Getting with your community for styled sessions {Delight & Be Savvy }
One of my biggest goals for this year is to complete a styled shoot full of vendors. It can be a great way to get more involved in your community, whether thats local vendors or your small business community via resources like etsy. Last year at the delight retreat I got to photograph a gorgeous styled shoot that was put together for us girls, to see all the little details come together and the team work of all involved was so amazing!
I know so many of us have lots of questions that start running through our heads when we even begin to THINK about a styled session! Where do I begin? Who do I contact? What if they say no? Can I do this myself? What if it doesn’t turn out how I’m envisioning?
First off, we ( Not just you, me too.) should stop doubting. If people say no, its just no, not the end of the world. Can you do this yourself? Probably not, get a budding event planner to help you for their portfolio or another creative eye if you feel like you’re drowning in your own ideas! I write this as I raise my hand and nod my head in agreement. Is it just me or do people with creative minds seem to have 1,000 tabs open in our brains?
Now, Where to begin…
I believe vision is key, to so many aspects of our life, in this case I like to keep notebooks of ideas, lists, sketches, contact information of possible vendors to work with and all that fun stuff.
I also Like to keep a folder or file full of people business cards I’ve gathered and contracts or other miscellaneous things. Im telling you, organization is NOT strongest suit so any way I can simply and put it in a file or label it or color code something, I will do it!
Also, here comes that almighty beautiful word… PINTEREST. I’ll repeat that, Pinterest is your best friend. Not necessarily so you can copy others ideas but I personally love to use pinterest as a personal checklist per say. I’ll simply pin all the things I want to include to remind myself of each detail or I can send a pin to others I’m working with so I know we are on the same page. I’ve also found so many amazing vendors and locations off pinterest, its the ultimate search engine!
Next, time to get your typing fingers on! Create yourself a template of what you want to say to each vendor you will be contacting, keep it short and sweet, but make sure your clear with your direction and what you plan to do with your finished product and what’s in it for them! That way when you finally gather up all that insane bravery that I know is inside you, yes you. You can just send out a personalized “blast” email to everyone you’re interested in working with! Don’t forget to follow up! Also, Make sure you contact lots of different shops and vendors, chances are people WILL say no, but you will have your other options this way! Also, Bonus if multiple people say yes! More resources for future shoots!
Now, Keep up with yourself, and don’t get lazy like me! Keep a calendar, set reminders, file things, email back — all things I’m learning are a lot easier when you are NOT behind on your work! After talking with lots of people who has put together a styled session they have totally stressed how important it is to communicate with your vendors and stay organized with all the details that are involed! I hope to learn from them and not from the hard way!
Well, How do I end this? I can’t exactly finish this post, As I am in the midst of planning my very own styled session, I may just create a series of posts step by step as we all do this together!
Have any suggestions? Questions? Comments? Ideas for your own styled shoot? Leave a comment or Email me at ElizabethLaurenPhoto@gmail.com
