When working with a brand to find their perfect image it all begins with an idea, what is your brand’s story? what is the message you want to get across to your clients? Once we have this we can really plan your shoot and work towards the right images for you
Plan, Plan and Plan some more. During our meetings we Create the concept- this is a team effort and will help us create a shoot plan that delivers the brand message.
The details- I love the planning process and it is my job to make sure we don’t miss any details along the way, from the moment we begin until the moment you receive the final images.
- What Creative team do you need? Do you you need a stylist, models, Hair & Make-up, A prop stylist? This will all be deicded as we can but with my strong team behind me, we can make your vision come to life.Location Vs Studio-Locations can provide many questions like permits/weather/fees but they can also give you a large varied amount of content in one shoot. For example the image below was shot in London, we did need permits for certain locations but in a day we used street shots mixed with a rented yoga studio to make sure we had the ideal shoot and got the perfect images for the brand.
Studio is great if you are looking for e-commerce images, images that continue with the same lighting/crops/look. It is also great for product campaigns. With studio you are more contained and have the benefit of no weather watching and also the fun option of building sets to create the exact look you are after. The product images below were shot in studio and have 3 different aspects of studio space being used. I created sets for the two on the right and using my home studio- these style shoots are a perfect option during any lockdown periods.
4. Lighting- Natural Vs Artificial- I love natural light, it creates soft shadows and it really suits lifestyle images and location images- It is my favourable choice of light as it is great to play with and suits campaigns that are outside or lifestyle set ups in the home. So why would we use artificial? Artificial lighting is great for painting light into an image- I use it for studio and indoor shoots but I also have location lighting to be able to remove shadows, or add in harsher lighting. When planning shoots- the lighting we always be designed to get the best quality images. Below is the comparison of two studio shoots using different lighting to achieve the image we wanted.
5. Styling- Styling varies from props to clothing and is vital in every image. Have you ever looked at an image of a model and looked at a sofa/plant/picture in the background…they are always planned and placed and are there to tell the viewer a story or to sell the audience a lifestyle. My career has panned across Photography, Styling and Set-Design meaning I have a great understanding on how to build the full image.
The image below was for Placenta Essex who make Placenta capsules, the main objective of the images was to sell the lifestyle that comes with the capsules. A healthy lifestyle, an organic lifestyle and therefore I searched for home props that would give a natural feel. I created the smoothie bowl and shot this at home during lockdown, the reason I chose this image when talking about styling is the use of colour- if you notice on the bottle there is a tree and it is green and a blueish purple, then look at the smoothie bowl- the blueberries, the seeds and the eucalyptus on the table all compliment the logo and tie the image together.
So how do you get the perfect image? It is all in the idea, the plan and delivering your message. I hope this has helped give you an idea of how we get from the idea to the final perfect image.
