Written by Following our previous outing at Namia, Fred and I returned to this beautiful and rustic resort in early 2025. This time, with the purpose of capturing the spirit of Namia in both photo and video. We worked for a period of just under a week, pulling off hundreds of shots and a full video production. Namia which had just officially opened its doors to the public just weeks before we arrived, was already receiving guests.
This post is about the photography; imaging the property in its glorious entirety, architectural aspects, interiors, fittings and finishes. Also lifestyle photos that show off the facilities, idealised scenarios and services that Namia has to offer.
In Parallel or Series
Fred and myself came to Namia, at first, with a plan to cover as much of this expansive property. We opted at first to shoo in tandem, that includes myself doing the interiors. But decidedly, we brought the lifestyle shoot forward by a day. With Linh our key female talent and a male model, I concentrated on the lifestyle elements of the photography package. Meanwhile Fred focused on the design and architecture of Namia.
Unlike the male talent which was swapped over for another gentleman for videos, we had to pace ourselves, since Linh was only the female talent. It was going to be a long 4 days for both photos and videos for Linh. She, along with her cousin who was her manager, were both warm and friendly. She was really a trooper for the assignment and we were glad that we had this opportunity to work with all of them
Covering All Bases in Namia
Splitting up the photography like so allowed me to really dial in on what the client needed from the lifestyle aspects and also gave me time to plan for the video segments of this project. I will be detailing the video making processes and thoughts in a future post.
Whilst the rest of Lumina Wellbeing was with Fred taking care of the design photos, I was with Flo, the acting creative director from Team Lumina. Together we got through our lifestyle shoot rather smoothly, blessed with good weather and clear skies. We even had the time to slow down and soak in the environment which allowed me to poke around for new perspectives. Also to nail down the locations for the various video scenes.
Environment x Portraiture x Ideals = Lifestyle
Being in my element, I was very comfortable: working through the lifestyle shot list on the property. My experiences with portraiture made the basic composition of photos manageable if not easy. The main challenge was working with mostly natural light. Fortunately for us, good light was aplenty during our stay. Occasionally I used an off-camera flash to fill in some heavier shadows and bring some balance in the exposure. I worked to integrate the talents with design elements of the rooms and spaces into the various shots, working in tight collaboration and synchronicity with Flo. The fact that communication on the ground was free flowing, it made the job a whole lot more fun to do.
Getting the shots that the client needed was all part half the job done. Fred and I decided that it would be easier to manage the delivery if I should do the final grading of the photos. As you see, the clients had a very specific look and colours that they wanted in their stills. Generally warm tones, deep turquoise in the waters, and slightly lifted shadows. This is especially prominent for the shots we took with our drones.
I will write about the editing process for the photos in another post. In the meantime, here are some of my favourite shots, which, trust me, was difficult to whittle down to a handful.
Also a shoutout to Pete (@pjwphoto) and Miki (@miki.ngo). They did a phenomenal job behind the scenes and taking those lovely photos and videos of us, documenting the process.
That’s it for now! If you like us to tell your brand story like the way we did with Namia, please feel free to contact us here.
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