Behind the Photo Shoot

We always see beautifully edited final photos everywhere we go. Whether it is on a huge billboard in Times Square or even on someone’s Instagram page, it all takes a tremendous amount of work that people don’t usually realize or see. There is usually one word that sums up entirely the image that pops up into a person’s mind when they think photo shoot and that is glamorous. Well what is really behind creating that beautiful picture? Trust me it takes more than just glam and it really isn’t that glamorous at all. It is hard work and crazy attention to detail! It is all that “nitty-gritty” stuff we all want to skip, so here it is! The behind the scenes of my recent test shoot with photographer, Ferny Chung, model, Megan Aperfine, makeup/hair artist, Kyle Sheehan, and stylist, me (May Cho). You guys get the sneak peak because this shoot isn’t even out yet! Enjoy the pictures below! It all started out with an idea and a mood board. For this shoot I wanted to incorporate lingerie. The idea of wearing lingerie out is a huge trend right now and I wanted to play around with that. I loved the idea of using lingerie pieces in outfits that don’t even have to be crazily revealing. It really is a team effort. We all have to work together to tell a story and to bring that idea to life. It is hard at times, but we all have one goal to create. As the stylist, I had to plan out around seven looks. The hard part is finding each and every piece that goes into a look. If it was for a publication, usually a stylist can pull pieces from fashion PR firms. In my case, I had to find my pieces elsewhere from borrowing to buying. It takes a lot of work and trust me stress! I’m not even complaining about hauling all that stuff around. Honestly, I feel like 90 percent of a stylist’s job involves carrying heavy luggage around, constantly picking up and dropping off. Don’t forget about all the packing and unpacking! You really have to focus on that vision and each step brings that vision to reality. During the photo shoot, we plan everything. We work together on all aspects. As the stylist is preparing her station, the model gets her makeup and hair done. Then we change her into each look. Sometimes makeup and hair needs to be changed too. Each look requires different ideas for the set and we have to work with the model on poses and take tons of shots until we think we have the perfect one. During this whole process the makeup/hair artist and stylist is constantly present and fixing every little detail until it is perfect to shoot. Finally after all the looks are shot, we go over the selects. We literally go over every photo and notice every detail until we find the one. You don’t realize how every little movement the model makes or any aspect of the process can make or break a photo until you’ve done selects. Every detail matters! Most importantly however, we can’t forget to have fun and there is always some goofing around. Once the photographer edits the final selects and sends out the photos the job is complete. All that work becomes worth it and those photos will last forever.