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Brandgroup agency recently reached out to Miami-based photographer Steve Boxall to shoot the newest campaign for Viva Wyndham Resorts in the Dominican Republic. Steve has a long-standing relationship with Brandgroup, and their Creative Director Ivo Raza, most recently working with them on a successful campaign for Antonym Cosmetic’s new makeup line.
Viva Wyndham Resorts had been relying on stock photography while construction was completed and decided that it was time to create new content, specific to their two resorts in Samana and Bayahibe. They wanted to hire a photographer to create breathtaking lifestyle images at both resorts to be used in their marketing materials, and Steve was commissioned to shoot at both resorts over seven days.
The resorts were on the North and East coasts of the Dominican Republic, so it was a three and a four day shoot with a travel day in between. Including two travel days, to and from the Dominican Republic, the job was 10 days total.
For the most part, Brandgroup’s producers, Nina Djukich and Dafna Harrison, handled a lot of the pre-production for this project, but Steve worked closely with Ivo to nail down a shot-list and organize the necessary equipment, including housings for some underwater shots.
I try to be always ready for travel with minimal equipment and lighting for these kinds of shoots. When it comes to travel to foreign countries, I have my equipment lists ready for customs purposes, insurance, passports, etc. and as a UK citizen with a green card, I am fortunate with how many countries I can go to on a moment’s notice.
Shooting in the wet season proved to be the biggest challenge Steve and his crew would face during this project. The mornings in the Caribbean would provide a small amount of sunshine, but as the day would go on, the clouds and rain would roll in.
To get around this we started early and lined up shots as close together as logistically possible in the morning, then either went inside or used creative lighting to fake sunshine/sunset etc. Whenever the sun reared its head, we quickly switched gears and went outside to grab the light.
With the resorts full of tourists, moving around so frequently to capture lighting required organization and efficiency. Luckily, Steve worked with an incredible crew and client, and they were able to be as flexible as necessary.
One time we were doing a pizza kitchen shot and there was an electrical outlet above the oven. My client grabs a stool, stands on it, fixes it to be camera-ready in two minutes. Having a can-do client like that is a huge help (and fun to watch!).
By the end of the shoot, Steve was thrilled with the results. He made 4×6 prints of his selects from each day on location and presented them to the client over dinner. The client was incredibly pleased and has since been in conversation with Steve about future shoots for Viva.
Credits:
Stylist: Viviana Pascual
See more of Steve at steveboxall.com!