Of the thousands of images captured each shoot, there is usually one shot that stands out to the Art Director. The image might represent how all the pre-planned elements have harmoniously come together, or maybe its that unexpected shot that worked when spontaneity coincided with preparation. There is always a great story behind the image and Art Director Beau Lark is going to share his.
Hero: What element really stands out to you about this image?
Beau: I love the girl with the pink ring and her huge laugh, and I love the rest of the group watching her and seeing if she was going to go deeper in the water or not. Everything works for me - the randomness of how the group is standing makes for an unexpected composition that still draws your eye to the girl looking to camera with the help of the bright pink inflatable ring.
H: What is the story behind this shot - was it one you were after?
B: For this shoot wanted to show a group of 20-somethings just exploring and making the most of their day together, so we chose this rainforest on the coast of BC. with a swimming hole and a cast that we hoped would gel.
In the midst of everyone braving the cold water, all the models kind of forgot about the camera and were teasing each other about getting in. And this is when we were able to capture this great shot of our group being completely spontaneous and genuinely having a good time.
In my head we were going to have all the models jumping off these cliffs into the water that led to a swimming hole. However, we hadn’t actually seen the location yet and it turned out the jumping spot was pretty high, meaning our models weren’t too keen on jumping (I couldn’t blame them). As well, the only angle was to shoot into a dark crevasse, which looked more ominous than carefree. We had to change gears.
So, we all carefully made our way down to the surface of the water and got in - some deeper than others as it was freezing! In the midst of everyone braving the cold water, all the models kind of forgot about the camera and were teasing each other about getting in. And this is when we were able to capture this great shot of our group being completely spontaneous and genuinely having a good time.
H: How does this image represent what Hero does?
B: This is the type of image we strive to get all the time and it all has to do with the combination of spontaneity and being prepared. While this was a heavily produced shoot day, this particular photo was not on any shot list. We had all the right pieces in place - amazing location, perfect cast, spot-on styling, and appropriate props that allowed us to take advantage of this authentic moment and capture a spontaneous instance with high production value. If we hadn’t done all the prep work one of those important pieces would have been missing, which would have potentially meant losing this image. Instead, we walked out of that rainforest with some amazing images of a group of good friends just having a good time.
See the rest of the images from this shoot here.