Behind the Scenes of VernaShabeeg SS20 Campaign Shot in Mauritius
Shabeeg is one of the first Armenian brands that took the mission to promote the Armenian symbols, its fauna, flora, ancient history and culture throughout fashion and Mary Sukiasyan is standing behind the brand who had the vision of telling Armenian history through t-shirts and clothing as a medium.
At first it was plain t-shirts with graphical prints on them of Armenian kings and queens, endemic animals etc but later it turned into more and is offering vast variety of products such as dresses, suits and even shoes now. The first international event that Shabeeg participated with its Calligraphy collection was Mercedes Benz fashion week in Kiev, then came NYFW, LAFW, PItti Super trade-show in Milan, Magic trade show in Las Vegas, PFW, NYFW again…
And here we are proudly presenting the recent VernaShabeeg SS2020 collection and how we planned and shot the campaign. This new collection is pretty different from what the brand usually offers, has no graphic prints, is pretty much ‘blank’ that was at the start of a new decade and is most dearest to Mary personally. It represents a fresh start, a blank page to start anew. But at the same time it’s a complete and fresh full look.
Come with me behind the scenes of the production and indulge yourself in picturesque views of paradise island Mauritius.
I planned a trip to Mauritius, which I call my 2nd home, to escape the winter in Armenia and fuel my inspiration. We had a call with Mary and decided to do the campaign of the new collection during my trip. After discussing the mood of the campaign, total quantity of the looks and all the necessary details we found perfect model Annelise Babylone from Gold Models and chose this stunning location of Azuri Mauritius.
The initial requirement was to have a boat for the shoot and of course the beach, because we are shooting on the island. I needed a location where we can shoot all 6 looks without the need to drive elsewhere. This approach not only guarantees a somewhat connected feel throughout the final photos but also saves a lot of time for the whole team if you have limited resources and timeframe.
Planning
After receiving my client’s approval for the location, I took time to take notes in form of mobile shots. This step is a big help when you have several looks to shoot during one session. I had my initial sketches of the shots I wanted to get for each outfit and this was the time to make the final adjustments to fit them into a real location. Having a plan to follow along with a visual content (a quick sketch on a paper, a pinterest moodboard, etc.) is a great way to communicate your vision to your model and your team. Practicing this will enable you to have an almost exact time estimate of the shoot duration and you won’t end up running out of time. This is especially important if you are working a lot with daylight, or combination of strobe and daylight.
Shooting Day
All was planned and set to proceed with the production. I had to make sure I have 2-3 photos per look to show as much of the outfits as possible as well as small videos to be combined to a short fashion film. This was a hybrid kind of shoot: visuals with the sense of a campaign but a the purpose of a lookbook. I hosted a masterclass on photography a few days and 2 of my students volunteered to be my assistants during the shoot along with my daughter.
When I travel I don’t take a lot of equipment with me. I have a few reliable setups I rely on to accomplish various tasks. For this campaign I had to be subtle with the light as I also had to film short videos with the same authentic feel as the photos. I wanted to have a feel of the natural light, but with just the proper amount of kick when needed. A few looks were shot entirely with the available daylight, but most of it was shot with one of my go-to simple setups. I shot the entire set with a Canon EOS 5D MK II & Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM lens paired with one Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash in an indirect 90cm octabox.
It’s extremely useful to decide which spot of the location and which look you will shoot first. I had strong sunlight and wind to start with. I knew I’ll proceed with the jetty shoot first, where I had to showcase the movement of the dress. This was the ultimate choice as the wind would help me and I won’t have to struggle much with the harsh sunlight. I directed my model to face the opposite direction of the sun, eliminating the hotspots on her skin.
The last shot was the red dress one on the boat, which was the initial inspirational image I had in my mind before I started planning the whole set. That also became the official cover of the campaign. I knew I’d shoot this at the end as I wanted the beautiful sunset shades behind the model and the boat. It was pretty fun getting this shot as we had to get Annelise on the boat, while keeping her and the dress dry, not to mention to keep the boat still so she could keep her balance properly while posing. I was standing in the water all the way to my waist. It takes what it takes :)
Here are a few images from the collection before you are directed to the separate album to see the rest. Find the link to the full set right below these photos.
TO SEE FULL COLLECTION CLICK HERE
I hope you enjoyed reading this and found something useful for yourself. Let me know if you have any questions about this shoot and I’ll try to respond as soon as possible!
Don’t forget to follow my Instagram and Facebook pages @thiternik and have an awesome week ahead!