Indonesia-based photographer Martin Westlake has a knack for photographing hotels and resorts, one of his specialties for the last 25 years. So when he was commissioned by DestinAsian Magazine in April to shoot a cover and feature for a soon to open hotel, he jumped at the chance to photograph a beautiful model in a 5-star tropical resort. Martin met with DestinAsian Editor-in-chief Chris Hill to discuss the shoot, which was for the St. Regis in Langkawi, an island in Malaysia.
Martin and Chris discussed the initial concept for the shoot, and what they wanted the images to convey.
The idea was to capture a model with blue skies, tropical seas and an island background. We wanted the fashion to reflect on the architecture/interiors of the St. Regis and convey an upscale, idealized lifestyle.
With the initial concept established, Martin went to work making a general location-based plan.
As this was a brand new hotel that wasn’t officially opened, developing a shoot plan was more difficult as there were very few visual references available online.
The fashion stylist chose a wardrobe and props for each shot in advance, but once they were on location the team walked through the venue and decided on final locations and looks that would best match the concept of the shoot.
Martin’s crew consisted of fashion stylist Peter Zewet and hair and makeup artist Dave Rio, who helped keep model Nina Kozok looking flawless in the tropical environment. However, shooting still brought along some unexpected challenges. Because Martin was shooting at an unfinished hotel, the beach and bay were still a construction site. The hotel was still in the process of finishing a man-made lagoon, which made strategic camera angles necessary to avoid capturing the construction in the background while shooting on the beach. Low tides also caused the water to look rocky and dull, and required Martin to reshoot the water separately from the model to achieve a resort quality look.
The cover shoot itself was decided only a day before the shoot. The editor-in-chief travelled to the locations and picked the perfect location to best represent the St. Regis. He also worked on set during the shoot to approve the framing and overall look for the image.
We scouted and decided on the over sea loungers with distinctive Moorish architecture for the cover image. It was a great balance between emphasizing the hotel and the island itself.
Martin’s experience in the industry and strategic planning clearly paid off, as the reaction to his images has been fantastic. DestinAsian Magazine was thrilled with the results, and after adding the images to his portfolio, Martin landed a commercial lifestyle shoot for a client in Jakarta.
While the project itself is finished, Martin will soon be making a new edit from the shoot to license the images for Gallery Stock.
To see more of Martin’s work, visit martinwestlake.com.