Case Study: Flylow Gear - Spring Outdoor Lifestyle
THE CLIENT:
Flylow Gear is a well-loved ski brand with its roots and consumer base firmly planted in the Mountain West. While the company started with technical snow gear out of the Tetons, they have since expanded to include more lifestyle apparel and branch out to different regions, like the Southeast. I was hired to direct and photograph a campaign for their Spring 25 lifestyle collection focused around water sports and the city-meets-outdoors vibe of where I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We would be doing photo and video, with raw video clips and color-corrected stills as the final deliverables, no more post-production required on our end. This is the type of project I really love, where I get to direct the the shoot and put my creative vision to work getting the best raw material so Flylow can shape it into whatever content they need, with focuses on individual products, community, and the environment.
THE IDEA:
Mountain athletes get outside year-round. Even if your main sport is based around snow and winter, you're probably enjoying the flip side in the off season: water and summer. Flylow wanted to capture that aspect of living the outdoor lifestyle and showcase an ecosystem different to the Mountain West that has been their legacy branding. Flylow also wanted to connect with consumers who live in more urban environments and whose access to the outdoors might look different than snowcapped peaks and epic rapids.
For Chattaboogie, that means parking under a bridge to go stand-up paddleboarding to an island bird sanctuary on the Tennessee River in the heart of downtown. It also means hiking half an hour to one of the coolest swimming holes in the Southeast, called the Blue Hole, and finishing the night with beers and a bike ride.
THE PRODUCTS:
For Spring 2025, Flylow was releasing a number of shorts, shirts, dresses, and other apparel that is designed to look good in town and perform well outside. From an early morning dip at your favorite swimming hole to happy hour at the local pub, these summer outfits rule it all! These are my favorite types of clothes, because it means wearing having a few key pieces on repeat most days of the week, whether you're being super active or more chill. This is one of my approaches to sustainability in my personal life and why I love working with brands like Flylow, where you can invest in a few nice, versatile pieces that will support you in getting outside for years to come. Also, it means doing less laundry, which is win-win-win-WIN.
I had so much fun scouting aesthetic spots all around Chattanooga that showed off the unique nature of this Southeastern city and the outdoor community we have here. I also got to hire cast and crew entirely from the region, so they were familiar with what we were doing, which made every aspect of this production easier. Reach out if you are curious where any of these spots are, or who any of the people are! ;)
THE CHALLENGES & TAKEAWAYS:
Challenges for this project included a tight budget, tough weather conditions (rain forced a 24-hour pause right in the middle of the shoot), and hello first trimester of my freaking pregnancy! I was about 5 weeks in, had just found out, and wasn't telling anyone so my mind and body were all over the place. My morning sickness, fatigue, and general ability to withstand the heat were off the charts—not super advantageous for a 3-day, 10-person photo and video shoot in July in the South.
For me, a few takeaways from this project for me were being more realistic about what I could get done as far as deliverables, and a new understanding of what is needed as the size of a production grows. One part of the idea was to focus on a community vibe with a group of friends enjoying the outdoors together, so we needed 5 models. With that, it would have been really helpful to have a dedicated producer, stylist, and assistant/second shooter. I could have also cut back on the locations and activities to get it all done in 2 days, not 3, which should have freed up enough money to have the necessary crew and still exceed deliverable expectations.
The photo below is me finding some relief on the humid summer day and trying not to vomit.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
As is usually the case, the Flylow project was tough in a lot of ways, but I learned so much about the absolute POWER of hiring a badass crew and the importance of being honest about what you can accomplish with your budget. Plus, I walked away with some images I'm quite proud of and great memories with wonderful people. Not to mention I got to play outside with my camera and good people and call it work. Another day living the dream!
