I have really tried to hold off talking about my book these past months as I didn’t want it to take-over the blog posts. “Oh great, he is writing about that damn book again,” they collectively sighed–was my worry. But it has been a non-stop week of styling, photo taking and finishing up the manuscript, and my excitement is hard to contain. I also want all of you along with me for this journey. Not ever having written a book before, I am finding the process quite interesting. Which leads me to, styling. I am so lucky I get to do it almost daily at the shops. Styling this past week for photos is second nature to me, but it is a tad different than styling at the shop. Every, and I mean, every, little detail is seen in the shot. This level of detail just makes me giddy with happiness. We spent the last 3 days out at our place on Vashon Island, as the light is just so spectacular there with the Western light bouncing off the water, bouncing off the white floors and walls. Sort of perfect for photo shoots. Most of everything is being shot at our homes and the shops, so it is fun to pull from our collections of “stuff” we have collected over the years. And, last, but certainly not least, I get to play with and be surrounded by flowers. 3 days of much work, but pure heaven for me. Here are a few shots I took with my phone of things along the way, before the final photos were taken.
One of many table settings that were assembled over the days. I recently found the tablecloth, which is a French vintage linen bed sheet. It works perfectly for a tablecloth, fitting the long zinc table to a T.
TPS planted fresh scented geraniums in our pots that surround our outdoor shower.
Asparagus instead of flowers for one shot.
And those amazing tulips that I showed in the post yesterday. I used those a bunch of different ways. Long and short. Will be interesting to see which shots make it onto the pages.
Once shooting is done, the props become the end of day treat.
Spring brings such a profusion of flowers, so it is easy to pick & choose to create a special table setting. But for those times that you are coming up dry finding a bloom that speaks to you, also look to the produce aisle. Vegetables can offer clever alternatives to flowers. In both these cases, asparagus just seemed to go the trick for each table being set. The above needed another little something along with the white tulips for the table in town. The below being the only centerpiece on the long zinc table at the beach. Extra added bonus, you get to cook up the display at a later date. The asparagus became a lovely addition with a piece of fish last night, roasted in the oven, for dinner.
