Bracelet Photoshoot--Does This Make My Butt Look Big?

Authoring my first book was a tremendous amount of work. More than I anticipated (to be honest). Would I do it again? Um. YES, please! I learned a lot with this project.

 



Book designer Susan Van Horn and Photographer Steve Legato

One of the more glamorous parts of the project was the photoshoot. I had to go to Philadelphia to meet with my editor and book designer from Running Press at the photographer's, Steve Legato, studio. The trip there was NUTS (short story: three kids tagged along to visit my brother and sister in law for the day. Car broke down. Rented another car. Major snowstorm on the way there.)

 

Back to shoot. We met at the studio which was so classically a photographer studio you would see on TV.  Like--picture a loft with amazing wood floors that creaked as we walked, super high ceilings, exposed brick walls, massive windows, and photographer lights and diffusers all around. 

 

First order of business was to decide on what music we'd listen to--Steve is also a musician! So we talked about music, our kids and their interests in certain bands and instruments, it was pretty cool. Then we had to decide how the jewelry would be photographed.  Susan wanted a minimalist and clean approach--just the bracelet would be featured.  I wanted them to mostly be clasped and upright. Most of my work, because of the beads, makes them very soft and not easy to prop up without assistance. You can do it but a gentle breeze would knock them back over.  We did our best with this issue.
 

So much equipment to photograph that little bracelet!

A fun part of this was also to have pictures of the bracelets on us. We three kept changing shirts and layering sweaters (so it wasn't the same shot all the time) while wearing the bracelets. The photographer took close-up shots of our wrists while our hand was in a pocket, holding a phone, reading a book, holding keys, and... you get the idea, right? Trying to make wrist shots be unique and interesting was tricky. There's only so many ways you can hold your wrist. (By the way, I saw the official wrist shots recently. My kids and I were able to pick out my wrists immediately. I said nothing out loud but on the inside I was thinking, "gawd--they look old and bony."  It's official--I have a problem. I don't even like how my WRISTS look in photos.)
 

We had a great lunch together, worked some more, and then I took the train to meet up with my kids and then drive 4 - 5 hours home. It was a whirlwind 36 hours!