Photography

Our photography should attract and engage people looking for multifunctional, everyday outerwear for outdoor activities, exploration, and traveling.

The imagery should effortlessly show the quality of the products and their multi-purpose capabilities.

It should evoke feelings and lust for visiting Iceland. If visiting isn’t an option, viewing our content and wearing our clothes is the next best thing.

Interactions

Imagery has the challenge of joining the idea that we manufacture technical clothing designed for every day, everywhere. Maybe you are climbing Everest; perhaps you are walking to a meeting. The viewer should feel like they could do both.

• We try and show rather than tell what our products do
• Subjects are engaged in a place to do some form of activity
• Settings should be chosen to show off a relevant aspect of Iceland, whether that is color, seasonal activity, or relevance to a product line
• Activities should not be presented as extreme or dangerous
• The weather is a character to include; it shows off the technical aspects
• The majority of images should be taken outside
• Shooting indoors should be for telling a transitional story. e.g., preparing to go out or returning from a journey. Subjects should ideally be showing mid and base layers in this scenario

Posing

We broadly produce images for three distinct areas that have variations on how subjects should be posed:

• Advertising
• Look book and e-commerce
• NORÐUR Journal

Advertising, look book and e-commerce

We mix a mixture of classical fashion posing with a relaxed everyday look. We use this style of posing to signal that although our clothing is technical and highly performant, it looks great in any situation. Complement with shots that show off the garment’s articulation of movement and how the fabric stretches or sheers.

• When posing, couples of groups ensure that they are close together or that they overlap in the image.
• For the classical shots, ensure eye contact with the viewer
• Avoid standing too straight and rigid; the pose should feel relaxed and confident
• Activity shots should make sense for the environment and clothing. For example, they are running to something, descending a slope. Avoid posing a movement in place; it always looks fake.

Hands and feet

Always direct your subjects to place the hands and feet in a suitable position. Positions should look natural and reflect the usage of the garment in the conditions. Examples include; one hand tucked into a pocket, the other to the side, both tucked into the side, doing a zip-up. Considering this is an excellent opportunity to show how a garment moves.

• Other things to watch out for are fingers pointing out.
• Feet should look like they are firmly planted on the ground (unless running)
• The subject should look stable and firm.
• Avoid having them front-facing close together.
• One slightly turned away from the other looks great

Lighting and Color

• Iceland has fantastic natural colors: the blue of the ice, the red of the lava fields, the green of the marshes. The black of the volcanic rock. Imagery should try and capture one of these elements
• Lighting should appear like natural light
• Images should look naturally white balanced, not stylized
• Avoid heavy post-processing to enhance colors or HDR effects
• 20% of images can take advantage of the distinct light that Iceland offers in summer and winter (when it is really high and really low)

Casting

Despite Iceland’s population size, there are many interesting people to feature in our campaigns and look book imagery.

• Look for subjects that represent 66ºNorth International customer base
• Subjects should be beautiful, not pretty
• Look for subjects that have other occupations: musician, footballer, scientist etc
• Cast for complementary pairs – both for the people and the types of clothes they will wear
• Avoid using the same subject in back-to-back seasons; this is to ensure imagery always feels fresh to our customers and followers

Locations

Iceland locations are some of the most breath-taking in the world; millions of people each year visit to take in their wonder. Our imagery should show off those places in our distinct way, leaning into the Icelandic Art of Living. The imagery itself should make people want to come and experience it for themselves

• Choose locations that show Iceland’s unique architecture and landscapes
• Connect the viewer to the idea of liminal spaces
• Use spaces that reflect and complement the colorways
• Show places off the beaten path
• Avoid tourists spots like the black sand beach at Vik
• Locations should reflect the seasons and appropriate activities for the clothing
• Avoid cluttered or busy environments that distract from the subject and clothing

Shot list

When producing images, please use the shot-list to ensure sufficient images for our uses are captured.

Campaigns

• 20% hero couple shots
• 25% portrait hero women’s images. Half of these should be close up, half full body
• 25% portrait hero men’s images. Half of these should be close up, half whole body
• 15% product category detail shots split across coats, tops, layers, gloves, hats
• 15% activity shots split across men’s and women

Look book and e-commerce

• Front full body
• Side full body
• Back full body
• Top half/lower half (depending on the garment)
• Detail of features (1-3 depending on garment)

NORÐUR Journal

These images should focus on the activities that the story is telling. This content is often the best way of showing the customer how a garment looks, moves, and can be used with other products to do any number of activities. Documentary and candid photography styles are preferred, but where the story needs it, street style portraiture is encouraged.

Guidance

• Shots through foreground elements to create a forced frame
• Static moments
• Awkward movement poses
• Cluttered backgrounds
• People in the background who are not the subject

Production notes

Our imagery has to work for multiple formats and sizes.

• Final files need to be at a minimum of 4000x4000 pixels.
• Ideally, hero shots are shot both in landscape and portrait to ensure that they can be used in print, web, and social without resulting in an awkward crop.