the photoshoot

The creative team from Renovation Style magazine arrived yesterday morning!

They make it look so natural and easy when you see a finished photo in a magazine, but the time and work involved to get even one angle of a room ready to be photographed is shockingly amazing! 

The stylist, Jorge Arango, arrived in the morning after picking up flowers in the wee hours at the flower district in NYC, and then driving the 4 hours to get to our house.  He immediately started arranging flowers for each room to be photographed. 

He came with what is called a "shot list" from the art director, Jack Murphy, at Renovation Style.   A shot list is the directive to the photographer and the stylist which specifically lists each room/angle/shot that has been chosen to be photographed for the magazine. They are doing a whole-house shoot, so there are quite a few photos on the list.  The stylist then styles that room or angle of the room to make it look great in a photo.  Styling is a totally different skill set than interior design.  It is almost like designing "outside the box."  Things that I would have never gathered together for a real vignette in a room look absolutely beautiful when grouped together for a photograph!  It easily takes at least an hour to set up for one shot.   It has been a fascinating learning lesson in styling and photography. 

Ella helping Jorge!  There is a lot of activity around the house, so luckily Ella thinks everyone is here to see her and it is just one big party!

Tulips being arranged for a shot in the living room. 

Sometimes props (pillows, throws, accessories, etc.) are brought in for a photoshoot, the only thing they brought with them for our shoot was flowers!!   The fact that they didn't need to bring anything was driven home when at one point Jorge found an antique iron vase in a cabinet that he decided to use for flowers for the entry shot.  I then remembered that I had two more antique iron vases that he might prefer to use instead in the attic.... everyone has three random antique iron vases just sitting around their house, right?!!

The photographer, Michael Partenio, and his assistant, David Mc Caughan, arrived with a lot of equipment!  (The large box isn't theirs, it was for the man-tv that was installed the day before the shoot! Who knew installing a television/sound system would take two days- and this is after the two days it took to wire it several months ago.... I digress;)  Luckily we had an empty barn room to use, as otherwise I have no idea where we would have put all of this! There is a lot of motion in the house with the assistant constantly going back and forth with equipment and special cameras that the photographer wants for a particular shot.

Again... Ella working hard helping the photographer!





Then she got tired and had to take a nap in the sun;)

In a photoshoot things get moved a bit.... oh- who am I kidding, everything gets moved:) sometimes just an inch or two, sometimes totally rotated, sometimes moved across the room, or even from one room to another just to get the perfect shot! 
We have lots of windows, i.e.  lots of light, so as you see in this photo light sources will often be covered with either a black or white drape to get the right light for the shot.

More "moving" to get the perfect photo...

...and things getting raised;) to look just right for the camera!






Michael, the photographer, setting up to photograph the front of the house.

We've had a week of rain coming into the shoot, but fortunately the sun has been out yesterday and today.   From what we are hearing, the photographer and the stylist are very pleased with the shots they are getting, so Dan and I are really excited to hear that!  They worked until 8pm last night and I think will be here that long today.
This has been an fabulous experience for us, and we can not wait to see the final photographs.  Know that I will share them with you (don't know when it will be) the second that I can.
I have some champagne in the fridge and in a couple of hours (or sooner, whichever comes first;)  you'll probably hear some corks popping!

Cheers!