Creating Sets
You know you want to do a shoot, and you know you want something WILDLY creative- but where do you start? If you're unsure and want to find a good jumping off point, please check out my "Planning Resources" blog. However, if you'd like to see some creative sets that I've done for others, you're in the right spot! Read on to see how my clients and I turned their vision into a reality.
Whether I'm working with a client on a unique set to celebrate a milestone in their life or a company to design an ad campaign around a new product or a nonprofit on an impactful ad campaign, all of these shoots have a few things in common. They must be meticulously planned, they need to make sense within the context, they need to be practical/safe, and they need to be as creative and scroll-stopping as possible! In this blog, I'll take you through three set designs, from concept to execution, and I hope that they'll serve as some inspiration while planning your own session!
Disclaimer: the sets shown here are all from actual client and B2B work. These are not styled sets. While I do create a lot of fun sets to experiment with on my own, I want to be as transparent as I can as it can be difficult to ascertain online.
1. Four Seasons Boudoir
There are a LOT of awesome reasons to do a boudoir shoot, but Angeli wanted something to celebrate her fitness journey and to document herself before she became a mom. Never one for something ordinary, she reached out because she had a creative vision for a boudoir session blended with editorial fashion. When she contacted me and told me that she wanted my help to create four different sets, one for each season of the year, I couldn't have been more excited!
Angeli had one caveat- she wasn't much of a flower girl- so we had to find something else unique to do for spring/summer. Challenge accepted! We sat down together and started planning. For Winter, we settled on a set with cool tones, bare cherry blossom branches, icy makeup (complete with white lashes), and a stunning albino ball python to complete the look. Angeli had never been around snakes before, but we brought in a professional handler who stayed on site the entire time to ensure everyone's safety, and she did amazing!
With the no flowers caveat, we shifted to a Spring shoot where we used a bright blue set adorned in hundreds of faux butterflies and a bright yellow couture gown (affectionately called "Big Bird").
After Spring comes Summer, which was my personal favorite of the sets. My studio manager and I built a full "Garden of Eden" in the studio- think huge leaves, dripping vines, deep emerald greens. Angeli was costumed much more minimally to give Eve vibes, but she still had a red lip and some beautiful ball python snakes to bring the look together.
Finally we celebrated Fall. This set was by far the most difficult to create- it took a team of 6 people and roofing scaffolding! We constructed it outside of my studio on the concrete pad and used the scaffolding to support my rock wall sets from Universal Rocks. After the rock walls were in place, we suspended LED candles from fishing line to create a Harry Potter inspired floating candle look and then completed it with a fog machine. Angeli wore two looks here- one more traditional lingerie and the other more witchy- complete with extended nails and a mask.
This shoot will always stand out to me because of how wildly creative it was and how far Angeli was willing to go to bring her vision to life. She trusted me as an artist to work with her, and I think we made a pretty awesome creative team!
2. SpaceFish Army
If you're a person who loves unique clothing and you're a SCUBA diver, chances are you may own some items from SpaceFish Army! This awesome woman-owned and local Florida business approached me about creating some awesome new ads for their booths at trade shows and for their website.
I sat down with the owners, Morgan and RJ, and we did a deep dive (pun intended!) into their brand. Their items are for people who love bright, bold color, are adventurous, and aren't afraid to stand out- so we crafted a spacey set to do just that. After looking at the patterns that needed to be photographed, we designed sets that were cohesive (but still different) and that would showcase the products without overpowering them. Morgan still wanted the flowy feeling that's present in a lot of my work, but since SpaceFish items are designed to be fitted, I suggested that we outfit our models with bright colored wigs instead. RJ and Morgan even designed and built "Kyle"- an anglerfish for one of our models to interact with!
It was an incredible experience when I traveled to the DEMA show in New Orleans in 2023 and saw the new SpaceFish booth for myself. To say it literally stole the show wouldn't be an understatement- everyone was talking about their booth and taking photos with it. So many SCUBA brands are for "serious" and "professional" divers (and mostly for/by men) and in muted colors. SpaceFish came in strong with electric colors, a wrapped Jeep, and fearless women printed almost 9' tall! By standing out from the crowd, they ensured that their booth would be memorable (and that sales would be great).
3. Florida Springs Council
The Florida Springs Council works through policy to shape lasting protections for our beautiful Florida springs. I've worked alongside the FSC for years and have sat on their Advisory Board. When they received a grant to create a project to help protect the springs, I was honored that my team was asked to photograph it. The project was two-pronged: one side of the project was to demonstrate the effects of water bottling on the springs and the other was to show the harmful effects of fertilizer. Sounds like a tall order, right?! It really was- we did multiple planning meetings and calls to try and figure out how we could show these complex issues through images and reels.
For the effects of bottling one, I came up with the idea of creating a gown out of water bottles. However, to do this, I needed a massive amount of water bottles and we were NOT about to buy plastic bottles for a conservation project! Brenda from the FSC introduced us to Marilee, an advocate who has collected thousands of bottles discarded at the springs over the years. She graciously gave me a few trash bags worth, and we got to work! Through doing this project, we learned that the bottling plant at Ginnie Springs can create 6000 bottles per hour! Our gown that contained approximately 200 bottles was reminiscent of less than 3 seconds worth of plastic production.
With that sobering thought, we got to work. Each bottle had to be hand-washed, cut in half, and then burned to create a "flower". Then we had to construct a base to attach them to, and did so out of a bodysuit, headband, and a hoop skirt cage that we sewed fabric over. Construction of this dress took months, but was well worth it, as these images have now been on magazine covers and the gown itself is part of a traveling installation.
The second part of the shoot was even more difficult to show through imagery. How do you show the effects of fertilizer on our waterways in a way that people will understand? First, we had to think about how the average person uses fertilizer and realized it was to keep their yards looking tame and lush. However, this runoff into our aquifer was creating a proliferation of harmful algae that chokes out the native eel grass our manatees eat. Last year, we had a record number of manatees starving to death.
The FSC had a "Yard of the Month" sign created and we had my partner, Will, play the part of a proud homeowner…but underwater, surrounded by the filamentous algae instead of a yard full of green grass. It was our hope to show that usage of fertilizers directly impact our water quality and beloved Florida animals.
As you can see, each of these sets had different goals to accomplish, obstacles to overcome, and intended audiences. Each of these sets pushed me and my team creatively, but we loved partnering with each client and organization to make a plan for success. The importance of pre-planning cannot be overstated. Impactful art rarely just falls together- it takes meticulous planning and lots of time investments on each end. However, by doing so in advance, it frees us up for plenty of improvisation on the day of the shoot!
I would be thrilled to chat with you and see if we're able to design some unique sets together.
