Fifteen Hour Fitness.

If you're reading this article in the hopes that I'll explain how to get six-pack abs in less than a day, then in advance, I'm sorry to disappoint you...

Deadlines are strange things. They are great motivators and exceptionally great challenges. They are the ultimate test of what one is truly capable of in times of pressure. Not unlike those instances where people somehow achieve super-human feats of strength in stressful situations when their adrenaline kicks in. Although for this job, the only thing I was wielding was a Wacom stylus. So it was admittedly, quite a lot less physical.

I was approached to retouch a rather large batch of fitness fashion images for an international brand. Problem was, they needed it all done by the following day. And to make matters worse, the client was based in Australia. Meaning that with the time zone difference, their following day started about 9 hours sooner than mine did. I didn't even know if it was possible to achieve, but I took it on. Who needed sleep anyways right?

Fifteen straight hours of retouching and countless cups of coffee later, I uploaded the completed batch of images. I had barely moved from my workstation the entire time, but it felt like I had been driven over by a moderately, yet not lethally heavy vehicle (something like a Fiat Uno if I had to guess). My eyes were dry. My head hurt. And my hands were cramped. But as the saying goes, no pain, no gain.

Credits:

Photographer: Ted O'Donnell

Art Director: Robbie Kantor

Agency: 630 Group, Sydney