We’re thrilled to pull back the curtain and share the exhilarating “backstage” narrative of our recent professional photo shoot. This incredible experience was orchestrated by the talented crew from BHG for two of their renowned publications: Do It Yourself magazine and Kitchen + Bath Makeovers. Our recently transformed nursery and our impeccably renovated bathroom truly shone as the stars of the show. It was a day brimming with meticulous preparation, creative propping, endless shooting, delicious sustenance, and plenty of secret high-fives exchanged between John and me when no one was looking. Mostly, it involved us standing in awe, observing as the masters of their craft worked their magic to capture every perfect angle.
Indeed, there was an abundance to captivate our attention. The scene was set with immense panels of fabric strategically placed to soften and diffuse any harsh incoming external light, creating an ethereal glow. We observed camera lenses that looked like they were worth more than our entire house, meticulously capturing every detail. These high-tech cameras were tethered to computers, allowing each photograph to be instantly analyzed and every minuscule detail tweaked to absolute perfection, all in pursuit of “the shot.” This intricate process served as a powerful reminder of the sheer amount of effort and expertise that goes into those seemingly effortless interior photos that grace the pages of every shelter magazine lining the shelves of bookstores like Barnes & Noble. Below, you can glimpse the sophisticated setup: a high-tech camera hooked up to a computer, our nursery chair temporarily repurposed as a holding spot for baby toys, and the indispensable “shot list.” This printed booklet, provided by the magazine’s art director or editor, acts as the ultimate guide, directing the photographer and stylist on precisely which moments and details to capture for the compelling narrative of the story.
One of the most significant insights we’ve gleaned is that while at-home photo shoots might sound glamorous, they demand a complete willingness to embrace controlled chaos. You must be entirely comfortable with a team of professionals descending upon your space, meticulously rearranging every single one of your belongings. Sometimes, this means gathering items into a neat pile on your nursery chair, for example, to clear the space for styling. This allows the crew to reset the environment and style it in unique, often counter-intuitive ways to effortlessly capture every essential angle and detail. So, our first behind-the-scenes tidbit is this: as flawless as each room appears in a glossy magazine, always envision it with strategic piles of props and equipment just out of frame. It’s highly probable that a multitude of “eyesores” are artfully hidden just beyond the camera’s view – think thick, industrial-grade extension cords powering cameras and computers, or stacks of unused decor items awaiting their turn. The silver lining is the immense respect shown by every crew member when it comes to returning things exactly to their original place and leaving your home precisely as they found it – perhaps even a touch cleaner, which is always a welcome bonus!
Amidst this whirlwind of activity, we cleverly managed to squeeze in a quick interview. Our goal was to uncover some invaluable photo shoot tricks of the trade directly from the experts: Cat, the talented stylist (who also happens to be my best friend – we actually met and worked together at Country Home magazine in NYC back in the day), and Erik Johnson, the seasoned photographer. We’d previously collaborated with Erik when he photographed our house for a three-part series featured in Do It Yourself last year, which you can revisit here, here, and here. So, without further ado, prepare to unlock a few insider glossy magazine secrets and professional tips, straight from the maestros themselves…
Expert Insights: Photography Secrets from the Pros
It’s important to note that these advanced techniques aren’t necessarily ones you’d typically employ when photographing your own home for a blog or a personal photo album – some are undeniably quite intensive. However, it’s profoundly fascinating to learn the extraordinary measures required to achieve that impeccable “magazine-worthy shot” for national publications. And it’s certainly not all glitz and glamour. In fact, Erik’s foundational tip is to “check your pride at the door” and commit to doing whatever it takes to capture the desired image. This might involve physically lying flat on the floor, contorting yourself into a tight corner, or even holding your breath to maintain absolute stillness, all in pursuit of that elusive perfect angle. Consider our nursery, for instance: capturing its widest possible angle actually necessitated Erik sitting precariously atop a ladder, shooting into the room from an exterior window, after painstakingly removing the screen. These are the dedicated efforts behind true professional home photography.
But that wasn’t the only exterior drama our house witnessed on that memorable Friday. The crew also employed a strip of fabric, technically referred to as a “scrim,” to artfully diffuse the natural light streaming into the window from outside. This ingenious technique transformed the incoming light, making it less harsh and significantly more ethereal. While it might appear to be a minor detail, the resulting difference in the photographs was nothing short of astonishing. Oh, the subtle yet powerful tricks of the trade that elevate professional imagery!
Erik Johnson’s Photography Wisdom
Erik’s second indispensable tip for high-quality home photography is to always, without exception, use a tripod. This simple yet effective tool is paramount for maintaining absolute steadiness, which in turn contributes significantly to the remarkable crispness and clarity you can achieve in your images. This particular trick is quite accessible for anyone to implement, even without resorting to climbing ladders outside or investing in a large fabric scrim for light filtering. And once again, you can observe Erik’s unwavering commitment to doing whatever is necessary to secure the shot he needs – which, in this instance, involved standing on one of our dining room chairs. Whatever works, right? It’s genuinely amusing to witness this unconventional side of professional photography because we’re certain that when the actual photograph appears in the magazine, absolutely no one will ever guess that its capture involved a man with a giant tripod precariously perched on a chair.
