How we did an image shoot for sports brands

Any famous brand has its icons. Famous people who wear its clothes, ride in its cars, keep the brand tolerant. But not all brands or their distributors have a good set of images for their respective target audiences. Now, when pictures are everywhere and more people look at them than read sometimes tedious descriptions of the merits of the product. Let’s be honest, these descriptions are not characterized by diversity. And often “writers” do not care about the readers. The meticulous consumer looking for exactly what he needs and strongly wants turns to Instagram with a lot of photos and to the opinion of bloggers. There has long been a growing trend to involve celebrities AND bloggers in promoting certain things and even values. 

The most savvy firms incorporated such promotion into their PR campaigns a few years ago. Note that visual perception still has a strong influence on choice! Which means you need more quality and not typical photos and videos to promote brand ideas and qualities. I’m not talking about catalogs. The purpose of them is as simple as a poster. To show a specific thing. But to create image content! That’s a separate story and a separate labor. 

A distributor of European sports brands asked me and my team to create a series of image photos with their pro-riders. I.e. the very agents of influence, or, as it is fashionable to say, ambassadors. The task seemed simple. But! Pro riders are elusive. They are either at competitions or in perpetual departure. So, negotiations and settling the shooting dates were very long and sometimes tense. Now, Ivan, who you’ll see here, is a cyclist. And his main partner was a bike brand! Katya, a mountain guide and freerider, approached the matter thoroughly. But in return she asked to make some shots in clothes sponsored by another brand) 

And even with car blogger Artem there were moments. It was important for him to shine with his laptop, which he — yes, yes — was also given for tests by a sponsor! About Nastya — today a member of the Olympic team, in general, a separate conversation. You can imagine her busyness! And she, clever, modest, small such a girl, did the most not convenient for her, but as much as possible justified. Between traveling, she allocated a few hours for a stop in Moscow only because of the shooting! 

When the storms settled and everything was more or less agreed upon, we thought about the Idea! It’s funny, isn’t it? It seemed so simple. Take things, people and go! But this is an image, not a catalog session! So I came up with this approach and coordinated it with the client. Athletes are people too. It’s funny, but they are. In addition to bikes, skis, wheelbarrows and ice axes, they have their own civilized image! 

These interesting girls, modest and handsome guys in life are different. And they also want to be beautiful and fashionable in the photo, not only in a sports suit. New problems appeared. We had to coordinate the costumes for the shoot. Oh, my gods! It was breathtakingly beautiful, but labor-intensive. Tip. 

You have to coordinate everything with the client. Otherwise… But I will tell you about it after you see the results… Looking ahead, the Russian representative understood and approved us!