When the outdoor and sportswear giant Eddie Bauer was planning to shoot their winter collection in Finland, Keksi Agency took the production team for a location scouting tour.

Jenni-Justiina Niemi and Karoliina Ek gave Eddie Bauer AD Tracey Alvord and producer Megan Schaut a tour first in Helsinki and its environs, and then in Lapland. The most picturesque locations from Suomenlinna rocks and cliffs to Levi luxury chalets, passing through a reindeer farm in Ivalo and a wilderness hut in Riisitunturi, were all covered in eight days. A good month later, the village of Ivalo welcomed a production crew of 19 members flying in from Seattle, Los Angeles and Helsinki. 

Between the location scouting tour and the ten-day photo shoot, Keksi Agency organised, checked, compared and maintained contacts – and organised the transport and accommodation for the American production crew, photo shoot locations, catering, and all the necessary equipment and photo props. Keksi team took a course on artificial snow, tracked down the master of lumberjack’s candles and all the available traditional kicksleds and rentable snowshoes around Helsinki and took them to North. Everything from espresso pots and Lapp’s sledges to leaf blowers and toe warmers was packed into two big vans, and then driven first to Saariselkä, and then to Posio. On the way, we picked up not only the lumberjack’s candles but also quite a few bags of spruce and pine twigs. 
 

At the destination, the arrangements were to continue. Keksi Agency assistant Jesse Pohjonen, had complete mastery of the catering and lumberjack’s candles, while Julia Paajanen managed the model logistics and photo props. Tuomas Kujansuu and Jouni Lehtonen opened tracks on the 1,5 m unbeaten snow and framed numerous photo shoot hut roofs with Christmas lights. Producer Karoliina Ek conjured up a sewing machine in the middle of the vast wilderness at half-an-hour notice, and Jenni-Justiina Niemi made the arrangements for the northern lights to appear on the right spot at the right time, on request, of course. Prop stylist Kaisa Hatakka produced 30 ice lanterns overnight, and 100 snowballs out of artificial snow over another, as it started to look as if the natural snow was not wet enough for the task.
 

”The Keksi Agency team was very professional and a joy to work with.
We covered a lot in a short amount of time and were well taken care of.”
- Tracee Alvord
 

According to Eddie Bauer Producer Megan Schaut, the production and logistics worked seamlessly and smoothly: ”Working with the Keksi Agency team was great. The producers were very responsive and worked hard to make sure our shoot was set up for success.”  

Eddie Bauer AD Tracee Alvord praised the Keksi Agency team for being rock solid professionals, with whom it was a real pleasure to work with. She spoke highly about the team’s adaptability: ”What I appreciated about the Keksi Agency team was their willingness to jump in at any given moment to help out, even if it wasn’t part of their role. Everyone was in good spirits and it was apparent they enjoy being on the team as a whole and the projects they work on.” 

”We chose some less populated areas, so not everything is always at your fingertips. However, the Keksi Agency team was pretty well prepared so I didn’t feel like we were missing anything. The team as a whole definitely strived to come up with solutions for any issues or problems that came up”, Alvord continued. 
 

”Finland is a beautiful place, so making pretty pictures was easy. Production and logistics were seamless and straightforward.”
- Megan Schaut
 

Although there was a great deal of work to be done from the first evening to the last break of dawn, we enjoyed it all the way. Keksi Agency team had a great journey. In addition to the workflow, we introduced our American guests to hygge, sisu, salty liquorice, proper Finnish chocolate and icy snow washes. The icing on the cake? The overwhelming northern lights.

Both Tracee Alvord and Megan Schaut recommend Keksi Agency as a partner for anyone planning a photo or video shoot in Finland. ”Keksi Agency has a strong team in place to support a variety of production needs”, says Megan Schaut.
 

Eddie Bauer images shot by Embry Rucker.
Behind the scenes images by Keksi Agency.