Styling: Pure Hell or a place to “shine”.

Styling: Pure hell, or your secret weapon?

Here goes another article about the more “in depth” considerations of a professional photographer. This article is about styling matters.

When you plan a shoot, how much styling is involved? Do you think up an idea, hire a model (or beg a friend to come by), tell her to bring her own clothes and hope for the best? Well, if you do this and you’re really really lucky (ie: she has the right look and has her own great sense of style), you may get some decent shots. And I also recommend you buy some lottery tickets. But if that’s your habit, in reality your results are more likely to be sloppy and vague.

A properly styled shot looks intriguing, interesting and totally real. It carries a message and an edge that an unstyled shot just never will. Styling is often invisible. You don’t look at a shot and think, “wow, that was extensively styled” – you look at it and think, “That’s a fantastic shot.. and man…I can’t even put my finger on why.” The “why” is that the shot is harmonious. Colors play wonderfully off each other, the right model has been chosen, the clothes, background and accessories tell a story, and altogether, it’s a hit.

When I plan any shoot, I do my background work first. I consult with my stylist, I research my subject, I buy the right authentic props, and I plan my details meticulously (just ask my staff, they will tell you with a groan). My team and I do extensive research to determine exactly the look we want to portray and how we’re going to do it, down to the most unimaginably small detail. Why do we push so hard at this? Because it works. And our extra effort is worth it on payday—yes, the costs of working this way are higher, but the returns are higher too. Styling is a tricky business, but when you do it right, the rewards can be fantastic and the quality of your work skyrockets into another level.

Are you an “A” movie or a “B” movie?
It drives me nuts when I’m watching a film and all of a sudden, some sloppy styling jolts me out of the experience. A classic example is when a guy is running hard and the camera zooms in for a close-up. He’s sweating…. but in perfectly straight, sprayed on lines. Um, nice. Or how about a scene that happens in the wrong place? Two high finance stockbrokers are having a dramatic conversation, but for some unknown reason.. they’re having it in a random park? Sure…

The point is that to elevate yourself from B-movie status to A-movie status just takes some attention to detail. Think about your concept and really study it. Don’t just jump in and shoot.

Behind-the-scenes and a working example: how we styled our “Cool Teens” shoot

This project began when I decided to do a shoot featuring some cool teens hanging out and being, well, cool. I wanted some of them to have interesting props — skateboards in this case.

Step 1: Research and planning. My stylist and I went down to a local skate park and observed the kids. What were they wearing? Which shoes? What brand of hat, which sunglasses? What colors were hot? How did they walk, talk and position themselves naturally? How did they hold their boards? What kinds of equipment were they using? How old were they, what kinds of haircuts did they have? After a couple hours of observing we compiled all this information. Then we planned out our colors and the overall look, down to the nitty gritty.

Step 2. Accessories. No corner cutting here. We figured out which skateboard brand these kids were actually using and we went out and purchased them. (Not cheap! They must have some allowance?!).

Step 3. Making it look real. Then we took one look at the brand spakin’ new shiny boards we’d bought and realized we had to beat them up, badly. Three long hours of me trying to skate and lotsof  intentional efforts to scratch and wear down the boards seemed to do the trick (yes it bruised a bit).

Step 4. Small details. We noticed the kids wearing ID tags and decided to create our own version. We designed our tags in the right color (remember during the research stage we had decided on this) and put them in laynyards. This way we owned the copyright and didn’t need to worry about extensive photoshop down the road. Great.

Step 5. Models. We looked long and hard for the right models. We wanted kids who looked natural, funky and like they would fit right in with the kids we’d studied at the park. When we chose our models we talked with them about exactly what we were going for and had them practice their natural smiles. We got them feeling comfortable and natural with each other by playing some icebreaker games.

Step 6. Shoot. Everyone was well prepared before the shoot. The models knew what was expected of them, the clothes were ready, the boards were battered and cool, and we were all eager to go. The shoot went even better than I expected. I followed our plan, and as I always do, I also tried some unusual angles and ideas that came to me in the moment, not knowing how they’d fit in at the end but hoping for the best. The results of the shoot were fantastic and they’ve been very successful images in my portfolio.

Conclusion
Styling can be pure hell if you ignore it completely or if you let it control you, but if you take control of the process it can be your ace in the hole. Hire a fantastic stylist who delights in details and I guarantee you that it’s a good investment and that the quality of your work will skyrocket. Or, if you are a one man or one woman show, that doesn’t mean you can’t do a lot of this on your own.  Shoot what you know, watch watch watch the real wold around you and then plan, plan, plan so you can create authentic shots that are beautiful, edgy and cohesive.  Good luck.