This was an interesting commission to get for British Airways; flying to Sweden with a skeleton crew (myself, the creative director and two models) to shoot a destination shoot that would encompass the festive spirit. We were to shoot in Stockholm for a few days and then head up into the Arctic circle (Swedish Lapland) to photograph up there. This certainly posed its challenges – one day at the main location, and I say ‘day’ loosely because given the time of year the sun didn’t actually rise above the horizon! We got a sort of dawn for an hour or two at best. Thankfully we were very fortunate with the weather and a lack of cloud cover.

The other main challenge was the cold. At -29ºC it meant working outside was tricky – especially using camera equipment and flash, when shooting from snowmobiles this temperature went down a further 10º at least because of the windchill. I certainly had at least one of my camera cease functioning. Batteries can go flat in minutes rather than hours. Keeping the dexterity in your fingers is crucial and thus being properly kitted out is essential.

In Stockholm we faced the challenge of working around crowds, limited daylight and the erratic nature of Christmas markets! The key was taking a very light approach – small cameras, fast prime lenses, limited lighting equipment so that we could stay nimble and low-key.

As with most of my shoots I am constantly striving to create authenticity in the images and a sense of narrative. The models Anna and Mattias were exceptional, a joy to work with and cheerful in the face of the conditions we were facing. Jamie the Creative Director did an exceptional job get everything in place and keeping the vision coherent. Kenny the local guide in Lapland was invaluable in basically keeping us alive and not having us lose any fingers or toes to frostbite!  It’s a real privilege to get to go an shoot in such amazing parts of the world with such lovely people.