MORNING SWIM
4 Hours, 3 Moods: A Morning with Adam Gauci and the Zoggs Predator Ultra
I’ve always believed that the best tools aren’t just the ones in our bags, but the ones we can’t control—like the light and the weather.
This project with Adam Gauci and the darn good-looking Zoggs kit wasn’t a massive, over-produced affair. In fact, we kept it intentionally lean. It was about testing gear, ideas and seeing just how much "visual vocabulary" we could squeeze out of a 4-hour window.
Of course, I am dramatising the “4-hour window” as there is so much more planning that goes in to it… but, you’ll get my drift.
Operating between Sydney and Singapore, we often work on projects with budgets that allow us to “shoot at convenience” and “manage around availability”… but it’s the quiet, stripped-back shoots that teach you the most about efficiency, which then translates to the larger productions.
We didn’t set out to tell one long story. Instead, we treated the morning as three separate sets, letting the changing sun dictate the mood. When you move fast, you can pull a surprising amount from Mother Nature with very little extra kit.
Set 1: The Blue Hour Prep
The Vibe: Quiet, cool, and a bit introspective.
The Goal: Capturing the "zen" before the work begins. This is perfect for Personal Branding or wellness content where authenticity is everything.
Set 2: The Sunrise Shift
The Vibe: Raw energy and grit.
The Goal: As the sun hits the water, everything changes. We used this window for the "active" stuff—shots and tight action frames that show what the gear (and the athlete) can actually do. This is also where the detail of the product really pops - directional light brings out the texture / dimples and design of the suit.
Set 3: Mid-Morning Gold
The Vibe: Bright, punchy, and high-contrast. Ironic that we decided to go with B&W for this set!
The Goal: This is your classic "hero" imagery. By this point, the light is celebratory and clean—ideal for digital assets and print media that need to pop.
Why We Keep Things Lean?
For a regional business or a large internal marketing team, "lean" doesn't mean "small"—it means fast.
Time: By working with the 4-hour natural light cycle, we deliver three distinct campaign looks in one go. No time wasted.
Money: We’d rather put the budget into the final assets than into the logistics of a 10-person crew. It’s about being smart with the spend. Nowadays, it is all about where you put the resources; it could be in AI, in digital workflows, in crew… we have to do what delivers the most and with maximum fun! I must say though, with the right "10-peson crew" you can get so much done and triple the fun...
Risk: A smaller team means I can work closely with Adam to adjust and align on the fly. It removes the "noise" and ensures we get the shot before the light changes.
At the end of the day, it's about the person in front of the lens. When the set is relaxed and uninhibited, the talent can just be themselves—and that’s when the real stories and images get made.
Massive gratitude to Zoggs UK for supporting this with their amazing gear and to Adam for lending his body and patience. As always, Ez goes wherever is needed to get what is needed - BTS below for a sense of how we shot this.
Tools:
Nikon Z8 x2 | 20mm | 35mm | 50mm | 105mm | Salty Housing | Predator Ultra Wetsuit & Polarised Predator Goggles
Adam Gauci | Zoggs | Ezmari El-Ali | Aquila Creative
Pre-Colored on Capture One | Retouched and graded on Photoshop CC
Blue Hour
Arguably my favourite time to shoot - fleeting light that is ALWAYS new: quiet and soft. There is also the convenience of low traffic enroute to locations!
The Sunrise Shift
Just as the sun peeks over the horizontal, the light is directional, and has a beautiful nature as it filters through the thickest part of the atmosphere - this is the "gold". It's fleeting... so we have to be fast to catch it.
Mid-morning gold
An intimate monochrome series to visually represent being there with Adam... yes there were some very close calls... As you can see, that suit fit him like a second skin.
Digital Workflows
A key benefit of investing in a high-quality set of stills imagery, is the flexibility it provides for the digital workflow
Post-production tools will allow images to be multiplied in to variations, motion clips and manipulated to extend its use cases and therefore utility life. This essentially delivers more value and ROI. Here is an example for a photograph in a video variation used for reels / socials or a more attention grabbing image on the website:
Video from Stills
Cinemagraphs
Behind the scenes
Ez and Adam in their element and amongst it all...
