The Palms Resort

The Palms Resort sits right on the waterfront on Pašman, an island in the Zadar archipelago – a collection of contemporary white villas with details in local stone, palm-lined paths, and private pools descending toward a beach with cabana daybeds. The resort offers two types of accommodation: two-storey villas with sea views, and single-storey Dream Villas that open directly onto the pool and garden. Inside, the same design style runs throughout – palm-leaf wallpaper, navy velvet dining chairs, soft cream tones, and floor-to-ceiling sliding doors that blur the line between interior and exterior.

Twelve-hour days in June heat

I photographed the resort over two full days at the height of summer – in extreme heat, high humidity, and the long days of June, which meant shooting for up to twelve hours. Good organisation and careful preparation of the spaces are essential on projects like this – there cannot be too much downtime, otherwise there is simply not enough time to cover everything, and both my team and the resort staff did an excellent job.

The best evening light lasted only about twenty minutes, so the first evening was dedicated entirely to the beachfront villas and aerial shots. Some of the exterior images that feel like evening were actually photographed at dawn the following morning, when the light, the glow of the pools, and the warm tones of the façades created a very similar atmosphere. After an intense first full day of shooting, winding down by the pool in the evening felt like the best reward the resort could offer.