Since your project is looking its best, it’s a good opportunity to nab some headshots on location. He says “Floral is the least understood and makes the biggest impact when the scale is right.” Shoot day Karlisch feels that designers overestimate their floral arranging abilities and often suggests hiring a specialist. She arrives at a shoot with useful and unglamorous supplies, too - scissors, clippers, tape and a steamer - and often buys flowers, which she says most of her clients appreciate. Go-to objects include beads, cutting boards, coffee table books, pillows and plants. “A great stylist is someone who helps you get back to your original vision and knocks the client’s ideas out of your head.”Ī photographer may double as stylist, as is the case with Mayfield, who pulls from her own prop shelf. “If I’ve been working with clients for a long time, their ideas are still often front and center in my brain.” says Seattle designer LeeAnn Baker. “Stylists understand what will work for a photograph which, incidentally, is likely to be very different than how you would style the photo.”īeyond the eye, a stylist listens and translates. “A good stylist makes a subtle but significant difference to a shoot.” Ramsay and Nicholas concur. “Interior designers create wonderful spaces for their clients to live in, but how that translates to a printed page can be very different,” explains Kathy Wall, principal of The Media Matters. “A lot of designers will go over to the house the day before to get as much styling done so we can go as quickly as possible on shoot day.” With the clock ticking, Bailey advises, “It’s better to get fewer shots, styled and shot well, than to get tons that aren’t good - less is more!” Styling “The more prepared we are, the smoother things go,” says Nashville photographer Kristen Mayfield. In order to interpret a designer’s vision, she needs to know things like what colors and flowers you hate. NY-based stylist Frances Bailey relishes the pre-shoot call so she can appropriate budget and props where they’re needed most. A shot list prioritizes the spaces, keeps a crew on schedule and acts like a map on shoot day, directing all to the next shot. Sharing scouting shots, communicating the story and creating a shot list are next steps. When Karlisch’s clients have a target in mind, they discuss and design around the needs of that publication. When pitching to a specific magazine, however, he hires a photographer who understands that book’s aesthetic and knows the editors.
“If the shoot is solely for my website, I have a photographer who captures my aesthetic and lights the space as I love it,” says Atlanta designer Steve McKenzie. Who you select to shoot and style is who you jive with, who’s available, and who fits stylistically. “They affect the energy, things get messy and the homeowner doesn’t need to see it,” he says. Dallas photographer Stephen Karlisch prefers no kids, pets or homeowners because they slow the momentum. Once a location is selected, confirm access to the project with your clients, ideally when they are away, unless by chance, your pitch to a magazine requires people in the photos.
Showcasing your best projects attracts better clients. “Ask yourself, ‘Is this project going to be key to my brand and portfolio?’” If it will, build the cost of photography into that project. “Not everything you design will be portfolio- or press-worthy and worth investing in,” they say. For Krista Nye Nicholas and Tami Ramsay of Cloth & Kind, being realistic means evaluating projects with an editor’s eye.
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