3 Nov 2026 01:00
Wildlife Photography, Brand Marketing, and Shooting Billie Eilish’s Album Cover with William Drumm
William Drumm: Wildlife Photography, Brand Marketing, and Shooting Billie Eilish’s Album Cover
In this episode of the Underwater Podcast, host Brett Stanley talks with underwater photographer, filmmaker, and content creator William Drumm about building a career between wildlife photography and brand marketing, and the story behind directing Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft album cover shoot. William shares how a childhood obsession with holding his breath turned into a marine biology degree, a stint as a cell biologist in Seattle, and a string of press trips that convinced him to go all in on photography. They discuss working in Monterey Bay, shooting for PBS’s Big Pacific documentary, and moving from stills into video as the licensing math changed underneath him. William walks through how a set of whale images from Tonga led to Billie Eilish’s team reaching out, what it took to recreate the open ocean inside a Hollywood studio tank, and how that one shoot reshaped his business toward brand marketing through Drumm Media. They close out talking about AI’s growing presence in wildlife and commercial photography, and what it means for authentic work going forward.
00:00 Meet William Drumm00:58 Hot Tub Breath Holds01:36 Jellyfish Bucket in Australia02:47 Scuba Certified at Twelve04:51 Discounted Gear and First Strobe Shot06:48 Marine Biology and a Day Job in Science08:36 First Press Trips: Puffins and Polar Bears10:58 Carhartt Sponsorship and Early Paydays13:36 Lighthouse Keeper on Puffin Island16:48 Choosing Photography Over Science18:14 Monterey Bay and Shooting Big Pacific20:36 Shift from Stills to Video23:36 Stock Footage and Licensing25:14 Moving Back to Denver, Pivoting Into Brand Marketing30:58 How Billie Eilish’s Team Found Him32:47 Recreating the Ocean in a Studio Tank36:14 Directing a Hollywood Crew37:36 The Flooded Monitor Housing41:58 Working With Billie in the Water45:21 The Album’s Most Challenging Shot48:36 Instagram Growth After the Shoot51:36 Founding Drumm Media55:14 Social Media, SEO, and AI Search1:02:47 The Ethics of AI Images and Wildlife1:06:00 Underwater Portraiture as Art1:07:36 Influences and Closing Thanks
