Fashion shoot in Costa Rica for a German company selling American westernwear using Swiss and Argentine models. Jesus, the world is getting to be a small place.

We had a great time during the three day shoot despite the blazing sun and heat of Guanacaste.  Location scouting was the key to making Costa Rica look somewhat like West Texas. I found a rodeo arena full of tall grasses, cattle shoots, old wood, and other assorted western themes; and we worked most of the shots within 100 meters of the arena. I talked a nice family into letting us shoot in front of their house and in their yard, and we created quite a stir in this otherwise quiet little town. The models did a great job, and Robert from Stars and Stripes was fantastic to work with.

]]> http://seandavisphotographic.com/blog/stars-and-stripes/feed/ 3 http://seandavisphotographic.com/blog/golf-digest-perfection-at-the-four-seasons-papagayo/ http://seandavisphotographic.com/blog/golf-digest-perfection-at-the-four-seasons-papagayo/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:19:30 +0000 admin http://seandavisphotographic.com/blog/?p=407

Perfect Golf in Costa Rica

I had wanted to shoot his photo for a long time. I do some work at the wonderful Four Seasons Hotel in Costa Rica, and I was photographing a corporate group playing golf and doing various activities and I camped out on this amazing hole and waited for the perfect light and the perfect shot. It was calculated luck, but it worked out well and paid off. The ball can be seen mid flight, the weather is flawless, and the green of the course and the deep blue of the water is dazzling. As it turns out, the hotel marketing manager needed a golf photo for Golf Digest magazine and this shot fit the bill. They printed it as a full page, and it looks glorious. Sometimes everything just works out, and the photos are nearly effortless like this one. That being said, it took a few times of visiting this hole to get that perfect morning light and the perfect sky, but it was worth it in the end.

Accessories

Complimentary Colors for Background

Moroccan Look

Direct Flash and Hairlight

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Natural Backlight on the Balcony

I was contracted by the American magazine Healthy Living for a cover-shoot story of an organic ginger and turmeric farm in Costa Rica run by New Chapter, a supplement company in the States. New Chapter has an amazing farm in The Children’s Rainforest near San Ramon where they grow quality ginger for export, preserve native plant species through their “sacred seeds” project, and teach biodynamic farming to international students. The core of the project is run by a Tom Newmark and Steve Farrell, a couple of like minded geniuses that combine cutting edge biodynamic farming methods with folk farming, Costa Rica style. Their farm is a beautiful expanse of primary rainforest with a view of Arenal volcano with boilogical corredors for native puma, and sweeping expanses of pristine jungle with pure rivers, and a food farm that feeds everyone on the compound very well.

I was beyond impressed with everyone involved with this project. These guys are down to earth, and we had conversations ranging from world politics, to what is the most sexy fruit (mangostine is the winner).

We wanted to find a location where we could link these guys with the natural beauty of the rainforest. The jungle is an amazing place, but it is brutal for portraiture. There is just so much visual noise with the density of millions of plants that I suggested that we go in the river for the cover. I stood in the torrent of water waist deep with my camera and a monolight on a partially submerged lightstand and began shooting. Somehow, I always manage to find myself in the unholy combination of water and cameras despite my better judgement, and this shot was a slippery rock away from dunking thousands of dollars of gear in the bitter cold creek. I used a long exposure to blur the water and add action, and the flashes kept the scientists tack sharp.

When the shoot was over, we drank several beers and retired to our rooms and the nighttime cacophony of the insects or the rainforest. It was great fun.

A Pervy Realtor Wastes Time on the Beach

“Your agent talks about hot prospects”

“Your agent talks about hot prospects, but he doesn’t mean for your condo”. Funny advertisements are a tricky thing. The memorable ones require teams of creative artists and tens of thousands of dollars to execute, the budget variety can often fail miserably leaving the company that is advertising looking the fool. This is the beginning of a campaign and we wanted to set the tone of humor while retaining the decency of the company.

I was shooting for a tropical Norman Rockwell-gone-bad feel with this first shot on the beach. The agent had his computer mostly closed, he is obviously drunk from the discarded beer bottles, and his attention is directed elsewhere. I got the perfect model to play the agent, but the girl on the beach was a lucky find, and kind of random but perfect.

I wanted the lighting to be very subtle, so the majority of the flashes are positioned at 3:00 and directed towards the camera giving it a natural lit look from the axis of the beach. Flashes were set to full power as the difference in shade to direct beach sun is extreme. There is also a fill flash on camera aimed upwards to fill the trees and give some kick. This is a very delicate lighting balance as I wanted to retain the chiaroscuro effect from the hammock and the leaves in the tree. This was shot in RAW and pretty heavily processed in Photoshop to give a disturbing, overly sharp and harsh look.