Rove Lab Solaris: Photo and Film for an Outdoor Brand
Three pieces, one backyard, and a summer launch shot in photo and film.
In July, Thomas, Gilbert and I shot Rove Lab's new Solaris Collection. It's three pieces of outdoor seating made for summer, and our job was to make people want to sit in them. We came home with nine stills and a short vertical film.
The brief
Solaris is a Sling Chair, a Chaise Lounge that comes with a side table, and a smaller piece that can be a seat, a footrest, or a surface for whatever you're holding.
Rove Lab asked us for photos and a short film to launch the collection.
My own goal was simple. Outdoor furniture is something you live with, so I wanted it photographed where people actually use it. Nobody pictures a lounge chair in a white studio. They picture it next to water at the end of the day with a drink in their hand.
The look
We set up in a backyard in LA, around a pool with deep green water, a wall of leaves, and rows of potted cactus. The gray cushions and the warm wood tone of the Sling Chair frame sit really well against all that green, so I kept the color close to how it looked in person and let the pool do most of the work.
I approached it the way I’d shoot an editorial. A few wide frames so you understand the space, then I moved in close. The stills were shot in the late afternoon on a Panasonic S5II, when the light gets lower and softer.
Details matter a lot for furniture. The close-ups of the channeled cushion and the strap on the headrest show how the pieces are made in a way a wide shot can’t.
Then we made it look lived in. A laptop, a cold drink, and a paperback on the Chaise Lounge, plus a few snacks on the side table. Those small props tell you what the piece is for without any copy.
Shooting photo and film together
We made the photos and the film as one project, on the same day. The film is a vertical piece just under a minute long. It follows the whole thing from the box to the pool. Everything shows up vacuum sealed in compact boxes, you don’t need tools, and the pieces are set up in minutes. Then the captions walk through each piece, with a little humor along the way (“perfect for a drink or even a laptop, if you’re still pretending to work”).
Planning both together means one set and one styling pass, so the look matches across every asset. The one thing that takes planning is framing. Film for social lives in vertical, and most of the stills are horizontal, so I think about both crops before I set up a shot.
What brands can take from it
Shoot the product where it lives. A pool, a patio, a real backyard. People should be able to picture it at their place.
Use props that tell the story. A laptop says “work from here.” A can on the side table says “stay a while.”
Give the details their own frames. Texture and hardware sell the quality better than any wide shot.
Book photo and film together. One set, one styling pass, and everything you post looks like it belongs together.
The film ends with this line: we’re still seeking worlds, and the best one we found this summer was in our backyard.
If you have a product launch coming up and want photo and film that match, reach out at beacons.ai/seekingworlds. Tell me what you’re making and where you picture it living.
