There's something incredibly satisfying about taking a space that shouldn't become something... and making it become exactly that.
For our sixth set in the Attic Series, we transformed our attic into a surreal beach.
Not a realistic beach. A beach with oversized graphic waves, a giant sun planted directly into the sand, and enough actual sand that we're still finding it months later.
The Idea
This entire photoshoot started with a swimsuit. Hammies sent us one of their yellow gingham swimsuits along with a matching terry cloth button-down, and the second we saw it, we started imagining the world around it. It only felt fitting that if we were going to photograph a swimsuit, we should build a beach to go with it.
David started sketching ideas, and we decided to play with scale to make the set feel a little more surreal. We designed an oversized sun that looked almost squished between the two attic walls, then stacked a series of miniature waves using forced perspective so they appeared to roll off into the distance. To tie everything together, we leaned into a cotton candy sunset color palette with warm pinks and reds that contrasted against the deep blue waves. It felt playful, graphic, and made the bright yellow swimsuit stand out perfectly.
From there, we got to work bringing it to life.
Building the Set
Before we could even start building the beach, David decided it was finally time to rebuild our studio flats.
After five sets, they'd accumulated enough dents and patches that we were constantly fixing them in Photoshop. The new versions were thinner, took up less space, and could sit tighter against the attic walls. Not the most glamorous part of the project, but one of those improvements that made every set after it easier to build...BTW If you want to learn how to built Flats of your own check out David's Flat Building Course.
Then we started making the beach.
David cut each wave out of plywood and layered them across the floor so they looked like they stretched toward the horizon. We built a giant wooden sun, painted it Sherwin-Williams Ruby Shade, and buried it right into the sand.
Then came the part that felt completely ridiculous. We carried bags of real sand up into our attic. It was messy, sand got everywhere, but it really completed the set.
The texture completely changed the feel of the set. Against the clean painted shapes, the sand grounded everything and made the whole scene feel strangely believable.
Lighting the Scene
The lighting for this one was all about keeping things bright and graphic.
We lit our model with a simple clamshell setup. We used one soft light above and another below to create really even light across the subject and set. As a bonus, that lower light also skimmed across the tops of the waves and helped separate all the layers.
Behind the oversized sun, David hid a light with a Fresnel lens and a warm salmon gel. Instead of lighting the sun itself, it projected a soft glow onto the pink wall to create the feeling of a sunset.
Finally, we added one large diffused light behind the camera and turned it down as low as it would go. It wasn't doing much, but it helped even out some shadows and kept the whole scene feeling clean.
The Story
We started thinking about vacations. They're supposed to solve all your problems, right? You're supposed to relax, recharge, and come home feeling like a new person.
But what if they don't?
What if you book the perfect vaacation, but it is nothing like what you expected. That became the story.
We handed our model a tourist camera, a map of Colorado that made absolutely no sense, and let the emotions slowly unravel. At first they're exploring. Then they're confused. Then they're frustrated. Eventually they're laying in the sand wondering why they thought this was a good idea.
I love the juxtaposition of putting a subject in a situation where it's assumed you should feel one way, but instead you feel the exact opposite.
That's probably our favorite kind of image to make.
The Final Images
We photographed everything using the Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8 DG DN Art.
The final images were filled with bold colors and contradictory emotions. On the surface, they feel bright, playful, and carefree, but underneath there's a quiet sense of loneliness and frustration. Every element from the oversized sun and graphic waves to the posing and expressions worked together to tell that story.
That's always the goal with these shoots. We don't build sets just because they're fun to look at. We build them to create worlds where a story can unfold and, hopefully, make the viewer feel something or see a little bit of themselves in the image.
Like every set in this project, the beach only existed for a few days before we tore it all apart to make room for the next idea. It's always a strange feeling spending days building a world only to dismantle it almost immediately, but I think that's part of what makes these projects so special. They only exist for a brief moment.
If you'd like to see how we built the entire set from sketching the concept to hauling sand into our attic you can watch the full behind-the-scenes video on YouTube.
