A lot of people make amazing products, but they don't have the knowledge or equipment to take professional pictures of their work - and they SURE don't have the money to pay for product photos! So what do you do? Put together a styled shoot!
This can be anything from a wedding photoshoot (the most common), to other celebration events and get-togethers. Some photographers are looking for products to practice on, and might be willing to trade their time for your work in their portfolio! In general, a styled photoshoot is a bunch of vendors collaborating together so that they all get professional pictures of their products, and the photographer can submit the shoot to a blog or magazine; it's advertising for everyone involved!
I met Larissa Parks at a Rising Tide Society meeting, and as soon as she saw my art, she asked "Have you ever done backdrops for weddings?" "No," I said, blinking rapidly, "but I'd love to!" It wasn't too long after that conversation that Larissa and I got together at Starbucks to hash out our styled shoot idea. My inspiration? My collection of ocean paintings!
We built the shoot around the theme Watercolor Elopement. We brainstormed what kind of vendors we would want or need (photographer, videographers, venue, flowers, jewelry, wedding dress, hair/makeup, invitation suite, etc). We also figured out a 'storyline' for our shoot; we would have the 'ceremony' pictures indoors at the venue, and then would go to the nearby waterfront marina in beautiful Old Town Alexandria, VA. The ideas were flowing! We could have the couple dance to street musicians! We could have them send off a little boat with well-wishes written on it! What else could we do?? We were so excited. As soon as Larissa had the venue confirmed, we put a call out for the different vendors we were looking for. Did you know there are facebook groups dedicated entirely to putting together styled shoots and collaborations?? I didn't either! (Here's a couple to get you started!) Styled and Orchestrated Collective
Wedding Industries Opportunities and Collaborations Next time I'll share my behind the scenes as I went full DIY on a giant backdrop for the photoshoot!