Here are the steps I take when planning a styled photoshoot. The example I am using here is from a recent shoot at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA. Thanks to my friend, Chanel, for playing along, getting dressed up and hanging out in a cold, windy cemetery with me.
This is pretty self explanatory.
Choose a color palette or “color story” for your shoot. Here, I went with rich jewel tones. You could go with a custom palette that you create, or you could choose pastels, neons, monochromatic, etc. Once you decide on this, stick with it and refer back to it when you are planning every single element in your photograph.
No one needs to hear your story, but I find this helpful when planning a shoot. The viewer can then decide for themselves what they think the story is, or if you’re real good, they may see your story within the imagery.
I like to use the app Milanote to save images that I’ve pulled for inspiration, the aforementioned color palette, shot list, equipment list, etc.
I wanted this picnic to have a cheese board to accompany the champagne. Since I was sticking to rich jewel tones, I decided to choose only cheeses that had rich warm colors. I choose red strawberries, purple grapes, blackberries, a cheese coated in merlot, and a cheese with blueberries. As for the champagne, I went with Veuve Cliquot because of the rich gold label. Every other element in this photo was intentional. Details make the difference. Trust me.
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