by Maria Luci
South Carolina-based marine photographer Richard Steinberger is sandwiched between the Rocky Mountains and the High Plains of Colorado. His recent assignment for Bayliner Boats illustrates how his exceptional skill allows him to make a living as a boating photographer in a landlocked state. The job involved shooting just about every aspect of boating: lifestyle, boat preparation, product, adventure, etc. The shoot was fun for Richard, who enjoyed the challenge of capturing the brand’s new slogan “So Worth It,” in a variety of pictures.
Matt Guilford, Bayliner’s director of marketing, also handles marketing at Meridian Yachts, a company Richard has worked with for the last six years. Matt pulled Richard into shooting for Bayliner and he was their go-to guy when it came to bringing to life their new slogan. According to Richard, the change was inspired by the weak economy as the brand now wanted to “emphasize that it still is a good idea to buy a boat because of the memories you’ll create with your family.”
Before heading to Knoxville for the shoot, the creative concept was established between Richard, Bayliner, and Bayliner’s custom publishing company, Dino Publishing. Once on set, Richard got to work tackling the extensive shot list, which included covering seven boats in two days… as well as an unexpected GM truck,
General Motors is a Bayliner sponsor, and at the last minute, the company flew in its “photo shoot car wrangler” from Detroit. I’m still not entirely clear on how they pulled it off, but at 5 am, we had a shiny new truck waiting for us to shoot.
I was looking forward to shooting the truck towing a Bayliner, as this isn’t something I normally do, and I love a challenge. It was an interesting experience for sure… and it became even more interesting when I nearly flew off the swim platform going up a hill at 30 miles per hour when the driver hit the gas a bit too hard! Fortunately, our art director was with me and was able to pull me back at the last second. I’ve made a mental note to bring my harness next time.
After surviving the shoot, Richard got to work processing the images and sent 150 of his favorites over to the client who declared that he “KILLED it.” The images will now be used in Bayliner’s catalog and custom owners’ magazine, on their website and social media pages and in boat show displays.