Monday, April 25, 2011

"California Dreamin"


Wow, for a while there I had forgotten how really fabulous it was to be a photographer. Admittedly, we’ve had more than our share of really great shoots, and truly we love what we do. But living and working in Las Vegas is sometimes like being on an island. You know the lay of the land, every square inch, and start wondering what else is out there.

Greg and I find ourselves lately asking the loaded question, “What’s next?”

Kids have about flown the coop. We can travel. We are good at Gaming/Resort stuff, really good. Put 2+2 together and you have our next twenty years.

Enter Michael Coldwell from BRAINtrust Marketing in Las Vegas. He is open to our kooky idea to shoot a beach resort in Dana Point, California so we can get some really great images of non-vegasy stuff on our website. As luck would have it, a resort that BRAINtrust already has, Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort, is just about to start a new campaign. We research like crazy: our goal is to shoot natural light, understated images. This shoot was going to be way different from the hyped up Las Vegas vibe…

Next thing we know, we have a crew assembled for 3 incredible days down in Southern California. Our team, our friends, came together for us to help make this quest a huge success: Nina Van Beck & Amy worked on Food Styling and Props, Tracy Sotirakis, did the make-up & hair, and First Assistant Extraordinaire, Todd Miller, was like a whirling dervish, helping both Greg and I create photographs. Our friends Janay & Jason, put in some hours modeling for us. The account executive from BRAINtrust, Leah DeSimone, made sure all ducks were in a row, and put together a time line that rocked. Gayle & Jim, the Super Execs at Laguna Cliffs, couldn’t have been more accommodating to all of our whims.





All In all, Greg and I now know what’s next. We are certain. Dust off the passports, & here we go!

(If you want to see more of the shoot, go ahead and check out our website here Sampselpreston.com)