It’s a pretty nice vote of confidence when a client comes back to you four times for unique, custom creative work. At The Point in St. Louis, we’ve developed a really nice relationship with retail chain Hustler Hollywood that’s been very effective for both parties. We’ve done 3 previous incarnations of the holiday gift guide for them (Holiday 2008, Valentine’s 2009, Holiday 2009), each project growing in scope and scale a little, in both photographic and design execution.
In the past, I’ve produced these digital catalogs almost entirely on my own (excluding, of course, the models and a few helping hands lugging gear) with a very limited budget and schedule. For the 2011 Valentine’s Day gift guide, though, I had a full team at my disposal, a few extra dollars and a decent amount of prep time.
So we tried a completely different approach – while the previous catalogs had been entirely in-studio, white drop background affairs with extensive post production, this time we shot on-location in a high end executive suite. This allowed us to focus less on elaborate design and more on striking textures, lighting and moods. Our models had props and furniture to interact with, allowing for a much broader range of posing options. That may seem obvious or trivial, but I’ve only previously done studio shoots, so the chance to shoot in a (really cool) location was very exciting. This was more like shooting fashion than catalog/pin-up, which is in-line with my interests as a photographer.
Photo by Faith Lane
This is also the first time I’ve worked with another photographer (Faith Lane) on the same shoot. It was fun to have another creative eye on set, and another camera to divide-and-conquer various outfits and locations. The result is a pretty even split of included photos from each of us in the catalog.
You can see the results here: 1057thepoint.com/hustler
(mostly SFW, but there’s a few shots that could raise an eyebrow from a prudish colleague)
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Photographers: Adron Buske (me) & Faith Lane
Catalog Design: Adron Buske
Production: Joe Schoenwetter & Adam Schicker
Make-Up/Hair: Teina Evans
Wardrobe: Kevin Carter & Carmen with Hustler Hollywood
Models: Ashley Salazar & Sarah Schwartz
A quick word on our models: Ashley and Sarah were an absolute blast to work with, put in a ton of effort and really helped to make this product a success. Sarah is fairly new to the modeling game, but is building an impressive portfolio. Ashley is a seasoned veteran – she brings immense talent, experience and her own photographer’s eye to the shoot.