Advertising Photography | La Palmera Mall - Destination...Boardwalk
On a cool February morning in 2017, I found out firsthand how it felt to work on an advertising production team when I took a leap into a two-day marketing shoot for La Palmera Mall. Leading up to the shoot we had several planning meetings and a location scouting trip to Port Aransas. I had done my due diligence during the location scouting and from our pre-production meetings, I had determined what kind of kit I wanted to have on hand as well as any ancillary equipment that could be needed.
My primary kit consisted of a Canon EOS 5D4 and a 24-70/2.8L and 70-200/2.8L while my secondary kit was going to be the Canon EOS 6D2 with 35/1.4L, 50/1.4, and 100/2.8L. Both kits were rented from my favorite rental house, Lens Rentals, and as always, their equipment was in perfect working order, cleaned, and ready to go. I made sure everything was charged the night before and set an alarm for some ungodly hour so that I could make the 45-minute drive from home to Cinnamon Shore by 7 am.
Much to all of our dismay when we arrived, the cool weather had brought in some morning sea fog making our beachside retreat feel more like a sad winter morning. Nonetheless, my crew and I began unloading equipment into our studio-away-from-home in a lovely vacation home there at Cinnamon Shore. When we got there, wardrobe, hair & makeup, and talent had already been prepping for our 8 am call time which was to be on one of the large boardwalks connecting the vacation village to the Gulf of Mexico beach. At first, we all were truly concerned about how this first set would play out with the sea fog obscuring some of the beach, the sun, and most of the water. Once we got on location, however, it became evident that the fog would truly be one of the best things to happen.
The diffuse sunlight from the fog provided the perfect amount of backlight while allowing our zebra/white Sunbounce enough illumination to provide some amazing fill light, even at a distance. After consulting with the videographer on set, Carlos of Enlightened Images, as well as the client and ad agency representatives from The Collective (Brad Snyder | Snyder + Associates / Amanda Garcia | Artfly Design) we were given the green light to shoot. Little did I know, one of the most iconic photos I had taken up to this point in my career would be from this foggy, cool February morning. With distribution online, in print, and out of home, I believe this is still my most widely published advertising photograph.
Client: La Palmera Mall
Creative Director: Amanda Sanchez / La Palmera Mall
Ad Agency: The Collective (Snyder + Associates | Artfly Design)
Video Production: Carlos Haney / Enlightened Images
Location: Cinnamon Shore North
Hair / Makeup: Robert Garcia
Wardrobe & Accessories: Various Mall Tenants
Wardrobe & Propmaster: Danielle Howell
Photo Crew: Marcos Aleman & Eric Alaniz
Talent: Nicole Light
Resident Wisdom: Yvonne Olvey
