How to do a Photoshoot during a Pandemic!

With all the stay at home orders, and the serious need to look good from the waist up for a Zoom call, our online orders have been on the rise!  To keep up with demand, we have been adding new products to the website every few weeks.  We suddenly realized that we needed new photos.

It's easy for us to take the studio photos with the basic white background during the quarantine since I have a photo studio in my home, but "lifestyle" images - the ones with the jewelry on actual people - were proving to be a problem.  Our usual go-to modeling agencies were not open because they didn't want to put their models at risk, and our outdoor photoshoot locations are in public places and tend to draw a crowd.  What to do???  For the models it was an easy fix - I used two of our beautiful salesladies, Christol and Kerri.  They are both so photogenic, and they love and know how to wear the jewelry.  Plus, since we all work so closely together, we felt comfortable being near each other.

But what about a location?  I reached out to my dear friend Brooklyn Calloway.  She operates a multi-use venue called Brookielynn's Bungalow.   

Now Brookielynn’s Bungalow is a charming turn-of-the-century venue in the heart of the Frisco, Texas Rail District.  Locals can rent the venue for all kinds of “smedium” sized events and photography sessions.  It was the perfect private solution for us.  It gave us multiple natural light locations, most of which were inside the charming air-conditioned house.  We had full run of the first floor of the house with access to a private changing area and a kitchen.  She's outfitted the house with charming furniture and accessories and recently added a fabulous "Star Wall."  But my personal favorite spot is the stairs.  The riser of each step is decorated with hand painted poppies!  So Adorable. 

Our talented photographer just so happens to be my dear husband, Scott.  So no quarantine worries there.  He's a full-time commercial photographer and he's been doing our photography since the beginning.  Always such a great trooper putting up with my odd shot requests, he very sweetly goes along with my "vision" and then shoots it the way he sees it.  His ideas tend to work out better than mine, but don't tell him I admitted that!  If you want to see more of his work, check out his website PhotographyWall-Art.com.

We usually work with 3-4 models and a make-up/hair artist during each shoot and bring several staff members to act as dressers, runners and photography assistants.  This time we felt like "less is more". We limited the shoot to just the two models, the photographer, one assistant and me.  We all wore several hats, but we got the job done.  

So, the key to pulling off a successful photoshoot while still staying safe is PRIVACY.  Limit your group size and be sure you personally know everyone in your group and who they have been around.  

Stay Safe Y'all!