When photographer Ashley Gieseking signed on to do a Fresh Step campaign, she found herself playing hide and seek with cats and swaddling a little baby kangaroo. Ashley was approached by a freelance producer with DDB for the campaign, and she was immediately on board to do a shoot that was right up her alley with style and client type.
Ashley enjoys working with pet brands and she loves using a clean, bright aesthetic in her photos, which was exactly what the client was looking for. The first big step for the team was finding locations that would work with their desired campaign vibe—spaces (three of them) that were bright, clean, and happy, but still had an element of looking “lived in.” They had a decent enough prop budget, but they didn’t want to rely solely on designer props and risk a look that didn’t feel as natural. So, they spent some time finding a homeowner with a great sense of style and a home that already spoke to the ambiance they were looking for.
Once the home was established and three rooms were styled appropriately, they brought in the cats. Ashley says it took time to find good hiding spaces for the cats that weren’t too obvious (have you found all six?), but that dealing with the cats in general was incredibly smooth.
Getting the cats in position was one of the easiest elements of the shoot. The trainers we worked with are pros and they bring three cats per breed, so if one is misbehaving, the next one comes in to save the day.
Oh, and why was there a baby kangaroo on set? The animal trainers brought a few extra friends with them in their van, and they brought the kangaroo out to play in between shots. “We all got to hold him and sling him like a little baby,” says Ashley about the kangaroo. Swoon. Fresh Step has been delighted with the images, and while Ashley heads to her next awesome campaign, we’ll be checking that we’ve found all the cats and petitioning for National Bring Your Baby Kangaroo to Work day.
To view more of Ashley’s work, visit agieseking.com.