Working together is wonderful and I’m a big fan of ‘together we stand.’ The advantage of being a micro business is that ideas to actions can be done quick quickly because we only have to get approval from ourselves. The perfect example of this are collaborative photo shoots. This is when a group of individuals / small businesses come together and decide to work together to create a portfolio that we can all use.
As I’m a part of the The Wedding Industry Supplier Network I thought it would a great opportunity for a Wedding Themed shoot. I wanted to get as many people involved in the shoot as possible to benefit from this alliance.
How to Do a Collaborative Shoot:
These shoots take a lot of organising and planning and require people to actually participate; so often people want the benefit and not put in the work. Thankfully I am one of life’s organiser. A great tip for these kind of projects is to sketch out looks and meet the team as a group if possible to make sure everyone knows what to do and the layout of the days. However do be prepared that things can go wrong, you can prepare, plan and have back-ups but thinking on your feet works as things always go wrong. Our greatest battle was the rain during this project.
Work out what everyone needs. What is the shoot for? What is wanted at the end? What do participants want to show off about them/their business? Without these being clear it will not succeed.
Who Was Involved:
Zoe White (Zinfinity) www.zinfinity.co.uk
I design and make jewellery perfect all occasions but didn’t have any shots of brides wearing my jewellery. I also wanted someone to pose with my motivational and Braille bags.
Dave Hadley (Dave Hadley Photography) www.davehadleyphotography.co.uk
A photographer that also takes photos of weddings but wanted some experimental shots and needed photos of him doing his job. Everyone sees the photos the photographer takes but not how he gets them. As I have done my own photo shoots for years I could take on the roll of ‘documentary’ photographer.
Stephanie Andrea (Stephanie Frances) www.facebook.com/mrsandr
Make up artist and nail technician. Stef wanted to experiment with bolder bride looks.
Dionne Barrett (Canvas and Stars London) www.indoorteepeeparties.co.uk
Sets up and hires Bell Tents and Teepees for events and creates themes.
Emma (ToGs By Emma) Facebook.com/togsbyemma
Makes personalised clothing and we showed off her ‘Bride’ dressing gown.
Of course we have to say a thank you to Oakwood Florist who leant us a bouquet and the amazing flower arch in these shots.
What problems are we solving
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A photo of the photographer doing his job
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Jewellery on people to complete the image
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Tents and ideas how its to be used.
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Different make-up looks
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Group Posting with links to each other.
Venues
Of course venues are important, so where to go to get differernt looks? We planned on three venues to explore as many looks and experimenting as possible and to highlight great places in Enfield. Firstly we hired Malone & Co in Enfield Town. This is an amazing venue because
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There is everything is on the ground floor.
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Has a disabled toilet so models can easily get changed.
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Tables and chairs to sit and have make-up on
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Lots of outside space with different backgrounds, brick walls, glass, trees, plus plenty of space to use your own backgrounds. As this cafe is set back a little there is lots of space to experiment with different looks without getting in the way of busy shoppers.
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Also as there was rain we could safely hide inside until the rain passed.
Secondly we used Forty Hall. Anyone who has been there will know the many reasons for it to be their perfect venue for photography. For those of you who have not been fortunate enough to visit, here is a little taster. There are trees, flat grass, rose garden, beautiful manor house, a giant duck pond and a cafe to get food and drink. Even when fighting with the many many many rain showers that we had on the day, it is an amazing venue.
The third venue was going to be the hidden gem of All Saint Church. But even with our fighting spirit and organisation the rain was just too much so we will be using it as a venue later on . Look out for it.
So everything is in place, venues, photographer, jeweller, make-up. Can you see what is missing? A MODEL! We not only needed a model but a model with a Wedding Dress! In came Jodie to the rescue. Jodie Webber runs The Business Community Enfield, recently married, has a beautiful dress and an amazing attitude. Wow what a model she made. Up for any pose, worked hard, willing, loads of fun, professional and she really knew how to model. We couldn’t ask for better.
Dave is working the images as we speak so keep an eye out for them, we will be posting soon………
