As the Photo Styling Contest for the 2009 TQS Calendar is open until March 15, 2008, Elena Morera, my partner and a most creative photo stylist, is guest writing a three part series on photo styling. We hope this series will help you better understand what photo styling is all about and how to improve your images that you are sending to the Calendar contest. Now, I happily present to you, Elena. 

In part one, I am going to discuss the image shown on The Daily Blog, January 23, 2008, entitled, “Photo Styling Contest - The 2009 TQS Calendar” (shown above). And in the video show #112, Gregory talks about styling and offers numerous tips. 

As a very brief overview, styling is about 80% planning and 20% gathering of the items needed for the shot. Planning occurs before you take out your camera, set up the lights or go outside, finding the items or “props” you require. You need to first answer the question: what story do I want to tell the viewing audience. Once you have a “story” in mind, you then create a scene about that story and that becomes your image. I will cover much more about the specifics of styling in parts two and three in future blog articles. 

And what are “props”? They are items, such as furniture, books, cups, teapots, etc, which are related to one another and are used as a secondary means of adding interest or furthering the “story” of the image.  

With that very short overview, I want to look carefully at that styled photo shown above. For this image (and the segment of the show), Ricky asked me to create an image that could be used in a magazine. I wanted to show his quilt in a context of related items--all saying this is Ricky Tims. Therefore, I chose those iconic items (props) of his, his black hat, his piano, the quilt show logo, and I lit the candles (which are often lit when he plays the piano).

Once these items were gathered, I placed his quilt in a manner that showed some--but not all--his design. Notice in the image how that quilt plays a prominent but not central role in the image? Through this image, I am saying that his quilt is a part of the whole Ricky Tims look, but not the “star.” Later in part three, I will explain why this is a great “editorial” shot for a quilt magazine.  

So, what do I like and don’t like about the image now that I look at it? I want to demonstrate my thinking process so you can see what I did well and what I would have changed if given more time and reflection. (In a "real" situation, I would have taken more time and made all the changes stated below, but this is a great example of what you can do quickly and what to pay attention to in future shoots.

So, what would I have done differently? I would have moved the right side of the piano over so that the curtains and the quilt did not compete with each other. And it would have been nice to see a bit more of the white wall to the right of the quilt. I also would have reduced the purple lighting so that the keyboard and bench were all white (as you would expect them to be in real life). And speaking of the piano bench, I would have shown a bit more of their legs—it looks like it was cropped too tight. And in Photoshop, I would have taken out the wood baseboard (at the bottom of the wall) or at least paint it white as it is distracting and adds nothing to the image.

In addition, since I are being meticulous--and that’s what styling is all about--I would have reduced the amount of shadows on the left side where the candles are, by moving the candles further away from the wall so there aren’t as many conflicting shadows. In addition, since I am already moving the candles, I would have spaced them out more evenly; the far left candle is too crowded compared to the others. Finally, I would have removed the white piece of furniture shown if the bottom left of the image--it is distracting.  

I hope that you will think I am being very nit-picky! A styled shot should only show the “story” you want the viewer to see and anything that gets in the way of the story needs to be taken out. Thus, the candle holder shadows, the purple lighting, the “cropped” piano bench, the wooden baseboard, all are not iconic items of Ricky Tims, and they just distract the viewer’s enjoyment of this image.  

So now that I trashed this wonderful photo, is there anything I still like? You bet! I am pleased with how the quilt show logo lines up nicely with the top portion of the piano. Trust me, that did not just happen—that was planned. But it looks like it just “naturally” occurred, right? That is the hallmark of a great styled photo, all of the parts fit together well and nothing competes with anything else.  

I also think that the lit candles add a bit of sparkle to the shot. By the way, don’t show candles in any shot if they aren’t lit.  

I spent a lot of time to make the quilt look naturally draped on the piano. You will spend most of your time moving a quilt around to make it drape nicely--to make it look like it naturally fell on an object. This will take far more than you would ever expect. (As an aside, I once heard a movie hairdresser state that creating a messy hairstyle was  so much more difficult to achieve than a nicely styled hairstyle. The same applies with a "casual" quilt--making it look pleasingly messy is a chore!)

So did you consciously notice how the lines of the quilt run up straight to the tip of the piano top? Hopefully not, as that would mean it was not done well—it should just look pleasing and “natural.”) Now that you have a better understanding of showing a "thrown" quilt, think about the iconic quilt shot hanging over a fence rail—it was styled to look natural. They didn’t just “throw” it that way! 

Now it is your turn. If you were the “art director” (the person responsible for the overall look of the image) what else would you have changed in this image? I want to know what you would do differently, first with the existing props and then what would you add, or change, or take away? In addition, I am interested in what you think I did well that was not commented on (like the fact that the image is straight and in focus!). Here is your chance to be the art director, the stylist, and the photographer! 

In part two of this photo styling series, I will show you numerous images of our styled work with other quilt clients for you to see what gregory and I did. Finally, in part three, I talk about how we style and photograph quilts and the main difference between editorial images (it’s about the context) and advertising images (it’s all about the quilt). We will include further tips to help you style your quilt images better for the Calendar contest and for your own enjoyment. ‘Till then, happy styling. – Elena Morera