Houston Heineken Happenings

I got my picture with the most interesting man in the world. That’s right, this photographer in Dallas got a grip and grin with that guy, the incredibly cool spokesman from Dos Equis. Now the fact that it was a cardboard cutout is not really of any importance, as he looked real enough. Plus we’d probably be friends anyway if he lived in Dallas.

Now you are probably noticing the extravagantly dressed ladies on either side of my best friend and I, and just might be wondering where all of this was going down. My answer to you? In a room. At the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. As a Dallas corporate event photographer I am always up for an opportunity to hit the road. One of the magazines that I work for was covering the National Distributors Conference for Heineken, which meant that I got to spend a few days down there for their story. In addition to the conference coverage itself, I also photographed some of the lead marketing people for Heineken for the cover.

First up was the cover shot. I arrived earlier in the day to scout locations with their public relations team, and we settled on two cool areas. The location was the Gaslamp Midtown bar, which had tons of character and texture. Those happen to be two of my favorite things as a photographer in Dallas, so I was pumped for the shoot. One of our backgrounds was a stately gray wall with, no surprise, gas lamps, and the other looked like an old sheetrock wall. Now that we had a plan together, I went out to make preparations and get ready for the shoot!

I had everything set and ready to go once my ladies showed up, and we got things rolling. Heineken carries a number of different brands in its portfolio, so I had the opportunity to see some beverages that were new to me. I know Dos Equis well, but had not seen the Strongbow before, which is a hard cider that is coming out on the market. They also had Desperados, which is beer that has a portion brewed in a tequila barrel. I had not heard of that before and was quite intrigued. Finally there was the Dos-a-Rita. Apparently Dos Equis was the beer component in the first beerita ever made. They went ahead and made an all in one beverage for you to enjoy, so I now have another bev I need to go try out.

I had a really fun shoot with the ladies; they brought plenty of energy to the portraits! After we were wrapped, it was off to process files and get them uploaded right away. There is no rest for the weary, or any photographer in Dallas for that matter! However, I did stop and find a cool Thai place, I couldn’t be in Houston without hitting up some local hole in the wall places.

The next evening was the conference. Talk about an incredible experience! The writer and I were amazed at the setups they had going on, and the level of detail for each. The Dallas event photographer in me definitely came out, as I often get to document corporate conventions and events, so this was right up my alley.

We went scene by scene to check out the booths, though the term ‘booth’ does no justice. Really each space was it’s own experience. They had everything from a volleyball game going on at one end to a masquerade ball at the other. Definitely enough content to keep any photographer in Dallas very occupied. I hope you enjoy the photos, and get a chance to enjoy some of their beverages as well!