Our team managed every touchpoint, from shot list and casting to wardrobe and final delivery. With just a four-hour shoot window to capture everything we needed, precision and collaboration were essential. Here’s how we made it happen:

Casting
Local talent was sourced through trusted connections and a regional talent consultant. We focused on women aged 55 to 65, a group whose presence in outdoor sports is often overlooked, yet absolutely real. Skateboarding, a male-dominated sport, became our canvas. Placing these women in this context made their presence even more unexpected and powerful.

Wardrobe
Stylist Leslie Ramos took inspiration from the era when our talent first started skating, the 1990s. This shoot imagines lifelong friends doing what they love, so Leslie infused the styling with nostalgia, character, and cohesion. Her choices brought the story to life with charm and intention.

Hair & Makeup
Kellielynn Dreher worked with incredible speed and care to get each talent camera-ready. She communicated closely with me throughout the day, aligning with the vision and staying alert on set to keep each look fresh and genuine. Her role was essential in keeping everything real and polished.

Props
To keep things lean and agile, we brought in Lisa Malott for a “prop & drop.” She sourced skateboards, stickers, and helmets to round out the scene and give the set a lived-in, authentic feel.

Lighting
For stills, we embraced the sun. Direct light and pavement bounce gave me everything I needed. On the motion side, Dustin Blanton, our DP, softened the look with silks, reflectors, and select lighting, supported by gaffer Daniel Bostrom and assistant Martin Restrepo. The result: two cohesive aesthetics that complemented each other beautifully.

Location
We shot on location in Lakeland, Florida, using a color-blocked wall that provided a vibrant, stylized backdrop. It gave us a strong visual identity that didn’t compete with the talent or product—just enhanced it.

Production Coordination
Producer Carol Matlock built a tightly coordinated schedule, balancing hair and makeup timing, talent arrivals, and overall pacing. She managed arrivals and kept the flow steady, giving Dustin and me the space to get our stations set up and ready to go. Her presence on set made the day smooth, efficient, and focused.

Direction, Photography & Creative Direction
As both photographer and creative director (and occasional spritz bottle operator), I moved between still and motion sets throughout the day. Since I couldn’t be in two places at once, Dustin used my prepped animatic and shot list to execute our motion plan flawlessly. Once stills were complete, I jumped in to work more closely on motion. This kind of trust and teamwork is what makes a tight-timeline hybrid shoot like this possible.

DP/Video Capture

Dustin Blanton of Blanton Creative came to set ready to hustle. He supplied all video gear, lighting, and most of the grip, with additional support from N-Focus. He led his team, built his lighting setup, and captured clean, intentional footage throughout the day. His experience and adaptability were critical to the success of the motion side.

Post Production
I handled initial selects for our stills library and completed final post-production on the photo assets. From there, I dug into Dustin’s video clips to find the pacing and personality that would bring the edit to life. I color graded for punch, texture, and cohesion, bringing the stills and video together into one seamless, energetic final piece that feels bold, stylish, and effortlessly cool.