Anatomy of a Styled Photoshoot, Part I

After all of the wonderful comments I received on Ella's bridal portraits, I thought it might be fun to write up how that shoot came into being.  Because amazing photo shoots don't just happen -- they're made. :)

Step 1: The idea.  I was getting itchy to do something creative, but I wasn't really sure what. When I get in those moods, I look for inspiration in a bunch of different places -- online photography forums and blogs to be sure, but also at the ads and photo shoots in magazines (Vogue, Elle, Glamour). I cut out (or print out) photos that I like parts of -- the hair in this one, make up in that one, dress in another, this pose, that background. And then putting those together, I come up with an idea board for the shoot. This is both a "virtual" (i.e. on my computer) and physical (i.e. photos I cut out, fabrics I like, etc) idea board. I incorporate in colors, textures, anything really that catches my eye like it will fit somewhere. In no way do I a) USE all of these things, or b) copy any one of them directly. They serve as points to jump start my creativity in a (somewhat) organized manner. (Side note here: I am not the only one who comes up with ideas! If you've got something nagging at you that you think would be cool -- even if it sounds silly, that's where most of mine start! -- let me know and we'll see what two creative brains can put together. Nothing is impossible -- we're only limited by the limitations we put on ourselves!) Here are some of the images I was working from:

Step 2: The place. This is sometimes the hardest part of styling a photo shoot. Finding an interesting location that has multiple places to take photos, is accessible, is safe (more about this later), and is reasonably convenient can be difficult. For this shoot, I knew I wanted an urban location. Originally what I really wanted was an old abandoned warehouse that we could shoot inside. I was imagining rusty colors, light filtering in through broken windows, large open areas. I was aiming for photos with a gritty texture, a raw feel. After driving around downtown with Jared for about an hour, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to find what I was looking for in a safe area. Safety is important! You attract a lot of attention walking around with expensive camera equipment and a hot girl in a wedding dress! So I ended up choosing another location, outdoors but still urban with great color and architectural components. It was all withing walking distance of a safe parking lot. If I'm ever uneasy about where I'm shooting, I first run it by my client, then I take my body guard with me (Jared makes a great body guard!). In the process of trying to find a location for this shoot, I stumbled across an amazing location for another shoot (but more on that in the future!) - you never know what you're going to find out there.


Step 3: The people. So the next thing for me, since I was designing this shoot for myself, not for a client, was to find the right people. I had put out a call on my blog and facebook site asking if any local brides might be interested. I got a few responses, but because this is a shoot for me, I was being fairly picky about exactly what I wanted. The great part about the response I got to the call was that I found out who my willing people are, so even if they didn't work out for this shoot I now have a list of guinea pigs models for the next one! I happened to know that my wonderful friend Ella had just gotten married, had a stunning gown, and is quite amazing herself. So I talked to Ella, and with the promise that she didn't have to smile too much, she said yes.... Now because we had planned to do this Thanksgiving weekend (long story short, scheduling these things with more than one or two people is tough), I didn't have a professional available to do hair and make up. But someone was smiling down on us, because I managed to get all of her hair up and looking decent, and between the two of us, her make up looked great! I also invited my friend Wendy along to shoot -- as a photographer, I love shooting with other photographers because it's inspiring and educational... but that's another post!

Okay, this is getting a lot longer than I had planned, so I'll break it off here... Hopefully there aren't too many of you snoring by now! :) Check back later for Part II: The props, the shoot, the fun!