Nathaniel Wilder's Blog

Hi faithful blog readers (if you exist)! I can finally share travel/destination advertising work I shot for Merrell last April. For obvious reasons, it was some of the most fun I’ve had on a Merrell shoot. Aside from the exotic location, model Ben was already a friend and model Nadira is really sweet–and together they photographed very well. Add my amazing side-kick (read production manager), Whitney, from Side of the Road Sessions and art director (and apparel coordinator) Sophie from Merrell and we had a tight little team for three days of advertising image-making, Wilder documentary style. It sometimes felt more like a group of friends than a job.  :)

I’m including pages from a look-book that Merrell put together on the product as well as other singles I took during the shoot that didn’t make the book. This also reminds me that spring is on its way…so, happy spring friends!

Turns out that bird feeder outside the living room window was a great idea for bringing more activity into the area. Who knew it’d be so fun getting distracted photographing these little winter-hardy fellas?

Last evening while boarding a plane I had the thought “hmm, maybe I should have my medium format camera in my lap to explore aerial photography with this baby” while taking off. But I dismissed the idea and then, upon take off–saw this beautiful sunset scene unfold outside the window. I captured an image with my iPhone (4) but it’s a different picture than I would have taken with the film camera. It illustrates the old saying “the best camera is the one you have with you.” But it also reminded me to listen to myself. It would have been easy to get up from my seat and access the overhead bin before takeoff.

I find that quite often some of the best pictures are the ones we don’t take. I’d rather that be the case because of choice than because of laziness.

I’ve gotten the okay to share images I took during the Spring/Summer 2013 athletic lifestyle ad campaign I shot for Merrell last August in Colorado.

It was a 3 day shoot with 7 models that spanned from Denver to the high country of Fairplay and Buena Vista area. As usual, I had my production assistant (and savior!), Whitney from Side of the Road Sessions running around in the background making everything possible (run smoothly), as well as a friend (and local knowledge) Alex Telthorst helping scout some locales with us and acquiring/delivering props–another huge help.

I really enjoyed shooting ad imagery for Merrell over the course of 4 different shoots last year. The demands of producing a large quantity of ad-quality imagery in multiple scenarios while directing models, reading the light, and thinking through locations continues to challenge me and test my pre-visualization abilities. I felt like I really grew from these experiences last year and I’m really looking forward to upcoming Merrell shoots in 2013 as well as other projects on the horizon…

Here is a slew of my personal favorite images from the shoot. This doesn’t necessarily reflect all of the imagery Merrell chose to purchase–just my favorites that I feel best represent my personal style.