I've always said that contacts are truly what can transform a brand, knowing the right people to gain advice or even help from is invaluable. Having worked on a fashion based project for ASOS recently with a local photographer called Liam, I merely passed a comment about my project and everything I was doing to then find out that he was a commercial photographer too, I instantly arranged a shoot with him for Darwin & Gray.
Arranging a photo shoot may sound easy but it is beyond complicated and challenging. I had a week to create as much stock as I physically could, with complications of stuffing not arriving and having to delay the shoot several days it was truly testing. I've always loved interior design, it was actually my 'what do you want to be when you grow up' dream job and so although hard, it was actually an absolute pleasure to do.
T H E F I N E R D E T A I L S.
Again, avoiding extortionate expenses by discarding renting a studio space, instead I just cleared a space in my studio, I put up a bunch of frames and created a 'gallery' wall to include my prints and banners as well as getting my dad on board to build me a bunch of fake floors for my products to be photographed one. From the photos above you can see the difference between two particular pieces of floors we created, after a bunch of test shots I opted for the lighter wood so the pieces didn't (particularly the cushions) stood out more.
The next thing is props, being an interior obsessed hoarder I have accumulated a bunch of bits and pieces over the years as well as being a lover of plants - all of which I used to pad out the photos, to add a little bit of interest and to compliment the products.
Below are a sample of the product shots we captured one cropped down into squares to fit the product page grid system I have used for my website. By keeping the camera in the exact same position we ensured that there is fluidity throughout the photos. I didn't want the photos to look like they were shot in a studio, I feel that much more home-like environments suit the brand better then just being a floating item on a white background.
