Surf & Sand Full Day PR Shoot

A majority of my work outside of weddings is public relations – and they’ve served as a great tool for getting creative “on the spot”.  As in, the shoots consist of a collection of ideas they’ve gathered to promote seasonal packages or menu items – but some kind of tie-in for the hotel.

Just recently I had a full-day shoot at the surf & sand resort in Laguna Beach – had about 8 or so items to knock out during the time we had.

Rather than bore you with an elongated story about the day, let’s go along for the ride, shall we?

Started out around 7 AM to grab some morning yoga action to promote as a new activity the hotel offers their guests:

(First shot wanted to get the morning light cast over the beach, so shot from the side)

 

Next wanted to get an angle with the waves in the back, showing what an awesome background the guests would see doing their morning session here.

 

 

A little bit of both on this next shot, and composed the shot so the photo could be utilized with some text in the negative space on the left.

 

Finished off with more of an abstract shot of the subjects, going vertical to give them options.  The idea I’m trying to convey here is to provide the clients with a few options.  Figure out the posing/setup, then get multiple angles, shots, and compositions.  While I did the same for the following shots, I thought I would demonstrate this important idea to consider with these first few as I feel the difference in the shots represents the variation in ‘looks’ the best.

 

 

While I prefer the vertical shot above for the ‘wrap’ promo, the client preferred the horizontal one below next to the pool.  The concept was to have the lunch while lounging at the pool.  Another thing to keep in mind – what you prefer might not be what the client prefers, so yeah – options, options, options.

 

 

Next shot=hungry Tim.

 

 

Happy hour promo.

 

 

Specialty cocktail promo.  For the shot on the left, I used the fountain of the welcome sign for the hotel as the background.  Got nice and tight, you can barely tell what the background is – but it looks like a cool mixture of patterns doesn’t it?  On the right – stone table slab.

 

 

I’m betting the question you’ll have after seeing the next couple shots is, “Tim – do you get to eat/try this stuff after you’re done taking photos?!?!”

Yes.  Yes I do.  And these were delicious.

 

 

The money shot.  This was the shot of the day – had to make it the best.  New package includes a tent & smores ingredients for kids to enjoy in the same hotel room as their parents are staying.

For this shot, had my assistant hold a 580EX above the tent, aiming down to give it that “up late at night snacking on smores” look.  Wanted it to appear as if there was a small light on in her tent such as a flashlight shining down from above.  Light worked well, client was happy.  Clients happy, Tim happy, enjoyed glasses of sangria together post-shoot to celebrate a successful workday!