Photographers aren’t just hired for a certain job because of the kind of work they do, they’re also brought on board because of the skillset that allows them to do said work. So, while Chamonix, France-based photographer Alex Buisse is more of an adventure photographer than a product photographer, the fact that he has a great deal of experience with shooting outdoors made him an appealing candidate for a job with Garmin. The assignment sent Alex to the south of Spain and was a mix of adventure and product photography.
I think my experience with adventure work was a big asset. Not only for the subject matter, but also for my adaptability. I am used to shooting on location with minimal scouting, making the most of the weather and light conditions on any given day.
Because of the time constraints in particular, it was critical to be able to get the images no matter what the local conditions would throw at us. Coming from climbing photography, where the mountains change constantly and safety and speed are primordial — this is the kind of environment I am used to.
In just under a work week, Alex and a big team of creatives and drivers joined forces to complete the project with a tight deadline centered around a new product that Garmin wanted to market. Although time was of the essence, the pitch was quite photographer friendly.
Garmin wanted to produce a campaign for the launch of their new flagship motorbike GPS, the Zumo XT. We had to create most of the assets over four shooting days. The biggest constraint was the very limited pre-production time, as I was first contacted in mid-December and they wanted to shoot the first week of January!
The brief was, in my opinion, the best kind: the client had a solid idea of their needs, including a video storyboard and a full list of still scenarios and mood board, organized by priority. But I still had tremendous creative freedom to take the brief and run with it. And since the client had a full team on site with us, we were able to come up with ideas on the fly, sketch them, refine them, and shoot them, all in one smooth process.
Alex — whose imagery shows up all over the page for this specific product on Garmin’s website — notes that the team worked really well together in the sense that no one was afraid to speak up if they felt something wasn’t quite right. For example, though the drivers are all professionals, even they have their limits.
They were three UK-based professional riders who our DP, Greg Taylor, knew personally and could vouch for. They were incredibly professional, never complained despite riding their bikes for hours every day and being asked to ride some short stretches many, many times.
I also really appreciated when they pushed back against some of my requests when they felt that safety levels would not be high enough. This is something that can be a big challenge in my line of work, as some athletes can feel a pressure to perform to dangerous levels when a camera is around.
All in all, the whole team had an amazing time in one of the world’s most gorgeous locations. It’s a good thing Alex and friends got to travel in the early part of 2020, because the France-based photographer has been quarantining at home for a few months now. When all this settles, I imagine he’ll want to continue a new tradition, one that he started right before the Garmin work was finished.
I think I will make it a mandatory part of future shoots that the penultimate night has the whole team go to a spa together. Our last hotel (Aire in Almeria) was built over Roman baths, which we took full advantage of, knowing that most of the shoot was in the bag and that the client was very happy.
Credits:
Producer: Alex Ingram
DP: Greg Taylor
Client team: Matt Bowne, Kyle Pusateri, Céline Non, Dennis Dorrell, Stéphanie Le Joncour
Riders: Will Carr, Tom Firth, Johnny Cazzola
Fixer: Bauti Lopez
Motorbike Guides: Ron Thomson, Andrew Laine
Driver: Frederic Andre
See more of Alex’s work at alexbuisse.com.
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