Enchanted By Encanto
Photographing iconic Mexican characters submerged in a kiddie pool of milk? Why not! I’m not one to ever shy away from a challenge.
IDEA
A friend of mine had a tasty project he wanted to talk to me about. “I have an idea for a new client that makes Mexican-style Popsicles called Encanto Pops.” Then he handed me a doodle on a piece of scrap paper saying “I want to shoot this,” and the fun began.
EXECUTION
Many times, a job starts with a tight comp using stock photos to illustrate the idea. This time, I was presented with a scribble of a stick-person Mariachi frozen in a Popsicle, and unlimited possibilities. My client's creativity was infectious, and I was immediately on board. Our casting call was filled with mustache-wearing, guitar-toting dudes and Day of the Dead candidates willing to pose in a kiddie pool of milk on the concrete floor of a garage in mid-January. I was a happy camper.
Photographing the Popsicles was the easy part. We quickly figured out which colors worked best and how to light them to capture just the right texture. Positioning the talent half in and half out of the milk was a different story. It was tricky to elevate certain areas of their bodies and have other parts submerged, and it required some on-set innovation to get it just right. Once we had the images we needed, our retoucher helped bring our vision to life.
RESULT
The Encanto Pops campaign was special because I was able to put my head together with an agency to create something completely unique — a figment of our collective imaginations. As a broadcast director and advertising photographer, sometimes my challenge is orchestrating production details. But on this project, I had the opportunity to be a part of some truly creative problem solving, which resulted in one-of-a-kind images that will stick with everyone who sees them. We nailed it, creating exactly what we had envisioned.
Our second campaign for Encanto Pops took a slightly different direction. In keeping with Guillermo’s out-of-the-box ideas, we created a steamy TV spot based on the idea that these Popsicles can cool down even the hottest moments. You be the judge...
