Monday, February 1, 2010

Planning the shots...

This week is all about the sample completion and the photo shoot.  We are doing the shoot at the photographer's studio in Portland Maine.  On Wednesday I am driving up to meet a couple of potential models and do some fittings on them.  Hopefully my props will have arrived by then.  I'm excited to see them. 

Want to know what they are?  They are toadstool chairs!!!

How cute are these stools?  I was excited to find them.  We are going to keep the props simple so that the focus is on the garments. 

Speaking of the garments...I've been having mini heart attacks all day for the past few days.  Talk about challenges.  First, one of the trims is not working quite right and I had to have a not so enjoyable conversation with a company owner about quality assurance.  Then issues with embroidery hoops and such.  And then just all around miscommunication.  It is all ok now but man oh man.  Right now is NOT the time for things to not go according to plan!  Murphy's law, right?  Good thing I have also planned for the unexpected!  I really did! 

Ok, back to the photo shoot.  You would not believe the amount of work that goes into these things.  On top of having the samples sewn and ready for photography, you need the models, fittings, accessories (shoes, hair stuff, etc...), props, meetings about all of these things, and so on.

So here's a checklist of what you should do to make sure that the shoot is productive and you will get the shots/look you want.   You can find a great article on it here, but I had to do some changing to the list for my shoot because we're dealing with kids and parents. 
  • Choose photographer.  This in itself was an entire process that I'll get into at a later date.  Your budget will really help to narrow the field.  I was surprised by the range in prices that I received.  They were anywhere from $500 per day (which is 2 days of shooting) to $9000 for the entire project. 
  • Create a mockup of what you want your shots to look like - basically sketch out what you want your shots to look like.  My shots are for my lookbook and website so I have drawn out everypage with every shot.  I need to make sure that all styles and colors are represented but not every style in EVERY color.  Know what I mean?  So it's a lot of merchandising. 
  • Discuss with photographer the look you want.  Be sure to discuss props, backrounds, etc...  
  • Locate props
  • Locate models
  • Meet models and fit garments on them for any last minute adjustments.  Also, this is a good time to take notes and assign outfits to the models
  • Schedule day for shoot with photographer and models.  Remember to ask parents what they think is the best time for the kids.  You want them to be happy and not cranky, right?  So find out when their nap times are and work around it. 
  • Include accessories - shoes, hair accessories, jewelry, etc...
  • Basic necessities - snacks, drinks. 
  • Friends.  Have friends who do hair/makeup?  Ask them for help.  Have friends with a little free time?  Ask them to come and help with anything that comes up - steaming garments, setting up, tearing down, etc...  Offer them money, beer, dinner, wine, hugs - whatEVER it takes!!! 
  • Thank you.  And then say thank you to everyone whether they are paid help or not.  I'm always surprised by how often this part of the project is forgotten and overlooked. 

3 comments:

  1. WOW. Tons of work! Can't wait to see the photos. Love the toadstools :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds like such an amazing and "huge" journey. Never thought about how much work goes in "behind the scenes" other than the creation of the designs. Kudos to you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like amazing fun!

    Can't wait to see it all come together!

    ReplyDelete