Planning a Styled Shoot | Recap | Hampton Roads Stylized Portrait Photographer

Hi!

If you're reading this there's a good chance you saw the "Alice" blog post last week with all the pretty, warm, colorful images from the stylized shoot.

 

Since I did a 5 part series on planning the styled shoot (in case you missed one or two: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V) I thought it was only fitting to do a wrap up post on what I learned since shooting the session.

  

And OH BOY did I learn a LOT.

 Let me first start off by saying that no matter how prepared you think you are you will NEED to be flexible and know the definition of compromise- because things will not go as planned.

Don't get me wrong: things will be beautiful and incredible and a whole BUNCH of fun! But things are stressful- and everyone else involved does not live in your head- so you will need to be flexible and able to communicate your needs.

 

Let me tell you what, though: my team was freaking AWESOME. They were a BLAST to work with, they had fabulous ideas, and they were even interested in helping beyond their "roles" (e.g. my model's mom even offered to haul things in her van and helped clean up the entire set! Stuff she completely did NOT need to do at all- but my Sarah Elle Photography family is awesome like that!)

Ok, so things I learned after completing my very first solo styled shoot:

 

1. Have EVERYTHING ready to go at least 4 DAYS before the day of the shoot.

I had a few little things I needed to pick up the morning of the shoot and figured "hey, no big deal, I'll grab those in the a.m.- everyone isn't set to show up until late this afternoon anyway- no big deal!"

Despite being a planner, I somehow manage to continue to find ways to add stress to my life. Waiting to pick things up until the day of the shoot is one of those ways-- because guess what? While I was out getting those "few little things" I received a call that the furniture for the shoot was not going to be able to be dropped off as originally planned.

*cue the screeching tires on my "no big deal" morning*

I now had to find a way to get a vehicle big enough to haul furniture over to NORFOLK (remember my fear of the bridge tunnel?!?!) and back in time for hair and makeup that afternoon.

I won't bore you with a description of my trip over the water so fast forward a few hours and mission accomplished (thanks to the HUGE HEARTS of my ridiculously wonderful neighbors who let me commandeer their explorer the entire rest of the day).

  

But having everything with YOU days in advance will really help you the day of the shoot: you'll officially be prepared and will simply have to execute the set-up. Trust me this will alleviate large amounts of stress the day of your shoot. And anything to reduce stress levels is a big gold star in my book!

 

2. Have a bunch of helpers.
It's awesome when you've got a fabulous team of folks who are willing to help in any way they can but, for me personally, iIlike people to be able to enjoy themselves and not be overworked- so while I did have a designated helper that day one person was not enough. So don't be afraid to have multiple people on board to help out-- things will go faster, easier, and everyone will be able to have that much more fun with even more awesome people around!

This is also probably one of those times where having collaborated with a professional designer/event planner would have really made a difference!


3. Have the session at a location that can accommodate on-site hair and makeup.

I didn't realize how important this idea would be until the day of the shoot when I was running back and forth between the set location and hair and makeup. I can't be in two places at once. I tried. It doesn't work.
 

Having hair and makeup AT the set location means you can oversee the set-up of everything while still being accessible for your model and the rest of your team. Plus that means getting more done at once- and who doesn't love efficiency? You're being an awesome host to everyone and there to answer questions for your model and hair and makeup team while still directing and helping with the set-up of your set. Pretty great!

So, if you have the ability: choose a set location that can accommodate the model prep.

 

That's it. Those are three really BIG things I learned from the styled shoot. It was truly an incredible experience and a fantastic time. I love each person involved and truly could not have done it without them- so a huge THANK YOU to everyone involved (from my neighbors, to the model, to my model's mom, to Papa John's for delivering awesome pizza really fast, to my friend who helped that day, to the hair and makeup team, to the vendors, and to my husband for dropping everything to get me across the bridge and back in a really short period of time).

So what's stopping you? Get out there and plan your OWN styled shoot! Because I know with all the things I learned from this experience I'm definitely doing another one!

Which reminds me: what theme do you want to see next for a styled Senior session? Give me your ideas for what you want to see next in the comments below! If your theme gets chosen I may just need your help to plan it!

Best,
Sarah