Not to brag, but we’ve gotten the art of complex photo and video shoots down to a science given the number of photo-worthy tourism clients that have invited us in to capture their destinations. But sometimes, when our talent includes small humans or members of the animal kingdom hell-bent on doing whatever they want instead, shoots can include some pretty funny moments and a bit of creative problem solving. Associate Creative Director Joe Conti shares some insights on what it’s like to wrangle kids and critters on set.

Tell me about some of the shoots you’ve directed that involve kids and animals.

Kids are part of most almost every shoot we do because most of our clients are family-friendly destinations – Corning Museum of Glass; Cabarrus County, North Carolina; Niagara Falls USA; Dutchess County, NY. Recently we orchestrated shoots featuring both kids and animals for the Aquarium of Niagara and Great Lakes 360 brand launch videos.

Can you think of a time when things just did NOT go as planned?

The Aquarium has a balloon fish exhibit, which is a cylindrical tank you can crawl underneath and stand up in the middle of to see fish swimming around you. Our kid actor was supposed to slowly stand up with a face of wonder and awe looking at the fish. We budgeted about a half hour to get the shot. Instead, it took multiple attempts with several kids and almost 90 minutes to get one of them to sort of emote properly with a lot of prodding, coaching, demonstrating and coaxing. I ended up crawling in there myself to get the kids to laugh and loosen up to get the facial expressions we were hoping for.

Who is easier to work with – animals or kids?

The big animals like the sea lions are by far easier to work with than kids because they’re trainable. They do what we need them to do every time. We had a shot where we wanted a sea lion dive into the pool and swim across the glass window where we were shooting. It only took one or two takes. Smaller, wilder animals are a different story. There was coral reef at the Aquarium where the plan was to dolly back and forth to capture the fish swimming. All the fish were there when we were setting up, but as soon as we started shooting, they all disappeared. There’s precious little you can do about that besides throwing food in to get them to start swimming around again.

What about on the flipside – has any animal or child surprised you by knocking it out of the park?

At the Corning Museum of Glass, we did a shoot for their Make Your Own Glass experience earlier this year. We had a little girl and a little boy who were so adorable and charming and emotive. The little girl just lit up the camera naturally and needed very little direction at 6 years old. They just don’t think about it too much when they’re that young. She sat down at the mosaic table and just started making stuff exactly the way we needed her to with no direction. When they’re a little older, they get more self-aware that they’re being filmed and tense up a little bit; it takes more to get them to loosen up and act naturally.

Any tricks you employ to get child talent to follow directions?

I personally rely on being a parent for ten years and a former gymnastics coach for kids aged pre-school to high school. Being able to tap into that experience is helpful to read individual kids and see what they need in terms of direction or encouragement. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m 36 but act like a 12-year-old most of the time. I can be goofy and relaxed with them and they relate to that.

Joe’s patience and dedication pays off, giving us the footage we need to create videos and photos that capture the wonder and fun of the destinations we represent. Here are a few spots showing some of our young and aquatic talent in action:

As tourism marketing pros, we move heaven and earth to bring visitors to our DMO clients. There’s nothing more satisfying than the thought of thousands upon thousands of people flocking to a city or region, booking hotels and setting out, cameras in hand, to experience the sights.

Until all those people decide to arrive in ONE DAY.

That’s the forecast for two of our clients, Destination Niagara USA and Visit Rochester, NY, whose cities are on the path of totality for the historic April 8 solar eclipse.

It turns out that some of the attractions we highlight profusely in both cities’ travel guides and video footage are also the very best spots in the whole world to see this celestial event. In January, National Geographic named Niagara Falls the most picturesque place to view the eclipse and named Rochester the city with the best museums along the path of totality. Both cities, along with Buffalo, have appeared as big red dots on every map, on every newscast, for over a year, highlighting the best places to put on those cardboard glasses and stare at the sky. 

As a result, visitors from around the world are flocking to both destinations in what appear to be record numbers, snatching up every available hotel room, Airbnb, VRBO, and friend’s extra couch to be there to witness this rare celestial phenomenon.

At first, it sounds like a great thing—a rare opportunity for organic visitation, exposing throngs of people to the sights, culture, food and people that define these destinations. Or maybe not. Instead, masses of visitors descending on a city for one day to witness less than four minutes of action in the sky creates really interesting challenges for DMOs and hospitality businesses responsible for welcoming and hosting so many people. Rochester expects 300,000 to 500,000 visitors, while Niagara Falls and Buffalo are predicting to see closer to a million (each). To put those numbers in perspective, Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium only fit 65,000 to watch Super Bowl 2024.

What little lodging hasn’t already been booked is priced astronomically high. Business and institutional closures are being announced by the minute, shutting tourists and locals alike out of government buildings, museums, grocery stores, shops, restaurants, and even some parks. Parking is expected to be non-existent, and traffic pros are cautioning about an immovable gridlock of vehicles all trying to reach viewing destinations and pop-up events simultaneously. Tourism and hospitality employees are making contingency plans for how they’ll get themselves to work Monday. Concerns over too many people with too few resources prompted the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to preemptively issue a state of emergency the week before the event.

But, it’s also possible that this brief, eclipse-inspired visit to Niagara Falls or Rochester will spark visitor interest in returning to catch the sights unincumbered by crowds. Some of the best parts of both destinations will still be available for enjoyment, including the Falls themselves and surrounding parks, Rochester’s artistic and architectural gems, and the friendly residents who will undoubtedly do their best to welcome and help visitors as best they can. With years to prepare, many organizations and institutions have gone all out to plan viewing parties, days-long celebrations and special treats ranging from eclipse-inspired craft beers, ice cream flavors, and creative souvenirs. The Mayor of Rochester, Malik Evans, expects the event to have an incredible economic impact on the city, with visitors bringing in between $10 and $12 million from Saturday through Monday, the day of the eclipse.

We are sending our clients in both of these spots copious amounts of energy, good vibes, and a little bit of luck as they become the front row seats to an event of a lifetime. We hope the planets align in their favor!

We’ll post an update in the days following the eclipse to report whether predictions matched realities here in Buffalo and in our client cities along the path of totality.