Well, the honest answer is that every day is completely different which is one of the reasons why we love our job. Since we have returned to the studio we are getting asked if we are busy and we thought the best way to demonstrate how busy things can get is by letting you into what happens during a typical day in the studio. We picked a random day from a week this July and will give you an insight into what happened and why our schedule is always a little bit busy….
Planning is key
The first shoot of the day is a gorgeous newborn baby girl of two weeks old. Lots of preparation goes into a newborn session (head over to our Instagram to check out our behind the scenes stories) so we set up at least three to to four backgrounds to photograph a baby on. Today, one is a classic, timeless white material on a huge comfy beanbag perfect for a newborn. The other is a pretty in pink set up with flowers in the background and a lovely subtle pink wrap to wrap the baby in. The third is a mix of light greys with a textured background perfect for newborns and parents. Set up takes about 30 minutes and another 30 minutes to clear it all away. To effectively capture everything we need during a newborn session and allow enough time for feeding and changing, our sessions last around two hours in total. The studio is always made nice a warm for the babies so getting in early to warm the studio up is important too.
The Cake Smash!
After the newborn session is cleared away and the studio cleaned, it is now time to set up for a Cake Smash session. Probably the messiest thing we do in the studio (apart from our painting sessions) and it also takes a bit of prep. The first half of the session is usually a clean affair but we need to set aside the theme for the cake smash. This one was a boy and the parents wanted a lovely colourful rainbow theme which is great because the props are fabulous! Bright materials, a great cake topper and a multicoloured background complete the theme. After many smiles, lots of cake eating and quite a bit of the cake thrown against the wall, it is time to clear up. We have it down to a fine art now and can tidy and clean the studio after a cake smash in 30 minutes flat. Then it is time to sit with a cuppa and wait for the floor to dry before the next session.
Pawfect session
The next session was a gorgeous chocolate Labrador who came for a session with his owner as a gift for his partner. After letting the dog have a bit of sniff around the studio and getting comfortable with his surroundings it was a really straight forward session as he was so good in front of the camera. Thirty minutes later and we have plenty of shots and the dog is ready to sleep. Clean up the studio again and then its time to retreat to the computer and finally have some lunch.
Time to edit
For the last couple of hours of the day it is time to sit and prepare and edit images for viewing this week. Today is it editing down images from a portfolio shoot for a lovely 7 year old and a family shoot. We produce a show for customers to view the best images from the session they had at the studio. This needs carefully putting together from a selection of images taken that are edited before the customer sees them. We produce black and white images, images with different textures and backgrounds and a choose a few that are creatively edited. Each show takes around 1.5 hours to put together ready for the customer to view.
And then as if by magic, the day is then over in quite literally a flash of the camera!
Today the best thing was…. the cutest little people we had in. A newborn, a one year old and a dog. The hat trick!
Today the most challenging thing was…. clearing up and setting up for the sessions. It takes time but has to be done right.
Today was….unique. Tomorrow we will be ready to do it all again and we can’t wait!
