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David Lee Roth colorfully remarked, “Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.” And despite the bombastic nature of the statement, there is some truth to it, for yachting remains an exotic extravagance for most people, highlighting the thrills and pleasures of a lavish lifestyle.
North Kingstown, RI-based outdoor and lifestyle photographer Cate Brown knows this better than most. Inspired by the coastal living experience, she specializes in content creation for commercial clientele in yacht, sail, surf, and swim.
To mark the release of its new hybrid SilentJet technology, luxury powerboat and motor yacht company Hinckley Yachts assigned Cate to capture the images for its press release alongside a corresponding video campaign. It was consequently featured in Yachting Magazine.
Cate has been working with Hinckley since 2017, using her authentic and vibrant style to bring their yachts to life for advert, marketing, and catalog, as well as lifestyle shoots.
As a lifelong boater, Cate brings a level of familiarity to the water. This background comes into play when understanding the nuances of shooting at sea and being able to use proper terminology under circumstances that might be hard to hear or communicate.
My photography evolved on and around the ocean, so their desire for fresh visuals was easily met by my style to capture real moments with a level of brightness and clarity you don’t always see in yachting photography.
The client booked the talent, stylist, boat captain, and lodging, allowing Cate to focus solely on the team logistics and the creative brief.
I often work alongside the same video production crew for Hinckley shoots, so the video team and I are in close contact with each other, almost like one large production crew, even though we are separate teams for motion and stills.
Maine-based Hinckley Yachts is well-established in the traditional luxury yachting sector, priding itself on classic lines, cutting-edge technology, and customer service.
This shoot was one of our bigger productions, taking the classic New England Hinckley on a family vacation to Palm Beach. While the client had a catalog full of product shots for this boat, the main focus was to tell a lifestyle story.
The location for this shoot was Palm Beach, Florida, a small but very affluent community that fittingly brims with extravagance. Even though the shoot was in early May, it was swelteringly hot as temperatures neared 90 degrees with high humidity and full sun.
Luckily her first day was predominantly out of the sun, as it involved sunrise helicopter shots of the boat at speed, followed by a second location at a nearby marina to demonstrate the docking technology, and finishing up with the lifestyle family scene anchored at a nearby private beach.
However, proceedings were hot on the second day of shooting as Cate had to drive an hour north to Hinckley’s service yard, where she captured various elements of customer service and storage that the yachting company provides its customers.
Temperatures were boiling on the second day as we were shooting in and out of the breeze and on the pavement of the boatyard. The videographer and I would quickly compose ourselves and shoot boats being hauled out of the water and then find shade whenever possible.
On set was Cate, her assistant, video director, camera operator, client officer, client marketing manager, boat captain, stylist, four adult talents, two teenage talents, and the helicopter pilot during the flight.
It was our third year working together — myself, the videographer, and the client — and we always managed to cooperate smoothly. I shoot natural/available light by default, which always helps with the video team. I’m also a nimble production, so the client does quick looks on the back of the camera just to double-check execution, but they trusted me after so many shoots together. And the camera operator and photo assistants were also regulars, so we all had a great rapport.
Most of the talent on the shoot was new to the client, and the inexperienced younger models were actually daughters of one of the adult talents, which aided Cate in managing potential nerves.
By simply being a woman in my 30s with an unassuming and collaborative spirit, I am very approachable, which especially helps younger talent relax. I like to shoot more casually, shooting through action as opposed to overly posing and composing, which helps retain an element of authenticity and reality.
We did not have a brilliant golden hour sunrise for the helicopter shots, but the extra clouds ended up providing some nice purples and pinks that the client was still very happy with. And during the family lifestyle scene with the boat at anchor, we had to be very conscientious of the tide, so there was limited time to get the critical lifestyle shots for both photo and video before we had to move the boat again.
The large number of talent on set and in frame at any given time made this one of Cate’s largest commercial projects. Despite that, she thrived on assignment by working harmoniously with the crew.
Being able to clearly identify responsibilities and roles across the production team, knowing where everyone’s strengths were, trusting your team to execute, and being able to communicate effectively during all stages of production was critical to the smooth success of this shoot, especially with multiple talents, photo, and video teams, in a new location, and with a limited shooting schedule.
See more of Cate’s work on her website.
Credits
Photo Assistant: Cody DeGroff
Video Producer: Chris Love
Director of Photography: Rodrigo Fernandez
Client Officer: Pete Saladino
Client Marketing Manager: Alex Saletin Crecelius
Model Agency: Caroline Gleason Management
Talent: Fred Holiday, Trina Thiel, Jeff Moore, Julianna Beattie, Franchesca Moore, Olivia Moore