Incorporating my multiple creative mindsets into one cherosi photoshoot

A few days ago Hannah stopped by my studio to do an ecommerce photoshoot for my Cherosi summer fashion designs. It took using all my creative channels to plan the photoshoot and this is how I handled it start to finish:

Three months before

I was in designer Chelsea mode, staying up all hours of the day and night creating pieces. After dozens of failed attempts I came up with a few final designs. I called around for a pattern maker and had the patterns for my designs made. Soon after the samples were made it was time to start planning the photoshoot.

The week before

I was in stylist Chelsea mode, I had several Cherosi designs to style and needed to find a top or bottom for each as well as shoes and jewelry. It took a week of scouting my favorite stores in the Tampa Bay Area to find a piece for each design. My go to stores for casual photoshoots are Dillard's, Nordstrom Rack, and the Thrift store.

The Night Before

I was in photographer Chelsea mode. I set up my lighting which was the easiest part because my plan was to use only one large octobox for Rembrandt lighting. I charged up all my camera batteries, cleared my memory cards, and set up my computer for tethering. I set up my main camera for capturing the images as well as a smaller camera for capturing video on a tripod. 

The day of

I started off in Photographer Chelsea mode, when Hannah arrived I had her put some oil on her skin. Oil on the skin for photography creates a sort of HD effect. I recommend this technique to other photogs because the camera alone is usually unable to pick up the complete dimensions of a subject and oil will make the skin shine at its high points creating dimension which will make it easier for the viewer to decipher the high and low points of one's skin.

During the shoot

I got in designer Chelsea mode, wanting to make sure each paired piece complemented my designs well. When you buy things they may look good in your hands but you never know how they might look when the model tries them on. I was lucky that Hannah fit into each outfit perfectly and brought my vision for each design to life.

My other concern as a designer was with posing. As a photographer I tend to let the model bring her personality to a photoshoot but as a designer I realized I had to be more strict about the posing and how it would bring out the magic of each garment. I also had to become aware that the model's body movements, hand placements, and such would not cover the designs.

After the shoot

I was in Retoucher Chelsea Mode and with a full night ahead of editing. I was determined to edit all pictures within 24 hours and I did. Using photoshop and Lightroom I colored the images as well as did some flaw corrections.

Overall

The photoshoot went just as I imagined with only a few misses. Hannah was and always is a wonder to work with. I had fun incorporating most of my creative mindsets in one photoshoot and I can not wait to take on more projects such as this one.