photography for Holly Stalder. the lovely designs can be yours, if you shop here.

In my previous career as a producer for films, one of the main aspects of my job was to breakdown shots. That meant going through every shot in a movie and literally breaking down every single aspect involved in the creation of the shot, from conception to post. Breaking down allows the producers and clients to clarify ideas, determine the to-do list, assess crew needs, hire talent, adjust the budget and create a schedule for the project.

That experience has come in handy for me in Photography as well as I can plan my shoots effectively and help clients with budgeting and producing their campaigns, especially if they own indie businesses and are working with a tight budget (see WHAT I OFFER ).

So, since many of you had asked me about my process when producing my shoots, I decided to come up with a new mini series of posts for the blog, titled “photo shoot breakdown” (update: renamed as “producing a photo shoot”). In this series I will be ‘breaking down’ the photo shoot I did recently for Holly Stalder by highlighting each phase of my production process. Sounds good?

Also, because there is so much material to cover, I decided to keep this series on the lighter side, for those of you who are simply curious, and create a fabulous and detailed e-book for those of you who are more seriously committed to taking your photo shoots to the next level. In the e-book I will certainly go into a lot more detail about each stage and I will include bonus chapters, such as: interviews, budget templates, invoices, handouts, resources lists, etc. By following the mini series here, you will get an overview of what the process entails, and by purchasing the e-book, you’ll have all the guidelines needed to plan your own photography projects in fashion, lifestyle, interiors, food, etc. The insights provided will help you develop a stronger relationship with your client or shoot producer, you’ll be able to track all the details for your shoots, you’ll be able to price your work more accurately, and ultimately, you’ll be able to produce your own portfolio and client shoots with a higher rate of success, meaning that what you’ll envision is what you’ll get! Besides, from my many years of experience as a producer, I am certain that a professional who is able to follow a process, always makes for a more attractive and effective team player and leader. [If you are interested, make sure you sign up for my newsletter so you're the first to know when the e-book is available. I'm currently planning for a launch in the Fall.]

In the meantime, I’ll be starting the mini series in my next post, going through each aspect of how I put together my recent fashion shoot for HS from concept to delivery. This way, those of you who are curious can get your fix right away, and those of you who are interested in learning more, can have a preview of some of the chapters and topics that will be covered at length in the e-book.

If you are a client or designer reading this because you’re hoping to invest on professional photography for your collections, you’ll be able to benefit from the series and e-book as well. By following the mini series you’ll learn more about what your investment will be paying for, you’ll have a better idea of how you might want to stretch your money, and you’ll be able to better select a team and photographer to bring your vision to life (hopefully you’ll hire me, of course!) :) The mini series also represents WHAT I OFFER when a client hires me with my indie biz fashion package. In that case, I take care of every single thing I’ll describe here, so you can just ship me your lovely items (clothes, jewelery, accessories, etc), sit back, relax and wait to receive the slide-show with your final pics!

Are you excited about this series and e-book? I really want to make this as juicy as possible for you, so let me know if there are specific things that you’d like me to discuss here or add to the e-book, and I’ll definitely try to add those to the mix.

xo