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First started in 1994, the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) is an annual shopping event organized by the Singapore Tourism Board.  Aimed at promoting both the retail and tourism businesses in Singapore, and with the goal of establishing Singapore as an Asian shopping destination, the GSS attracts both locals and tourists to malls and shops across the island.

This year, for two months from 25 May to 22 July 2012, "shopaholics from the region and beyond flood to these shores to get their hands on bargain buys...at the main shopping belts and in suburban shopping malls throughout Singapore".

MasterCard is the Official Card of the GSS and is offering card members an opportunity to win a "priceless trip"to Sydney, London, Beijing or Dubai by using their MasterCards during the GSS.  A couple of months ago MasterCard's advertising agency, McCann Worldgroup in Singapore, contacted me about shooting the advertisement to communicate this promotion.  My brief was to photograph a young couple on an airplane as they departed on their second honeymoon to one of these exciting destinations.  We decided to shoot this ad on a private jet in a hangar in Seletar, Singapore.

Having never personally been aboard a private aircraft (let alone shooting an advertisement inside one), this was an exciting experience for me.  It was also a technically challenging shoot for me and my team to produce because we were only permitted to shoot at night and there is very limited cabin space inside a private jet.  Therefore, we had to light the interior of the aircraft using only artificial light originating from outside the airplane.

Working with the hangar staff, we wrapped three 20' x 20' sheets of diffusion fabric around the entire body of the jet. Then, using three Broncolor Scoro 3200w power packs and six flash heads set up outside the windows along each side of the aircraft, we were able to fill the entire cabin with soft "daylight".  Finally, using only a single Nikon SB-800 speedlight set-up off-camera inside the plane's cabin, we were able to light our main subjects for the advertisement.

I had fun collaborating with a great team on this shoot. Maybe next time we shoot in a private jet we'll actually get to leave the ground.

Browse more of my advertising photography portfolio here.

Credits

Client: MasterCard Asia/Pacific

Agency: McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific

ECD: Todd Waldron

CD: Emma Savage

Art Buyer: Karen Leong

Account Service: Hedvig Lyche

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Producer: Maureen Audetto

Styling: Sheh Alkaddri

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistants: Zam, Halid & Jun Yang

Digital Imaging: Dave Phung / Procolor