An official Pistons photographer since 1991, Dan Lippitt knows his way around The Palace. He has coordinated the photo shoot for all eight Automotion calendars. Good gig, right? Only if you’re willing to put in the work.

You do not say, “show me sexy.” My directions are pretty simple while shooting. I’ll say things like, “smile” or “bigger smile.” With the ladies who haven’t done a shoot before I’ll talk to them beforehand about how to pose or make a facial expression so they know what I’m looking for.

New members are not camera shy. The ladies are all excited to do it. To be on Automotion, you have to enjoy being in the spotlight and dancing. That said, everyone gets a little nervous when you shoot because everyone wants to do well. They want to make (dance team director Rebecca Girard) happy, they want to make me happy. They want to have a good picture in the calendar.

There’s no flirting. When I’m working with a professional model, if you say “laugh,” she’ll laugh and it will look real. When you’re working with Automotion, you have to make a good joke or say something funny because they’re not used to being directed like that. So I will joke with the ladies, especially before they shoot. But I definitely wouldn’t call it flirting.

It’s a long day. The team members won’t know what order they’re shooting in, so they’ll get there at 9 in the morning and may not shoot until 6 at night. Hair and makeup take hours, then we have to check lighting and we’ll look at using accessories and things like that. I work with each of them for no less than 30 minutes, and up to an hour.

Each lady deserves everything you have. I don’t jump around shooting like crazy, but it takes a lot of energy mentally. You have to conceive each shot to its fullest - working with Rebecca on matching the lighting to the swimsuit and the backdrop - to make everyone on Automotion look her best. My assistants, Christian O’Grady and Justin Dennis, and I set up 34 different lighting arrangements so that every member had at least one lighting scenario none of their teammates had. It’s mentally exhausting to come up with that in two days.

It doesn’t come together overnight. The shoot itself takes 2-3 days. Then I have to whittle 10,000 shots down to 1,500 and then 750 shots. I go over those with Rebecca, one by one, to find the 63 images that end up in the calendar. Each of those shots receives 2-3 hours of post-production work. But we’re talking about young, pretty women so it’s not like they need a lot of work. I just need to be careful about doing it right.

Two minds are better than one. Rebecca brings a different take to looking at the photos. I’m looking at the technical aspects, like the lighting or how the pose turned out. Rebecca is more concerned with how the ladies look overall - how the swimsuits work, their expressions. At times we have differences of opinion because when it comes down to it, it is just a matter of opinion. Some people may like a smile while others like a seductive pose. So when we both like it, we know it’s a keeper.

This job is as fun as it looks. My job is ridiculously fun as it is - I shoot basketball players and pretty women and famous people. Yeah, it’s fun. Is it fun to shoot eight ladies in one day? Eh, not so much.

The 2009 Automotion calendar goes on sale online at The Palace Locker Room Store Nov. 29. All proceeds will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan.