Look for a professional photographer in the area if you aren’t confident you have the right experience or equipment to get the shots you are looking for. The extra investment will be well worth the final product.