We flew to Tahiti (French Polynesia) to shoot at this luxury Resort and Spa. After three plane flights and short boat ride (two days of travel from San Francisco) we arrived at the private island. This resort was definitely one of the most remote places we have ever been,  it truly feels like you are on the edge of the earth.  We spent months producing this photography shoot and ended up hiring 4 local models from the main island of Tahiti.

Originally we intended to shoot only photography stills on this trip; however, after talking with some photographer colleagues weeks before our trip we decided to add a motion video element into the mix.  That had to be pulled together rather quickly as we were less than two weeks away from leaving San Francisco.  The shoot ended up being 2 days of shooting photography stills and 2 days of shooting motion video.  It was a great experience.

The trip was not without some major challenges, the main challenge being the weather. We experienced some severe tropical storms with some of the loudest thunder we have ever heard in our lives. Chris nearly got struck by lighting with his camera out on the deck outside of our room.  I tried to warn Chris about 4 times to come in and that he should not be standing outside over water with a metal camera and tripod during a lighting storm. He insisted it was fine until the biggest bolt of lighting I have ever seen struck right by him and he got shocked because his foot was on a nail on the deck.  We quickly retreated to the (safety?) of our thatched roof bungalow. The staff assured us that these storms were a regular occurrence and there was nothing to worry about, and they pass quickly.

Given the time of year we were there some days it would storm for hours and then we would get 10 or 15 minutes of sunshine. We would stand at the ready and run out and shoot as much as we could before the weather turned again. It is safe to say that our shoot time was cut by at least half by the weather during the trip. Having said that we made the best of it, and took full advantage of those sunny moments. As most photographers are aware of, on every shoot there are things that you cannot control and you have to go with the flow and work with what is in front of you. Weather of course is one of those things.

Location: Le Taha’a Private Island Resort & Spa, French Polynesia

Luxury Resort & Spa Photographer: Trinette Reed & Chris Gramly

Director of Photography (Video): Dan Coplan (http:/www.dancoplan.com)

Stylist: Yumi Takeuchi

Assistant: Laurent Pichon

Talent: Tevaiti Hart, Tetuamere Bennet, Ariirai Manutahi, David Meitai

More photos from the shoot: