Etcetera: Photography and Photo shoots

1. Aaron and Jon giving me their best straw smolder 2. Aaron doing his thing 3. Lily and Jon sketching on set 4. Lily providing some much needed entertainment 5. styling goodies all lined up 6. My metal organizational board for shoot lists and photos taken 7. Aaron is a blur 8.Aaron's face when I told him we needed to re shoot my styling! hah!

I told you all that I would have a post up today about my friend and book photographer J Aaron Greene....and I am late....but I am here....and I want to discuss a tiny bit about what went into the photography for the book....and how thankful I am that I had such a talented and organized photographer to work with! First of all.....I want to congratulate him on his recent award from the PDN Photo Annual! Woo Hoo!When I talk to people about the book and they ask what the hardest part was.....I think most people expect me to say the writing part, because writing has never been a strong point of mine, BUT actually the hardest part for me was the styling and photography! Can you believe it?!Let me clarify that. You know how during a cooking demonstration the chef prepares the dish ahead of time...and then when the tv show is being filmed they go through all the steps and then quickly pull out the steaming hot already prepared dish that is ready to go? Well......you can't do that with one of a kind pieces of furniture! I found that out really quickly as we tried to navigate through the waters of making sure that all the before shots were taken before the pieces of furniture were started, and then the shoots had to be super organized as only a certain amount of processes can be done at one time due to drying times and steps of progress. Neither I nor Aaron wanted to sit around and wait for things to dry so we had to be super intentional about what the shoots looked like and everything had to be lined up and ready to go.Even with the amazing organization {especially on Aaron's part} photo shoots were an all day affair and we had MANY long days! Some days I was "not feeling" the styling and I would arrange, and re arrange until I felt like it was right....and then there was the day that I requested a complete do over because I looked at the photos and did not like how I had styled them! Over 10,000 photographs were taken..{many were quick shots of my hands moving faster than lightening! but still LOTS}....and those had to be narrowed down to 450...which then got narrowed down a bit more for the final cut for the book. Let's just say that Aaron and I not only spent many hours shooting in my studio, but we also spent many hours in Aaron's studio looking at the computer screen picking out photos. I don't know what I would have done without the skills that Aaron possesses!I am also so very, very thankful for my friend Lily Wikoff....owner and designer at the fantastic Lily Pottery! Lily took many, many hours out of her busy schedule to be there for all of the photo shoots, sketch out vignettes, track down styling pieces, and be my second and third and fourth set of hands and eyes. Lily has enough energy for the entire universe and her styling eye is spot on. It was beyond helpful...like "I've got no words helpful"..... for me to have this friend on my team.I am so thankful for the many friends who helped out during the book process..I could not have made it through without my friends and family! I will talk more about all of them next week....as this whole process was an experience I will never forget, and one that stretched me and grew me in ways that I will forever be grateful.My heart if full of gratitude.xo,Barb Blair