Last month I was styling for Not On The High Street and it was one of those jobs that really keeps you on your toes. Due to the amount of shots we had to get done each day, we had to churn the images out with quick and confident styling. There were three shoot teams in total all working in the same house, this meant we had to plan our shots quite carefully making sure we didn’t encroach in anyone else’s space! Thankfully, it was a great team where everyone was mindful of each others set-ups.
If you are a budding stylist and get offered a shoot like this, I would offer the following advice; make sure you have a clear brief showing the look and feel that the client wants to achieve. This includes a colour guide so you are able to tie the props in with the products that you are shooting. The same applies with the flowers, you will need a steer on colour guide and when the images will be used, this way you can choose seasonal flowers accordingly.
Additional props are key on advertising shoots and most stylists will bring a combination of hired items and staple pieces of their own. Depending on what the brief is, this could be anything from books, postcards, ribbons, pens and general keepsakes. This sounds obvious but the extra props are there to create a more lifestyle element, they must not distract from the product you are shooting. Avoid anything that is heavily branded and instead opt for items that help to set the scene. Photography was by the very talented Jo Henderson.
