Full-Day Product Shoot with Fading West Jewels

Expertly curated product photos don’t just “fall together” but if you do them right, it looks like they did. It actually takes a lot of time to make inanimate objects look natural. Before our product shoot at my studio in Cotati, CA, Julie had created several mood boards and a complete shot list to review with the stylist prior to the shoot and to reference while shooting. Shot lists and mood boards are incredibly important…yes you actually have to create a visual representation of all those ideas running through your mind and create a list of what you want! Scary, I know, but during the shoot-day chaos you tend to forget EVERYTHING that’s not written down. Just a simple mood board is so effective when you’re trying to stay consistent. Even though a prop may look good with your product, does it fit with the mood you’re going for? Does it fall in line with your color and texture theme… check the board!

Julie’s product line at Fading West Jewels includes gemstones, crystals, botanicals, candles, soaps, bath bombs and more that are hand collected and crafted with intention. We worked with stylist, Jenna Bauke to do a full-day shoot to showcase the delicate details that come together to form Julie’s self-care line. In these images we were not only able to create clean, crisp product images, but also form a visual storyline for the different collections.

Do I always require a stylist? No, and a lot of my clients have incredible styling skills! However, if you really want the shoot to operate like a well-oiled machine, having all the moving parts makes a huge difference. Ensuring that each person does what they do best on set instead of covering many roles provides for a more organized session and the ability to flow through more products.