A trail-runner launch shot in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

Client: Flux Footwear

Role: Photography, production, creative direction, model casting, styling

Deliverables: Campaign imagery across two concepts — lifestyle and performance — plus UGC and BTS content

Location: Flint Hills, Kansas

The brief

Flux Footwear asked us to create imagery for a new shoe release — a three-colorway trail runner. They needed assets they could use across ad campaigns, web graphics, and content for their channels.

We built two pieces: a lifestyle look — fun, hiking with friends — and a performance look, friends running together.

Flux was also interested in adding a retro film look for use in email assets and reels on social media.

The approach

We handled production, creative direction, model casting, and location scouting, and found some really neat environments in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

The timing was the key creative call. The Flint Hills run controlled burns in early April, so we planned to shoot just after them, during the first spring growth, to catch vibrant new color in the frames. From there we handled styling, model fit checks, and the team's travel to the location.

Alongside the campaign work, Flux wanted UGC and BTS, both of which we produced with our onset team. We used a Polaroid camera for the true film assets scanned with a local film scanning shop.

Problems to navigate

Every shoot has hiccups. On this one, the weather forced a reschedule — heavy rain was set to close down our scouted location, and our backup was getting rain too. We made the call to push the shoot, adjust with the models, and tighten the delivery timeline so Flux could still hit their release deadline.

Shoe-specific planning. Footwear has its own nuances. Fit matters more than it does with garments, and on a new release you can't just reorder from the manufacturer — lead times to receive shoes were long — so we carried multiple sizing options to cover it.

Trail logistics. Trail shoots add the challenge of simply getting on location. We mapped the routes we wanted, told the models to expect some hiking, and the team prepped to carry equipment in. (Everything feels a little longer on the trail with more gear and a team.)