Case Study: Seasonal Adaptation with Evan Williams

During Q4 & Q1, clients are starting to look towards the content needed for Q2 & Q3. With our studios based mainly in Cincinnati and Denver, we can often be overlooked when it comes to summer-themed shoots because…how do you capture the essence of summer in a location during the middle of winter?

No problem! Through location scouting and top-tier retouching, we were able to create a summer environment during a dreary March for Evan Williams. Just one day on location, we delivered 8 final scenes for use across social and web. The goal of the shoot was to promote their American Hero Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and the content was to be used during the 4th of July and Labor Day key drive periods.

A recurring issue we see for CPGs is getting assets in time for their promotional campaigns and making sure those assets look seasonal. In this case, Evan Williams needed summer focused content that was contracted in late winter/early spring.

In order to accomplish this, we first needed to scout a location that, with some retouching, would feel warm and welcoming during the summer time. We ended up traveling just a bit south to an area outside of Atlanta. The location we chose allowed us access to a front porch, back patio, fire pit, a pond, and a camping location. Our photographer Matt Witherspoon, our freelance producer Laura Chenault, Evan Sgouris as our freelance assistant, and Stephan Clarke as our freelance set stylist.

While the weather in Atlanta was a bit warmer than Cincinnati (50s and 60s), we were still dealing with dead trees in the background and dull looking grass, which is where our retouching team came in.

For each image, Charlie Cronley, one of our senior retouchers, meticulously added leaves to the trees, gave the grass a greener hue, and cleared up the water that had turned a little bit of a brown color.

Check out the before photo:

And then the after:

And take a look at the final files we delivered!