Windfall

CAMPAIGN CONCEPT

ROLE

PHOTOGRAPHY

DIRECTION

CLIENT

Winslow LA (Spec)

YEAR

2025

OVERVIEW

Windfall is a spec campaign for Winslow LA, a brand that takes Western Americana and runs it through streetwear. I shot it with a frequent collaborator of mine, Sam, when he was just starting his creative agency, Dunford Creative, and he'd brought me on as his head of photography. The idea was small, candid moments of someone already living in the pieces, shot in Texas as a warmer, different read on a brand based in LA.

Man running through trees deep in the frame at Brushy Creek Park, Windfall spec campaign for Winslow LA

Man in a Winslow cap and black tee standing in golden grass, Windfall campaign by Severed Guidance

THE PITCH

Sam and I wanted to build some spec work, mock campaigns from our own ideas, so we'd both have portfolio pieces we'd made ourselves. We went looking for brands we admired, and Winslow was one of them. The plan was simple: shoot something strong and have it in hand to show them. The Winslow content that pulled us in was all candid, lived-in moments, mostly video with some photo, the pieces just being worn, nothing staged. I came up shooting cinematic portraiture, little sequences of moments, so it was the same instinct from the photo side. We sat down at my apartment and built the vignettes from there. The first was a guy asleep under an apple tree on a hill. An apple drops, bounces off the brim of his cap, and rolls into his hand. He wakes up long enough to take a bite, then goes back to sleep. Nothing more than that. It should feel like you came across someone living their life, seen from a distance.

Two men in denim standing under golden trees by the water, Windfall spec campaign for Winslow LA

THE MAKING

I already had a tree in mind for the opening vignette. The rest we shot at Brushy Creek Park, on a path I knew that runs through the trees: tall grass, bike trails under the canopy, and a spot that opens up to the water. We asked our friend Ryan to be part of it, and he was down. We came in with shots planned, but once I'm on location the ideas keep coming. One was Ryan running down the path when a branch catches his cap, so he has to turn back for it. I got him running toward the camera in the Winslow cap, and one frame I love of him running through the trees deep in the background. Down by the water, I shot Sam and Ryan skipping rocks, both in the merch. Characters living their lives, which was the whole point. Afterward I built a collage mood board on my own, the kind of layered, textured boards I'd been collecting references for, to show the brand through imagery, texture, and branding all at once. It's one of the pieces I'm proudest of because it gave the photos something bigger to be a part of. It also leans a little harder into the Western side than Winslow does. Living in Texas, we took that part more seriously.

Man in a Winslow cap glancing up in warm afternoon light, Windfall campaign by Severed Guidance

Man skipping a rock at the water's edge under the trees, Windfall spec campaign for Winslow LA

Man resting against a tree with an apple on the grass beside him, Windfall campaign by Severed Guidance

Man walking away through tall grass and trees, Windfall spec campaign for Winslow LA

Collage mood board for the Windfall campaign for Winslow LA, designed by Stephen Gilmore

AFTER

We pitched a couple of shoots to Winslow, and they didn't land with the brand. They had a different vision than the one we had in mind. What we got out of it was the chance to test what our vision could be for a brand we admired. It was a real collaboration, two people working out one idea, and it was practice in every part of the job: casting someone willing to shoot with us, scouting locations, building the concepts, and carrying them all the way through to the finished work. It was a different take than what the brand was looking for, but it was work we were proud of, and that's what mattered most.