Photography

Most of our photography happens on a video set — same crew, same lights, same day. It’s the cheapest way we know to walk off a shoot with a campaign’s worth of stills and a finished film in hand.

Photography

You are already paying for the hard part.

By the time a video crew is rolling, the expensive half of a photo shoot is already bought and standing.

The location is scouted. The set is lit. Talent is in wardrobe, product is styled, and everyone in the room already agrees on what the thing is supposed to look like.

Adding stills to that day isn’t a second production. It’s a second set, running in tandem with the first — and it turns one booking into a full campaign’s worth of assets.

We’ve worked this way for years — on shoots for South State Bank, Crossrope, Burt’s Bees, Nike, New Balance, Kioti and Frontgate.

How it actually works

Once video wraps, photography steps in.

Usually it’s sequential, and simpler than people expect. Once the lights are set, video steps in and gets what it needs. Once video wraps, photography steps in.

Because it’s generally the same crew, nobody is stepping on toes and nothing holds up the schedule. The grip who flagged the window for the film flags it again for the frame.

When the schedule is tight, we run both at once instead. On Burt’s Bees 18 Shades we found a 20×20 all-white studio and built two sets inside it — one for photography, one for video — then ran them back to back.

On Crossrope we cut a run of video assets while capturing a significant amount of product and lifestyle photography along the way. The client called the result “next-level.” On Nike Yoga, a photographer worked the set alongside the DP.

Two lighting setups built side by side inside a small white studio on the Burt's Bees shoot — Two sets in one studio — Burt’s Bees

Camera operator working a handheld setup on the Crossrope shoot — One crew, both mediums — Crossrope

Camera operator working close to talent on the South State Bank shoot — Stills once video wraps — South State Bank

Crew gathered around a monitor reviewing a take on set — Reviewed on set, not in the edit — Crossrope

“Once lights are set, video steps in and gets what they need. Once video’s wrapped, photography steps in. It gives the client a lot of bang for their buck for both to be happening at the same time.”
From the South State Bank project notes

The handoff

One day. Two deliverables. One look.

It works because it all happens in one room on one day, with everyone present — so the decisions that matter get made while there is still time to act on them.

One call sheet

Photo and video are scoped together from the first conversation, so the crew, the shot list and the schedule are built for both. You pay for the location, the lighting and the talent once.

One lighting setup

Video shoots first on the lit set; photography follows on the same one, or on a second set built alongside it. The still and the frame are lit by the same gaffer on the same afternoon, so they match without being forced together in post.

On-set review

Selects go up while the lights are still hot. If a frame isn’t landing we relight it and shoot it again that day, instead of finding the gap in the edit three weeks later.

One delivery

Retouched stills and finished video come from the same team, on one timeline, under one licensing conversation. Your talent showed up once, and everything you got looks like it came from the same brand.