There’s so much that goes into the production of a stylized shoot. The weeks (sometimes months in this case) of preparation, brainstorming, collaboration, and execution are often overlooked and yet as someone who loves the creative process, is my absolute favorite part! As part of my on-going collaboration with HP Spectre this fall, I wanted to share how I’ve been pushing myself forward as a stylist, and how I brought a recent fall farm-to-fork dining shoot to life. As HP has been reinventing the laptop space with their new HP Spectre, they in turn have been helping me reinvent and improve this part of my creative process–encouraging and inspiring me in so many ways!
I had been dying to pull together a fall entertaining feature in a rustic setting, with dreamy sunset lighting, girlfriends(!), and a scrumptious meal and had so much fun finally making it happen! To improve my work, there are a few key aspects that have been game changing for me. Here’s what has made a huge difference when it came to the execution of this shoot.
1) Knowing when to ask for help. I have a tendency to think I can pull off anything–which I guess is a good trait but definitely ends up leaving me stressed out, forgetting key details, and ultimately executing projects that don’t always live up to my expectations. If pregnancy has taught me one thing, it’s to ask for help. Everything goes much smoother when you have a team to help you. Tasks are divided, projects are executed in a timely manor, the stresses of the day of are erased. Plus, it’s so much more fun bouncing ideas off others in the weeks leading up.
For this fall dining experience I asked my talented girlfriend and photographer, Stephanie Russo, to capture the magic of the day, and my girlfriend and interior designer, Kristine Renee, to assist with the execution and furniture. Having both of these creative ladies to bounce my ideas off of made the entire process that much more collaborative and stress free.
2) Organization. This is a big one for me! As a stylist, and when planning a larger shoot like this one, it’s near impossible not to be organized as the details make or break the final result. I’ve become quite the spreadsheet addict which is where my HP Spectre has been key to not only bring along on meetings but shoots as well. Creating various lists is the only way I am able to bring everything together. Shot lists, props needed, props others will be bringing etc. Also key: reviewing and sending these various shot lists to the team.
3) Visualization. Along with organization and creating the shot lists–having a clear vision for your shoot and making sure your team is on the same page is key to the success. Everyone has a different perspective (which makes life interesting!) but because of this, if you aren’t clear, the exact same shoot could look completely different in your eyes than in your photographers. Sharing examples, pinterest boards, and going over the details with Stephanie beforehand has helped immensely in my work but what has especially helped, is looking at the images together while on set. Tethering my HP Spectre laptop with Stephanie’s camera for this shoot and going back through the images in real time helped us get a better idea of what props needed to be moved and how to achieve the final images we wanted.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post in which I’ll share the full shoot–and if you’re interested in the HP Spectre you can find out more information on this stylishly thin laptop here.
Thank you to HP for helping me bring this shoot to life.
Photography | Stephanie Russo