It was an early start to the day meeting the crew of Lalo’s Fast Food on Ventura Ave. in Ventura. I found myself setting up a tripod at 4:30 AM waiting to capture the beginning of the long days that the folks at Lalo’s put in daily. We watch as the lights click on bringing life back to the machine that produces awesome, handmade, delicious mexican food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That works out to be an 18 hour day. Today that will be an 18 hour day for me as well. I will capture them arriving, cooking all day long and eventually closing…til the morning, when they do it all again.
This fusion project would combine time lapse, video and maybe a still image or two. The folks that work so hard were quite cooperative as I had carte blanche to go and photograph anywhere I wanted. I was certain not to interrupt their workflow as they prepared more than 200 orders during that day. I hung cameras above the cooktop, on refridgerators, on the take away window until the day wound down and day became night. Nighttime, the time to rest. Waiting as the last order served, the grill switched off , the bookkeeping complete, and then, finally, time to switch off the lights and go home.
I hope that you enjoy spending a few minutes in the day of the people at Lalo’s!
