Father Daughter Story with Rick Folten

December 3, 2013

Recently I had the honor to shoot a themed photo session with actor Rick Folten. You might not know his name, but you will recognize his face when you see him. He has appeared in over 250 commercials, numerous films, and a few TV series. When Rick first called me to book a full modeling session he asked what kind of idea I had for his session. I told him that I was impressed and touched by his Abbott commercial – Father Daughter Promise. His good father image is deeply inside my head. I said, “why don’t we shoot a father daughter themed story and I will come up with a script.” He liked the idea and told me that he just happened to know a girl whom could play his daughter.

I drafted out a script for Rick and we worked on fine-tuning it together. Originally I planned to shoot Rick and his daughter Sarah entering a farmer’s market. Fun things could include daddy showing his little girl how to pick out good veggies and fruits, Sarah showing her bargain skills, Rick and Sarah sharing food, and then they walk out of the farmer’s market. Rick had a really good idea about setting up a conflict in the middle of the story. Almost every novel, movie, or TV series uses this trend.

On the actual day of our shoot, there was no farmer’s market because it was too cold. We had to change our script. One key attribute as a photographer is to be flexible on the set and come up with alternate plans. Rick as an experienced actor, is fast at adapting to changes as well. We quickly found a breakfast shop in Liberty downtown. Rick grabbed some coffee and muffin. We shot our first scene of father and daughter chatting and having breakfast on the street.  The second part is where the conflicts begins. Sarah really wanted to go to her friend’s house to spend the night, but Rick does not approve. They got into an argument, used smart phone to communicate for a little bit, and finally stopped talking to each other altogether. In my original script, I listed out all the props such as smart phone, newspaper, food, etc. We were lucky to find a newspaper stand on the street that morning. Props like smart phone and newspaper  really adds some texture to the father daughter “cold war”.

Of course, the story ends with a happy ending. I remembered this real cute phone booth and think it would be a perfect spot for Rick and Sarah to make up. The two texted each other to initiate a conversation. They worked out a “deal” and finally Rick let Sarah go. I love that picture of Rick hugging Sarah at the end of the story.

Rick is a father of 4 in real life. His kids are all grown up and his daughter is studying abroad in Paris! That’s why he pulled Sarah, a family friend to play his daughter. Stay tuned for another story focusing on Rick’s professional acting and modeling career.

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