Stills photographer in New York

FADE IN: I was beginning to feel my Samui experience was turning sour on me when I had an unexpected call from a company that I have not worked for in ages. They had just taken on an American director whose work they like and they were pushing him to the advertising agencies in London. He was a stills photographer in New York and did a lot of work for Chanel and Vogue magazine. I have worked with a lot of stills photographers over the years mainly shooting pack shots in a studio. Think of it as working on a micro level as opposed to location shooting which is macro. As I understood it, the new director was going to shoot a TV commercial and also shoot the stills for the product, a new perfume called Aqua Soleil.

My mission, should I choose to accept it, was to find a luxury yacht to film on and have it anchored in a beautiful bay which would act as the backdrop. They would be flying in a top female model and a male model with a small crew, a camera assistant, one grip/lighting technician, make-up, hair and wardrobe/stylist and a propman to handle the product. They also wanted me to be the assistant director. On the production company side would just be the producer and the ad agency would be sending the account director and their producer as well as the client.

I felt quite excited about this one and immediately agreed to do it. What I liked about it was, it would be manageable, like a floating film studio really with the focus on the product and the model. However, after my excitement had died down the reality set in. Thinking this through I had to find a big enough motor yacht to comfortably hold the whole crew, yet give plenty of room in which to film. The director needs space and would not thank me if he was cramped with very little room to move. He would also need choices, directors like to be creative on the day and are always looking for better angles to frame their shots.

I suddenly realised that not only had the yacht to be big enough it had to be stable at anchor which would require the sea to be calm. It will not be an easy task to find a beautiful bay and expect the water to be perfectly calm. Even a slight swell would be a problem. As with all jobs, when you break them down and think about it, they all have there unique problems. That is the fun of filming on location, solving these problems and making it work. Another issue to think about is the female model. Top models are extremely professional and I am hoping the director has worked with their chosen model before. That will make life easier. My main concern on the model side is the make-up. They will be coming out at a time when it is hot and humid and the last thing we need is the make-up melting. This will require the model to remain in air conditioning until we are ready to shoot. Because of this, I decide to find a stand-in for her so the director can set up his shots without the model having to be on set. I contacted the stylist in London and told her I was going to use a stand-in for the model and got the models height and measurements from her. I also asked her to double up on the model’s costumes.

It did not take me long to find out that there are no big luxury yachts on Samui. First problem...and a big one! I could bring one in from the mainland, but this would be 1 problematic and 2, expensive. The cost to hire and run these yachts is high and I don’t think the budget would cope with this. There had to be another way.

I made some phone calls and then I had that Eureka moment. If I can not bring the yacht to Samui then we must go to where the yacht is. Phuket was the obvious choice. Since the Thai government had reduced the import duty on foreign yachts Phuket had become a yachting haven. I decided I would visit the Royal Phuket Yacht Marina. I already had contacts there and I knew they would be able to help.

I am back from Phuket and feeling rather pleased with myself. Just one thing though, I have to sell the new concept I have just dreamed up to the director. The concept of the new perfume is all about lifestyle and the storyboard says very little about that except for the luxury yacht. What if we combined luxury yachting with luxury living. A condominium that houses a private yacht berth within the residence itself!

In the Royal Phuket Yacht Marina they call this the Aquaminium and it is the world’s first! They also have a luxury Sunseeker offshore cruiser which we could use. My idea is to shoot two locations. 1. the motoryacht anchored offshore in a beautiful bay and 2. the motoryacht arriving back to the Aquaminium and berthing within the residence.

I e-mailed my ideas and photographs to the producer. I love my idea, but it has a practical side to it as well. If they go for it and it is a big IF, then we could shoot the pack shot in the Aquaminium with the motoryacht in the background. No more problems with stability and melting make-up. Even if it rains we are covered.