Whenever a brand – either new or old – comes to our production agency with a new collection, we always welcome them with the same excitement. A new collection means a new story, a new dream, a different point of view. We are responsible for creating a shooting concept following the vibe and spirit of the collection, which is fascinating. That’s why when Westmark London came through our door with their Spring Summer 2022 Collection we were overly excited.
As the creative team, the more we studied the collection, the more we were coming up with different ideas. Should we follow a classic swimsuit campaign on the beach? No, that was too boring for the collection. Should we shoot it in a dazzling cove? Nope, that had no story. Eventually, we presented our creative photoshoot concept to the Westmark London team: two friends sailing to the open sea, having the time of their lives, and living a careless summer vacation.
As soon as our creative concept was approved by the client we started the pre-production phase, photographer, videographer, styling, hair, and make-up, assistants… Our mood boards were shaping, so was our destination and what kind of sailboat to rent, and so on…
It was finally the shooting day, the 25th of April, at 7:30 sharp. The team was slowly getting together, first came our assistants, stylist, fashion photographer, and production manager… We carried everything to the sailboat and got on board the open sea where we would meet our second boat. The sun was rising and the wind was breezing, we were watching the dolphins, the seagulls, and the reflection of the sun on the smooth sea.
Shooting outside has always been more of a challenge compared to shooting in the studio. Yet still, this was one of the hardest sets of our production history. Although we had two boats and a great captain who was taking us to all of the hidden gems of İstanbul, it took us a lot of time to go from one point to another one especially because there was a strong current. Furthermore, even if we have made it to the shooting place we still had some trouble holding the boats still when we were shooting from the other boat. The boat with the photographer was following the current so it was almost impossible to make the perfect shot. We have spent hours adjusting the boat according to the light, and as we all well know every second counts when you are racing with the sunset.
As we could not all stand on the ship on which the shooting was taking place, some of us had to go to the second boat. We called it the “vacation boat” as once stepped there, any crew member had nothing to do but enjoy the sun and the view. Whereas the other ship was called “bee boat”, and the crew on board the shooting boat was trying to dress two models, style them, touch to hair and make-up, and try to get out of the frame at the same time!
None of the hardships matter once you realize something you have visioned, you have created, and put your hours in as a team is created. There is something extremely fulfilling in fashion photography. Once you see the shots on the screen, you forget that you are tired, hungry, or cold. All that matters is to work as a team and nail the job better than you have ever done every single time.
