What is the worth of one high-quality photo? More than a thousand words? When it comes to marketing, the answer is “yes!”
What is involved in producing the photo that sells? Join Gary for a glimpse of the Rosewood team pursuing “thousand-word” photos during a recent shoot for Finch, a patio furniture brand, to answer these questions yourself!
I had the privilege of researching photography locations. When I came across Twin Willows Estate online, I couldn’t help but think that we had found the winner!
After communicating with the owners of this VRBO rental property, we were all delighted to secure a date in their schedule. Normally we would visit the location before planning the scenes, but since it was a distance away and the owners shared photos of their property, we began to plan the scenes using those photos and Google Maps. Would we be disappointed when we arrived?
No!
Many details go into fully-propped photos. Color schemes and props, both edible and non-edible, started floating through our heads as Twila and I developed a photography plan.
For each scene, the photography plan consisted of a furniture, fabric, and prop list, as well as shooting location, time of day, and inspirational photos. See the photo on the top right?
This is our version. I think it’s a great result based on the original vision for this scene, a testament to the teamwork on this project, from the scene planning stage to photography and styling on the day of the shoot!
Adrian charted the overall plan for the day as he considered light direction, scene backgrounds, the setup team’s travel paths, two styling teams, and two photography teams. It would never do to have a styling team setting up in a photographer’s background! The black sections indicate that initial setup and teardown was slated to happen in the dark.
Well, November 8, 2016 did arrive! And our work schedule that day Trumped all! ; ) We arrived before 6am, our trailer loaded with photography equipment and props, and Windy Valley’s loaded with ALL the furniture and more props. Each team was equipped with the above schedule as well as a map showing where each scene was set to take place. Arrows indicate possible shooting directions.
Still dark, we set up the Garden Dining scene by the fountain. (Behind-the-scenes photos credit goes to Matt Feener, manager of the shoot.)
Lyndon is on the move!
Gary, Nancy, and Twila rush to style the scene before sunrise.
See the 3 workhorses on the right? Merv and his two helpers heroically muscled the furniture all over the property since we needed to keep our vehicles off the grass. It took effort from all of us to stay out of the cameras’ line of fire all day.
As dawn broke, Lyndon was already wrapping up the first scene.
Meanwhile Adrian was focusing in on the mission dining set in the courtyard…
and doing whatever it took to get artistic angles of the SummerSide Bar and Zinn’s Mill Rockers.
Backstage, the trailers were emptied of most of their contents within a short amount of time.
And the contents were then living in the driveway and all over the estate.
Here is Merv himself, making sure Nancy and Twila get it right.
Oh and yours truly learning how to cut lemons. : P
The finished scene overlooking the pool.
Matt was almost falling into the pool to take this photo, as testified by his wet elbow. : )
The scene from Adrian’s point of view.
Matt troubles the waters for some drama.
I discovered the benefit of going on photo shoots, eating the props! These pretzels were delicious.
Uh..I hope I didn’t eat that one though.
Sometimes one needs a little height to get just the right angle.
Or even more height!
Setting up the patio scene.
The lobster has arrived!
Portrait photography with the lobsters.
The lights from inside the house helped create the warm ambience on the patio.
As dusk settled in, all the cameras were focused on the patio scene.
Capturing the Mission Deep Seating scene.
We shot 14 scenes that day. See a favorite shot of each below.
It was a tiring but fulfilling day. We didn’t have an appetite left for lobster. But Merv enjoyed them the next day.
Of course the main reason for the shoot was to provide Finch and their dealers with lead-generation and point-of-sale tools. Finch uses the photos in their marketing materials, including catalogs, a buyer’s guide, and the Finch website.
We also provided Finch’s dealers with concepts to inspire them to put the photos to work for themselves.
