Personal Branding Shoot: Jolie Gotique Summer 2020
Doing a brand photoshoot after the Coronavirus shutdown, and following all the safety precautions, is a very different experience than before.
Typically, Penny (owner of Jolie Gotique in Greenwich) and our whole team will secure a location where we have the run of the place. Some of the past locations have included The J House (a hotel in Greenwich), an apartment building in White Plains, and several private residences in the area. But this time, we couldn’t impose on someone with everything that’s going on, so we decided to take our photoshoot to a public space on Greenwich Avenue.
I also want to note that we rescheduled this photoshoot several times for safety reasons and because both of us didn’t feel comfortable doing it at the height of the epidemic, even though outdoor activities were technically allowed by the government at that time.
Now, I’m somewhat used to ignoring outside people when I’m photographing out in the world, but Penny definitely had to adjust to everyone looking at her as she was trying to look relaxed and happy for the camera. It’s not easy, and it’s the reason why models get paid a whole bunch of money (aside from the part where they look pretty, of course).
Our setup was also a little different.
Instead of having a private room for changing outfits, we had a portable tent (fun fact, these are also used as bathrooms and showers when camping) and everyone except Penny wore the required face mask. A mask actually makes it quite difficult for the person being photographed to understand what the photographer is saying and for the photographer who needs to essentially shout while speaking, so that was another challenge we had to work through. Thankfully Penny and I have worked together quite a bit in the past, which meant that I could shorten my directions to just the essential phrases and she usually knew what I meant without issue. And to be quite honest, I could also be direct without all the pleasantries that typically accompany giving directions to someone who isn’t a professional model, and know that Penny wouldn’t be offended or take my direct approach personally.
We were able to photograph 9 outfits within the span of 2 hours (most of which were double looks with Penny’s daughter). And most of the time was spent walking to and from different spots and alcoves on the Avenue we were using as our shooting locations. In the end, we ended up with 128 final images for Penny to use to promote her summer line on @JolieGotique and grow her personal audience on @thatpennylife_. Not bad!