A Beginner’s Guide to Photoshoots

What are the steps of setting up a photoshoot?

Aidan Turner (founder): Well, first you got to find a damn good photographer. That's the first step. You have to find a great photographer who can understand your vision, but you also have to know how to communicate your vision. So, there's nothing wrong with Pinterest and creating Pinterest boards. I mean, the photographer I worked with is Lars, at Photos by Lars, go check him out. But he's great. Lars and I work together on all the photo shoots. We sat down, and we took hours, hours, and hours of strategizing. What do the shadows look like? How is the garment positioned? Are we using squares? Are we using portrait? You know, every single little detail of all these photos is thought of beforehand. What are the detail shots going to be? What kind of what parts of the garment are we zooming in on to show the features of the close up features of and being able to find someone who you can work with directly and who understands your vision, but also who can execute your vision. So you need to be on the same page about understanding and what you want and then being able to execute it. Take the time to make edits. And when you are at the shoot, the lighting is very, very important. But what's crucial to photo shoots that a lot of people don't think about is the energy. It's the vibes, you know? Do you have a speaker there? Are you playing music? Are you having fun? Are you cracking jokes? And it's really about your relationship with the people that are at the shoot with you, whether you have models that are modeling for you, whether you have people shooting behind the scenes for you, which you need, behind the scenes is crucial. You get to see the true interaction of what's going on compared to the final product. That's fun, but it's about the crew. It's about the people that you're with. And again, it's about enjoying that journey and having fun in the moment, making the most of it. Because, we have done several, you know, three hour long shoots where you have to iron, do the lint roller, and I've done all this preparation beforehand, and then you have a three hour shoot from, it's late at night after we're done with the work that we have to do, and then Lars goes off and edits them. It's a lot of work, but it's all worth it, that moment in that time spent in the studio, having a great time.

You kind of already touched on this. But, like, who is involved in a photo shoot?

Aidan Turner (founder): How I run our shoots is that I will prepare all the garments. And then you work with a photographer, whether they have an assistant, a couple of people, they're experts in lighting. Lars handles all that. So he'll do the light. I position everything. So we'll work in tandem, where I will position the garment, I'll put it down, I'll get everything right. And then he'll take the photos, and as I'm going to get the next garment, he'll put the garment back on the rack. And it's a great system. It's awesome. 

So you're doing the creative direction?

Aidan Turner (founder): Oh yeah, yes. So I'm there guiding, and he'll show me what kind of shots he's taken. I’ll explain how I want this detail. Let's get at this angle. Let's do it this way. But there's always a why. There's a reason. Okay, I want to show this feature. I want to show the size of this. I want to show the scale. If I want to show the quality of it. There's a lot of important things, but also representing the garment as a whole is in making sure that all the photos are cohesive. Like I said, BTS, it's always helpful to have another set of hands. There are a couple of other people there to capture those moments, to capture those vibes.

What is your favorite memory from a photo shoot?

Aidan Turner (founder): Oh, wow, that's a great question. I think my favorite memory of us is the banter, but talking about what kind of music that we're playing, we'll start with really chill, maybe some alternative, some rock. Then, as the night progresses, we'll be more upbeat. And at the end of the night, we're blasting EDM. Because once 9:30 hits we need that energy. We need that boost. So bringing the BPMs up and that kind of breathes some life into us. 

Written and edited by Bella Tabak (@bellatabak)