Diary of putting together a photo shoot

Putting together a photo shoot takes time and money and, when it is for something as important as HJ's British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional, you can't leave anything to chance.

Last year, Anya Dellicompagni from Francesco Group entered HJs' Midlands Hairdresser of the Year category.

"I was inspired by the statement style of Yves Saint Laurent and teamed with the resurgence of an 80's retro urban street style, I wanted to create a collection of modern day looks with stand out quality," she explains.

"Fringes, texture, shape and gorgeous natural tones all play their part in creating a feel that is both wearable and expensive."

So how did she get her finished result? Here is a diary of her journey from concept to submitting the entry. 

 

October 2008

I've started to collect ideas and inspiration for my collection, even though it's a good six months before my shoot. I'm always ripping out pages from magazines and stuffing them in my bag. I don't create a moodboard but I do keep a scapbook of ideas. My mind is constantly on the look out and thinking about the next collection and how I can move it forward.

 

February 2009

I started to chat to my photographer Trevor Leighton about what team we should bring together. I've worked with Trevor and make-up artist Cheryl Phelps Gardiner before so book them both for this shoot as well. I've called in some books to find a clothes stylist and have asked some of them for ideas for my shoot.  

March

Over the last few weeks I have been searching model agency websites for the latest girls and making notes of girls I like. I've had a few meeings with my PR agent, Jacki Wadeson, asking her opinion and sharing my ideas with her. Sometimes I can get too close to an idea and it's great to have someone I can bounce ideas off and to make sure I'm not going too avant garde and weird!

 

April

This month I held my model casting in London with Trevor and Jacki. As well as sending out a generic model call, I requested some of the girls I liked on the websites. The day was 10am-3pm and it started with girls coming in pairs, then suddenly there were loads coming in and we had a queue. It was so frustrating as I knew the looks I wanted to create and needed to make sure I had the right girls. Out of nearly 100 girls that turned up, 80 of them had hair like rapunzel, which was the complete opposite of what I wanted. Eventually I found six girls I wanted to use, so I needed to find two more. I didn't have time to hold another casting so I went back to the agency websites and trawled through the girls again and finally found my final two. Finding the girls was just the first job, dealing with the agencies was even more stressful as there was no guarantee I would get the girls until the last minute.

I've made a lot of calls to my photo shoot team and we've  exchanged numerous of photos to make sure everyone understood my vision. The hardest part of this process was the planning and prepping; it's vital that I'm understood by all the team before the day, so I can turn up and concentrate on the hair.

 

May 4 



Shoot day: I booked a studio for two days at The Worx Studio in London. I always try to create a calming atmosphere so that no one gets too stressed and I really wanted everyone to feel relaxed for this shoot as it was so important. I've booked the eight girls for two days so we have plenty of time to get the look exactly right. 

I arrived at 8am before the models and fully briefed the team so we all knew what we wanted to achieve. I booked two models for the monring and two for the afternoon so no one was hanging around impatiently. But I hadn't finished my morning model's when the afternoon girls turned up which stressed me out a bit. I started clock watching - I didn't want to pay extra for the studio and models because we were running behind schedule.

Photo shoots cost enough without incurring extra costs! Because I got stressed the third look didn't go as planned and I wasn't happy with the result. I took a bit of time out and had something to eat and that refocused me. The rest of the day went well.

 

May 5

I had a good night's sleep so was ready and raring to go! The rest of the day went without a hitch and I finished at 6pm - happy but tired.

 

June

I've spent hours choosing the right images and have had to walk away from them a few times and come back with a fresh pair of eyes.

I've eventually chosen the eight I'm happy with and have sent them to HJ ready for the judging. The first round rules required me to submit four images so I chose the ones that I hope will give me the best chance of getting through. It's out of my hands now and I'll just have to hope that the judges like my collection as much as I do.