Clues to a Creative Collaborative Effort – Clue #4

We’re about ready to unveil the big reveal to what all these clues mean but before we do, we’ve saved possibly the best, clue 4 for last. With so many interior design projects, what is an interior designer or anyone for that matter to do when it comes to taking the perfect picture of all your hard work? Let’s face it, the shots we take with our smart phones or even high quality cameras just never seem to do the interior design work justice.

I called upon Rikki Snyder to work her photographic magic. Afterall, it was Rikki’s magic that had first caught my interest in her Houzz Ideabook about Kristin Nicholas’ Antique Cape Cod Home. It was one of the most engaging posts of 2012. Kristin’s work is so lively that it would take someone with true photographic talent to take photos that captured the experience of actually being there. Kristin has since become one of our Casart Collaborative Artists, in part, thanks to Rikki’s work to showcase Kristin’s art so well.

It was through Rikki’s contacts that we were able to pull off a photo shoot for Casart coverings using our Flower Power black and pink multicolored pattern.

Rikki contacted Dennis O’Clair, her former instructor to do the videography. She then contacted Tammy Torres of Superior Staging, with whom she had worked on a previous Houzz project. The thought was that Tammy probably had most of the furniture and props and if she didn’t she could find a location that did. She did just that and with Soleil, a fabulous furniture and home décor shop in Roslyn, NY in Long Island. This was the closest proximity to all the NY creative collaborators.

Rikki essentially set the stage to have a successful photo shoot. She was very professional and got right down to work once we set up with Tammy’s styling expertise, along with Rikki’s supplemental prop placement

Rikki, in fact, thought through each shot and envisioned props she could bring with her in these scenes. Each one had her special touch and was captured so well with her photographic eye and talent. Take a look at all the scenes Rikki photographed and note all that she contributed in the captions. The full room views will be unveiled in our upcoming video.

1) Nursery Scene

2) Teenager’s Room

3/A) First Time Renters’ Breakfast Scene

3/B) Renters’ Evening Scene

4) Married Couple’s Floral Bedroom (and our Eyes Wide Open Pillow)

5) Grandmother’s Sitting Room

 

I asked Rikki to describe her creative process when photographing a subject or scene, as in these above or some of her beautiful work on her website, as seen by just a few examples below.

 

This is how she describes some useful steps in creating a photo shoot like this from scratch:

• Step 1- Gather an idea. In this case, it was having 5 different scenes, taking the wallpaper through different life stages.
• Step 2- Propping each scene. We had to come up with very detailed descriptions of what each room was going to look like…down to pieces of furniture, colors, wall hangings, props, carpets, etc.
• Step 3- Finding all these things! We searched our own closets first to figure out what we already had and could bring. Then we went out and bought the rest.
• Step 4- Finding the right location. A super important step. We were so fortunate enough to shoot at an incredible furniture store that had most of the pieces that we needed and plenty to choose from. Also, finding a space to accommodate us and the set up.
• Step 5- Lighting, workflow, timing. We had to plan out the logistics of the shoot…how long it would take, what we would shoot first- scenes and video/photographs, and how we were going to light it all since we had video and photographs.
• Step 6- Making it all happen! Getting it all there and just doing it!
• Step 7- Clean up. Not as fun, but imagine all that went into a shoot look this that needs to be put back!
• Step 8- Editing images.

And this was her take on how to proceed creatively with our Casart photography project:

It’s never an easy thing to create an entire scene in your head from scratch…matching specific colors and patterns, furniture, textures, props, spacing, composition and oh, don’t forget, it all has to fit in the small space you actually have to work with that you’ve never even seen in person! It’s like the inside of your mind turns into a 3D box where you virtually go through furniture piece by piece and props object by object, imagining what would look good, what would fit, where things have to be placed and how it will all come together and shine. Nothing is in front of you…all you have is your mind and vision. And really, that’s all you need to start.

What’s even harder is making this scene a reality! Finding all those props and furniture pieces you were imagining in your head, turning all those 3D images up there into something you can see and touch right in front of you. But when you have an incredible creative team working with you, you start to realize almost anything is possible. This photo shoot could not have be done without Ashley, Tammy, Dennis and I all coming together to bring our own unique talents to the table.

All of what I described above is what I do on a daily basis and I love it! When I met Ashley for the first time, I knew she had a unique vision for how she wanted her product to be presented and immediately we clicked because that’s a quality I love to work with. After our first meeting we communicated via email and quickly thought up all of these different scenes to showcase her beautiful wall coverings. One of the coolest things, is that they all came out just as they were imagined in my mind. Yes, there was some deviating and you have to be flexible when you can’t find one piece of furniture so instead you have another that you weren’t planning on using. But that is one of the thrilling parts! You work as you go with what you have and problem solve until you find the solution to make it look as good as you possibly can.

I couldn’t have described it better, Rikki.

Thank you for helping to solve Casart’s photo shoot challenge! You found a solution that worked for us all and the results are not only striking photos but a wonderful working experience and the satisfaction that we met our goal. You were a delight to work with and none of it would have happened without your involvement and willingness to join the adventure.

— Ashley