Erik Almas Photography

I so often get asked the question: What’s your favorite assignment?

It’s a tricky question to answer as there have been so many “favorite” assignments.

I have dived deep into oceans, I have rappelled into underground caves, I have been to deserts and climbed to mountaintops all in search of the perfect location. I have photographed from helicopters and while skydiving and even photographed a 777-200ER while flying around it in a small Lear jet.

So what’s the parameter for a favorite Assignment?
I have taken some of my favorite images on the street outside my house, yet my favorite experience taking pictures might be helicoptering into a storm in the mountain peaks around Queenstown, New Zealand.

I am more into discovering new places than going back to ones I have already been to, but I do long to go back to the Namibian desert.

Wolvedans, Namibia, changed me profoundly in the way I see and connect to places I go to.  My time there has left a permanent imprint on who I am and how I see landscapes, so for the emotional impact this was my favorite…

So my “favorite assignment” is sometimes because of the image, some times because of the experience around it and other times because of the emotional impact a shoot have had.

Then there’s another type of “favorite” where I get challenged creatively.

Most of the time I get hired to do what I do…

There’s something in my portfolio the agency and client connects to and want me to apply to their concept and campaign.

Rarely do I get hired outside my core capabilities. When I do however it’s exciting and exhilarating and this challenge to create something different becomes a parameter for “favorite”

My recent shoot for Wonderful Co’s new wine brand JNSQ had this creative challenge and the other elements above baked into one, and is for sure one of my favorite assignments.

We traveled to Miami for its Art Deco Color palette and Islamorada for its watercolor with some of my favorite people to work with.

JNSQ had a creative director who saw me as a great fit even though I had not directly done this kind of imagery prior. In this work I got to challenge myself and blend my advertising approach with my cinematic fashion editorial work into a retro-modern esthetic which I am truly excited about.

So when I share I am a photographer and get asked about my favorite assignment, I can for sure say that this was one of them…

As with all assignments we work in both stills and film and the below is the film piece to go along with the stills and cinemagraphs we created.

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