We’ve always said that while productions can be demanding and intense, our team doesn’t have to be. One of our brand promises is that we’ll do great work and you’ll enjoy working with us. That has a lot to do with the team we’ve built over the years.
Say hello to our new Meet the Team series, where we’re sitting down with the people who make it happen to learn about their role at Hale, some of their favorite shoots, and what keeps their creativity flowing. We’re kicking it off with Andrew, our Director of Photography.
Hey Andrew! Give us your 10-second bio.
Hello! I’m Andrew and I do video, lighting and other miscellaneous things at Hale. I like boba and own too many jackets for living in San Diego.
What project kickstarted your work with the Hale team?
I can’t remember the exact shoot that I started working with Hale, but I do remember it was in an old smaller loft space we used to shoot in downtown. I remember we had a lot of fun filming with clients like Chosen Foods and Bonafide Provisions. Lots of food shoots that always provided great snacks!
You’ve got a long shoot day ahead of you. How are you starting your morning?
I’ll probably start the same way I start any day, a light breakfast and coffee. Hopefully if I got enough sleep I’ll only want 3 coffees before lunch
Outside the studio, what keeps you inspired?
I’ve been recently trying to get into more street photography and photography in general. Doing mostly video work on set, I wanted to get back to taking photos to explore that medium more. It’s also been a nice way to stay creative outside of work without having to take the photos too seriously and just have fun
Can you describe your creative process when approaching a new project? How do you work with the team to achieve a shared vision?
I would say my creative process when starting a project is understanding what the content we’re shooting is intended for and what it wants to convey to the target audience. By understanding that and what the client and director want from the product, it makes it easy to communicate with the team and make sure what we’re capturing will fit nicely into a commercial or marketing campaign
Tell us about one of your favorite shoots. What made it epic?
Oof…that’s hard. Hmm…I would say one of my favorite shoots was one of our first projects with Fjällräven where we captured their backpacks in different environments and lighting scenarios. It was fun seeing the vision become reality with all the props and backgrounds we were using. It made lighting and capturing the scenes really rewarding when all the pieces started to come together.
How many cups of coffee would you say you have when you’re on set?
Like….5? Or 7, somewhere around there. I don’t think caffeine actually affects me as much anymore, I just like to pretend it wakes me up
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you/your career?
If I’m not on set working, my goal would be to relax as much as possible. If I can spend the whole day doing my hobbies like video games or drawing, that would be a fantastic day.
If it’s my career, I’d say that I tend to be pretty scrappy when it comes to rigging equipment to get a desired effect. I’ve jerry-rigged gear many times that probably could have ended up on the sh*ttyrigs page with how badly rudimentary it looked, but you’d never know cause it worked for the shot. 🙂
What’s a non-negotiable when you’re on set?
I feel like I’m pretty flexible haha. I’d say at least water as the bare minimum for staying hydrated. If there’s tea or coffee as well, that’s even better!
Three words to describe working with the team at Hale.
Collaborative, Innovative, Adventurous
Check out some of Andrew's work here.
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