Planning

A session can be anything from a portrait session to a full-body shooting, perhaps with some storytelling (editorial), supported by props, costumes or unique clothing.

If you want to achieve great results, it needs a fair amount of planning to prepare a session, even if you want to improvise. Generally speaking, it's safe to say that the more time you spend preparing, the better the results will be.

Before we plan the session in detail, we agree on the genre we want to shoot. Based on the genre, the framing plays a vital role in the genre and location we shoot.

Each genre and framing needs planning and preparation: this can be anything from a short briefing via phone or WhatsApp or up to a couple of weeks of work with lots of people involved.

More on genres & styles

However, a test shot doesn't need a massive amount of planning. You should know what clothes to bring (see also "Test Shoots") and the type of make-up if no make-up artist is on set. On the other side, a staged glamour shot with lots of props might take weeks, if not months, to plan and prepare everything, from creating the looks and building the set.

More on test shoots

For Test Shots, the look is set, but with every other creative session, we will first discuss the photo shoot's general idea. Once we outline the basic idea, we do a wardrobe check. You will look for key pieces that might match and send some pictures. Based on the available wardrobe, we will create a general style, start planning and create a mood board.

Now we're getting serious. Assuming you have a Pinterest account, we will start collecting ideas/inspiration within a shared Pinterest board, the so-called mood board. You might also find some interesting pictures in fashion magazines, so tear them out or take a photo with your phone and upload it to the Pinterest board.

The mood board is a collection of ideas of light settings, locations, colours, poses or little details we like and might want to incorporate into our session. The mood board assists us during the preparation and later with the session to follow our ideas and work towards our expected outcome.

More on mood boards and Pinterest

Longer sessions with a make-up and hair stylist might take between 4 and 6 hours and happen on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Shorter portrait sessions for up to two hours can be done during the week, typically in the evening. Depending on the project, the shooting location will be either my portrait studio in Alcaidesa, Spain, on-location or outdoors.