I can’t believe I can FINALLY spill the beans. I mean, it’s been a huge secret that I couldn’t post about, talk about, or even text about. You know… it’s REALLY hard to keep something so exciting under wraps for 5 WHOLE MONTHS. There was a time this last fall where I pretty much dropped off the face of the planet. Not much Facebooking, ZERO blogging, and only coming up for air for my wedding and portrait clients who were already on the books. I was living, breathing, and shooting a worldwide marketing campaign for Nikon.
LOOK. That’s the front page.
Last week at CES, Nikon introduced their latest consumer DSLR, the Nikon D3300, and a few new lenses (such as the 18-55mm and 18-140mm). Among only a couple of other photographers from around the world, I was asked to photograph (and even design some shots for) this commercial advertising campaign.
I must have visited 100 locations while scouting, my producer must have put together 100’s of outfits, and we saw 100 faces. We filled out 100’s of forms for releases, permits, and shot lists, and I can’t even count how many days I shot for 18 hours in a row. Among bright sun and the most torrential of downpours, I pushed myself to the limits technically (the histograms on my images would make any gear head weep) and learned brand new camera systems, lenses, and flashes on the fly that weren’t even on the market yet (that means no instruction manuals, ha!). Yep, I shot with prototypes that had secret code names and were taped up and blacked out like ninja equipment should be. Super Top Secret Mission stuff. And it was super exciting.
I photographed the actual camera in use, a beautiful horse, countless adorable kiddos and babies, a witty lacrosse team, gorgeous brides and grooms, some beautiful flowers, sparkly jewelry, textured ribbons, poppy candy, a vintage carousel, a modern Ferris wheel, an iconic landmark, beloved Bella Umbrellas, a violin recital, a family in a row boat, a beautiful lake, historic buildings, and create a special effects video of a bustling city. Our locations were vast, sometimes shooting up to 5 sets in locations all over the city in one day. And it’s finished.
The designers are still putting together a few more stellar marketing pieces, but here are some screen grabs of JUST A FEW of the images I’ve found digging through the various Nikon sites from around the globe. No editing or cropping allowed- All images are shown straight out of camera to show the dynamic range, color, and clarity of untouched files, while demonstrating some pretty specific camera functionality. It’s a pretty stellar consumer camera, I’ve gotta say!!
And one more thing… this is really dorky but kinda fun. I’m now a cartoon on the Nikon Japan website. That’s my hair, my outfit, and my favorite motorcycle boots. And that’s one of my REAL bride clients helping us to demonstrate some off camera AND bounce flash technique. I’m probably most excited about becoming a caricature.
Lastly, but definitely not leastly, I want to give a shout-out to my STELLAR crew: Producer Laura and her assistant Jillian, Photographer’s Assistant Tre, Makeup Artist Megan and her assistant Blanca. We never would have completed this project so efficiently had they not been on board working their buns off. Thank you ladies and gent!
If you’re interested in checking out the camera and lens, visit the Nikon USA website for the D3300 and the Nikkor 18-55 lens to read about the features. You can even download some of the my sample photos in their full resolution from the Asia websites! You’ll find TONS more images if you dig through the different continents’ websites, many of which I took (This is for you, models!! Keep lookin- you’re in there’!)
This was an honor and an experience I’ll never forget. I really hope I get to do it again sometime real soon. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
