Campaign Story #01 - CONCA
Restaurant OpeningLisbon2023
Client
CONCA
Agency
República 45
Location
Lisbon
Industry
Hospitality
Deliverables
30 images
Usage
Website · Social · Menu
República 45 approached me to produce the launch imagery for CONCA, a new restaurant opening in Lisbon. The project included 30 images for social media, the website and printed menus, all to be completed during the final stages of construction.
Personally, this project meant a lot to me because:
a) I had just restarted my career and was still working on my portfolio
b) My studio at the time was in Braga, roughly 370km away from Lisbon
It felt really good, because it meant someone in Lisbon liked my work and wanted to work with me.
The Brief
This was the initial contact I received from the agency. Short and to the point.
After I sent them my initial estimate, we agreed on the terms and worked through what dates would be ideal for the shoot. We were initially targeting the second week of January 2024, but the construction work in the restaurant took longer than expected, so we postponed it to February.
In the meantime, we had a Zoom meeting and they showed me the moodboard. This is when I realized why they contacted me in the first place: it was colorful, vibrant, with sharp shadows and clear details. It even had one of my own images in it!
The art direction was not only very clear and deliberate, but it was also very much my cup of tea — even if I had just started creating my new portfolio.
From that, we created the shot list and we were good to go.
The Challenge
Constraints
30 images
3 different sets
8h drive (4h each way)
Timing
Shoot between 10h AM and 5h PM
Delivery in a week
Objective
Produce campaign imagery that felt colorful and vibrant despite the limited prep time
Given the short amount of time — we only had one production day — we had to make some compromises. Initially the agency wanted to do 6 different sets, but over our meeting we realized that wouldn’t be feasible with the timing restrictions we had. So we all agreed it would be best to work with fewer sets and we settled on 3.
Then came the fun part: call time was at 10h AM, which meant I would like to be there at 9h AM. Which in turn meant I had to leave at 5h AM.
Picked up Tiago, my assistant for the day, and off we went.
The Production
No pre-lighting, no do-overs, no problem
Since we were already one month behind schedule because of the construction, our timings were cut very short. For that reason, I decided to bring an assistant with me in order to make sure everything would flow faster on set.
The restaurant was still under construction and it wasn’t very big — oh, and did I mention there was a video team working there at the same time? Meaning we definitely didn’t have a lot of space and had to get creative. Flashes couldn’t be placed at ideal distances and given the circumstances, tethering cables were a no-no. The less cable clutter, the better.
Also, the juice machine wasn’t working; which meant shooting empty glasses and then adding the juice in post-production. Fun!
I ended up tethering my camera wirelessly so the Art Director could see the images in real time and approve them before we moved on to the next one. This is actually my favorite way to work, as it creates a clear line of communication and all problems are sorted on the spot. Everything went smoothly in this department and we even finished on time!
Building one of the tabletop sets.
As you can see, it was a tight fit.
The Final Images
Outcome
The final imagery was delivered in time for the restaurant opening and was used across CONCA's website, printed menus and social media launch.
This project demonstrated how a streamlined production process can produce a complete visual identity despite tight deadlines and an unfinished location.
NiT wrote an article aboout it and featured some of the images we did.
Credits
Agency: República 45
Art Director: Fernando Chaves
Photography + Post-Production: Diego Veríssimo
Photography Assistant: Tiago Braga
Location: CONCA Restaurant - Lisbon, Portugal