Inside Photo Shoots

I'm always talking about a million different shoots that go on for a million different projects here at work, but have you ever wondered what it's really like? Behind all the glitz and glamour that you see in the image comes a lot of planning, organizing, strict eating and magic. While laughs and smiles often abound, it's not always as fun as it looks. Here's what it's really like...

Weeks to Months Before - the shoot concepts are being hammered out by our book design team - what will the shots look like, what location will we use, what style and clothing will be needed, where will the photos be used in the book, what photographer and makeup artist will we use, etc.

2 Weeks Before - I start Cooler 1 to get myself as svelte as possible for camera time. Bread is definitely out!

1 Week Before - Schedule for the shoot is settled and concepts are distributed to makeup artist, photographer, the team and myself so we're all on the same page, catering for the shoot is decided upon, props are purchased, clothes are purchased - this is done by the design team and/or me. But making it look like the fall in summer or winter in summer can be tough in terms of styles available in stores. We try to make the books as timeless as possible so you can pass them down for generations.

The Day Before - I get a mani and pedi if needed, have one last good workout, pack my bags and get a good nights sleep.

The Day Of - Usually up at around 6am, hair and makeup by 8:00am, styled by 9:30am and shooting begins by 10am after the photographer has worked out lighting and more. We shoot look after look until about 1pm when we break for lunch. Then we start up again at 2pm and shoot until 5pm or 6pm. We keep the music blaring for good energy and throw around lots of jokes. Holding some of the poses and having someone analyze every shot can be hard to deal with so I try to stay positive and remind myself that the pics will turn out great!

The Night After - I crash!