Making Summer in the Rain

Charcoal barbecue loaded with burgers, corn, prawn and halloumi skewers on the Waitrose summer shoot.
Waitrose No.1 curried spatchcock chicken on a barbecue, out-of-home campaign image shot by Lizzie Mayson for Wonderhood.
Crew in Tudor costume laughing beneath the medieval Round Table at Winchester Great Hall at the end of the Waitrose shoot.
Models keeping warm between takes on the grey-sky Waitrose summer shoot in Winchester.

Summer campaigns are almost never shot in summer. This year I made two of them for Waitrose, back to back, and the sunshine in both was entirely invented.

The first was in a location house in Winchester, shooting for point of sale. The conditions were against us from the start, wind and rain against flat, colourless skies, yet the brief called for the warmth of a golden evening and the haze of a barbecue in full swing. It meant shaping light to stand in for a sun that never appeared, reading smoke and steam so the food looked freshly grilled, and directing models to carry an easy, sun warmed ease while they were quietly wrapped in blankets and hot water bottles the moment the camera stopped. But we found time at the end of the shoot to dress up in Tudor clothes underneath The Round Table.

Lighting set up to fake a golden evening on the Waitrose summer shoot in Winchester.
The crew wrapped up against the cold on the grey-sky Waitrose summer shoot.

The second was in Sydenham, an out of home campaign for Wonderhood. This time we built a whole beach in a driveway. A spatchcock chicken on the grill, buckets and spades, the lot, and once again models doing their best to look sun warmed while quietly freezing. The trick with food and lifestyle is that the warmth has to feel real even when the day refuses to play along. Conjuring that conviction, persuading the viewer of a season that isn't there, is the discipline that the work is built on.