Lifestyle Branding Photos Amongst A Jungle Backdrop

Running in Costa Rica with Run Rabbit

Before setting off on a surf trip to Costa Rica, my girlfriend and I reached out to our friends over at Run Rabbit to inquire about capturing some content for them. In addition to creating a video, we were tasked with capturing some photos of the running gear amidst the breathtaking beauty of the Costa Rican jungle. With running shoes and apparel packed tightly in our board bags, we were off.

When your daily schedule is reduced to the rhythm of eating, surfing, and sleeping as soon as the sun sets, it is easy to lose track of time. But after a week of surfing to our heart’s content, we decided to capture some photos. Our goal was to capture the Run Rabbit gear in action without having the images feel too posed or rigid. Being in a place where the nature’s vibrance is palpable, sometimes its better to let the surrounding do the talking in an image.

And believe me, the surroundings were speaking in soliloquies. The emerald of the ocean contrasted by black volcanic sand and punctuated by lively green trees meeting the beach. Who wouldn’t want to go on a run here?

After framing up a few images, my favorite moment of the day happened when some wild horses decided to join the shoot. I mean how lucky is that? Horses, perhaps nature’s most eloquent and advanced running species, in a shoot focused on running gear. Come on. As far as planning will take you, there is always an element of surprise in photography that you have to be ready for, and its that reactive, improvisational quality in branding photography that I love.

We shot photos on multiple days to embrace the different shades of the tropical climate: the bright power of the equatorial sunshine and the sudden moodiness of a dark cloud cover bringing rain. Further, to give the gallery of images more character, I also shot some point and shoot film photos. Grain, movement blur, and that film color that can’t be replicated. Together, the resulting images is a body of work that I am proud to have captured.

While you can’t necessarily replicate photos exactly like this in a branding photography shoot in California, there are always interesting scenes and precious moments waiting to be captured and it is a goal of mine to continue take photos that make me proud.