Adrian Kilchherr Photography team was extremely pleased to cooperate on the photography project for one of the most iconic hotels in Africa, Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech. A luxury golf resort nestled in a palm oasis and surrounded by snow caped Atlas Mountains.
As usual, the pre-production meeting was planned the day before the shooting. Working closely with the hotel marketing team we captured some of the finest dishes and architecture in Morocco. Together, we went through the property and prepared a shooting list, the key for a smooth photography production.
Everything was planned – scene, location, time. The executive chef joined us to organize the food photo-shoot. We planned what dishes are going to be photographed with what props, background and at what time. As the resort has several restaurants on different locations on the property, we needed to have a perfect time plan to be able to work efficient.
Starting with the food photography, we were tasked to shoot the dishes in the restaurant’s atmosphere and also a couple of close up fine dining shots. We were shooting some dishes on the terrace which allowed us to use almost only natural light with a strobe light as a shadow filler. Shooting with natural light is amazing but can bring some challenges. It was very hot, and food can melt and or wilt within a couple of minutes. With good planning and preparation, an experienced executive chef and marketing director combined with our team made this a breeze, though.
When we shot the dishes in the interior of the hotel, we used 2 strobes with soft boxes to shape the light exactly how we needed it.
The light, especially around the golden hours is absolutely stunning in Morocco. Observing how the spaces reacts to different lighting conditions days before, makes sure that every location is shot at the perfect time on the shooting day. 1 or 2 hours before or after might now seem like much, but it can have a huge impact on how the final image will look.
Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech has many unique features like high ceilings, artisanal furniture with morrocan details, beautiful gardens and incredible views. To bring out all these futures we lit small parts of the frame individually and the combined them in photoshop into one final image.
