When you're a commercial photographer, some assignments are a little more unusual than others.
Over my 25-plus years as a professional advertising photographer in Edmonton, I've photographed ad campaigns featuring penguins, dogs, horses and now…… zombies.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work on the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) Zoned Out Zombies campaign, a creative approach to raising awareness about distracted driving.
The Walking Distracted
The concept behind Zoned Out Zombies is clever. We've all seen them. People wandering around completely absorbed in their phones, oblivious to what's happening around them. They're physically present, but mentally somewhere else.
Now put those people behind the wheel of a vehicle, and suddenly it's not so funny.
AMA took that familiar behaviour and gave it a horror-movie twist. The campaign uses zombie imagery to illustrate how distracted drivers can become dangerously disconnected from their surroundings.
It's a serious message delivered through a little dark humour, which is often a great way to get people's attention.
Bringing the Undead to Life
The main part of the production was a TV commercial, but AMA also wanted to shoot a still photography campaign at the same time.
The commercial featured more of a "horde" of zombies, while the AMA art team wanted individual hero shots for the still campaign.
The morning of the shoot day was dedicated to video, which is standard on these productions. My time would come once the film crew had finished shooting their zombie horde B-roll and broken for lunch.
That's when I stepped in with my lighting to photograph our hero zombies.
We had four heroes in total, each representing a different kind of distracted driver: one asleep at the wheel, another applying makeup in the mirror, one distracted by coffee and another wearing headphones.
For the photography, I decided on a simple two-light setup. The first light acted as fill, balancing with the existing ambient background. I then added a little warm light coming in from the side.
I wanted that early-morning school drop-off feeling. Warm, natural and just a little unsettling when you realize there's a zombie behind the wheel.
I also kept the overall colour palette warm rather than going for the typical cold, dark zombie-movie look.
The actual photography didn't take long. I had my lighting set up ahead of time, so once the video crew cleared out, we could step in, work through a few expressions and move on to the next zombie.
No need to overcomplicate things. Even when your subjects are technically undead.
That's one of the things I love about commercial photography. One day you're photographing an airplane, and the next you're working with zombies.
Creative Advertising With a Purpose
What I appreciate about campaigns like Zoned Out Zombies is that the creative concept actually serves the message.
Distracted driving isn't a new issue. We've all heard the warnings about putting our phones away. But sometimes it takes an unexpected visual to make people stop and pay attention.
The irony of using zombies to remind people to stay alert doesn't escape me.
I also really appreciated that AMA chose to produce this campaign with real people, real makeup, a production crew and actual photography rather than relying on AI-generated imagery.
There's something to be said for that.
In an industry where it's becoming increasingly easy to type a few words into a prompt and generate an image, I still believe the creative process itself is invaluable. The collaboration between the art team, production crew, makeup artists, talent and photographers is part of what makes advertising work interesting.
For me, that's what makes commercial photography enjoyable. It's not simply about producing an interesting image. It's about bringing an idea to life with a team of talented people and creating something that audiences will remember.
And sometimes that means spending your lunch break photographing zombies.
Just remember: the undead have an excuse for being zoned out. The rest of us don't.
