Its been an exhausting but fab few weeks. Now I have all of 5 minutes to sit and enjoy a cuppa (see previous post re my addiction to tea) and look through some of the lovely extra photos of the gift boxes and care packages that came from the photoshoot. But I can also see how hilarious much of the 'glossy' side of this business is.
Here was my idea of how a photoshoot goes:
* Glam location or huge abandoned warehouse
* Lots of people milling around nodding, pointing and talking in hushed tones.
* Music playing in the background to set the mood
* Someone shouting 'its a wrap!' at the end of the day, cue to throw on an amazingly stylish outfit, link arms and head for the closest place for cocktails and a chat through of how amaaaaazing the day was.
Reality:
* The room we had planned to set up the shoot didn't work because of a not-so-small 3 month old cockapoo biting the equipment. Relocate to upstairs where there is thankfully a largish light room. But the current resident is a grumpy 11 year old boy who doesn't seem thrilled to be thrown out for 2 days to sleep on the floor of his 9 year old sisters very pink bedroom (with mattress of course - please don't call CS)
* Spend HOURS setting up rather expensive equipment, to find that the backdrop was not 'quite' right (*read fussy photographer) so out to source something new - now approx 3 hours behind schedule.
* Provide constant stream of comments such as 'keep out the way', 'don't touch that light', 'no you can't eat the chocolate in the shot' (kids not photographer)
* Constantly moving an object forward a millimetre, back two millimetres, back to the original position.
* Holding products in an entirely unnatural position so your body is contorted and you feel like you may collapse - to achieve that 'natural look'
* Keeping your arms still in shots for so long that the blood starts to drain from them. To then be told 'you moved'
* There's more equipment that we actually unpacked. Where did it all come from? Limbo under the softbox light cable that's trailing at chest height across the room, and breathe in to squeeze between the camera (DO NOT TOUCH) and the table (DO NOT MOVE). And that thing that looks like a silver pop up beach tent....is not. Its very important.
* Of course all this being done while trying to keep kids and pup happy/fed/alive/walked.
* End of day 2 take even longer to dismantle all the equipment. To find that there's a vital part we forgot to take photos of. Oh dear.
* Said part that needs reshooting is then done on the dining table - looking great, but OH THE MESS AND EQUIPMENT AROUND IT WAS AWFUL (neat freak right here) and photographer needing to stand in his socks on top of the table. Where we eat. Which is fine. Totally fine.
What I've learnt: I love a list, I mean I REALLY love a list - but I needed even more, better planning, more back up plans, plenty more time (can anyone help with expanding the 24hr day?) And a babysitter. And a pup sitter. Also learnt my kids are great at adapting if you try to make it fun (they ended up wanting to turn it into a 3 night 'camping' sleepover). My extended family have been great. The husband who rolls his eyes a LOT is amazing (actually I already knew that) I wanted new challenges and new adventures and this was just that. I also learnt that those amazing photos don't naturally happen. They take a huge amount of planning, and those natural shots are anything but. Life's one big learning curve right?
Ok - anther Earl Grey for me.