And just for a bit of fun, here’s an over-the-shoulder perspective, offering a clear view of why Erik found himself elevated on that chair in the first place. Indeed, he was merely seeking a height advantage to get closer to our delicate hanging mobiles, ensuring they were perfectly framed. We are absolutely brimming with anticipation to see how all of his meticulously composed photos turned out. Moving on to Erik’s next invaluable tip: once your camera is securely mounted on a tripod, don’t limit yourself to a single perspective. Instead, actively experiment by angling the camera up, down, or to the side. It’s a common tendency for people to think only of shooting straight-on when their camera is on a tripod. However, Erik masterfully embraced working with diverse angles, swinging his camera 45 degrees upwards or 25 degrees downwards. His objective was always to discover an intriguing viewpoint, ultimately yielding a more dynamic and less stagnant-looking shot. He strongly advocates for trying a variety of different angles, emphasizing that you truly never know which will produce the best results until you’ve given a few of them a genuine try.
Abby Greenawalt’s Essential Photography Techniques
The final two incredibly practical photography tips actually originate from Erik’s diligent photo assistant, Abby Greenawalt. Abby proved to be an absolute professional, ensuring that every desired shot – and then some – was perfectly captured. She was the one who eloquently shared photo tip number four: natural light is unequivocally best. Every single photograph taken of our home during the shoot was accomplished without any of our interior lights switched on. For us, this was a truly astonishing revelation, as we are accustomed to illuminating every possible light source to avoid our camera’s often garish flash. The flash, in our experience, invariably blows out the foreground while causing the background to fade into undesirable shadows. However, Abby astutely pointed out that when you utilize a tripod, the camera achieves a superior level of steadiness. This stability allows you to capture details more crisply and achieve brighter, more balanced shots than you ever could by attempting to hold the camera still and shoot in low-light situations, which almost always results in a blurry, unsatisfactory mess. An excellent point indeed!
Abby’s concluding photo tip for the day was profoundly simple yet incredibly effective: less is more. She strongly recommends resisting the common urge to snap a million pictures of a single space. Instead, she suggested a more thoughtful approach: take one shot, then immediately upload it to a computer, just as the professionals do. This allows you to meticulously study the composition on a larger screen and ensure that absolutely everything meets your approval – from the graceful drape of the curtains to the precise placement of flowers on a side table. It becomes remarkably easy to discern if something is slightly askew or out of place when you’re examining a large photograph on a computer monitor, as opposed to squinting at the tiny viewfinder on your camera. Subsequently, you can fine-tune specific elements and then take one definitive “final shot,” thereby eliminating the tedious necessity of sifting through hundreds of images in search of the best version after an unbridled, indiscriminate snap-fest. This methodical approach saves time and ensures a higher quality outcome for your home photography.
The Art of Illusion: Styling Secrets with Cat
Now, let’s transition to sharing Cat’s five invaluable styling secrets, insights that transform ordinary spaces into magazine-worthy visuals. Here she is, poised gracefully next to our bathroom door – and yes, for certain shots, doors often need to be temporarily removed to achieve the perfect angle – proudly showcasing the robes she painstakingly ironed to absolute perfection. It’s these subtle yet crucial details that define professional styling.
Cat’s Five Pillars of Professional Styling
This brings us directly to Cat’s first fundamental styling tip: embrace being an absolute perfectionist. In our everyday lives, it’s highly unlikely that any of us would bother to iron our bathrobes with such meticulous care. However, that is precisely the demanding role of a professional stylist: to render every single element utterly flawless for the camera’s discerning eye. Cat is also renowned for her unwavering dedication to perfection, often meticulously wiping down mirrors to achieve that ultimate, gleaming shine, and even removing screens from windows to ensure they appear crystal clear and unobstructed. So, this is yet another crucial detail to bear in mind when you gaze at a seemingly perfect room in a glossy magazine. Don’t be too hard on yourself if your windows “never look that clean” or your robes “aren’t nearly as luxurious.” Chances are, those immaculate details received a little professional assistance from a talented stylist and don’t genuinely reflect their appearance on a daily basis. The magic is in the temporary transformation for the lens.
Cat’s second ingenious styling tip is to skillfully “cheat things and fake it.” Much like how Erik, the photographer, will go to extraordinary lengths to secure the perfect shot, Cat, the stylist, will employ every conceivable trick to ensure that every single accent within a room appears plush, luxurious, and nothing short of absolutely gorgeous. Allow us to illustrate with a brilliant example: here’s precisely how she masterfully created the illusion of super fluffy towels, which appear so invitingly voluminous in the final images. Her secret? She cleverly stuffed them with striped dishcloths, strategically placed within, to create that desirable thicker, more substantial appearance. This subtle deception is all about how things translate visually through the camera lens, rather than their natural state.
Beyond the fluffy towel trick, Cat also adeptly “cheated” the placement of various items like ottomans and accent pieces, subtly shifting them a bit to the left or right. Her aim was to create optimal separation and visual balance that would perfectly suit the specific angle of the camera shot. While these adjustments might look decidedly wonky and even crazy if you were to view them head-on in person, they are entirely justified through the camera’s lens. This underscores a crucial point: it doesn’t truly matter what the room looks like in reality; what solely matters is how it appears through the discerning eye of the camera. Another routine method of “cheating” that Cat employs is to pull everything displayed on an open shelf – such as the ones in our bathroom closet – almost unnaturally far forward. This ensures that these items catch the maximum amount of available light, making them pop. While they look absolutely fantastic through the lens, in person, one might be tempted to push everything back a bit, as they sit unusually close to the edge of the shelf. These are the subtle but impactful illusions that craft the perfect magazine spread.
Cat’s remaining three styling tips are refreshingly simple yet profoundly effective for elevating any interior space. Her first piece of advice is to creatively repurpose items from other rooms. She demonstrated this perfectly by raiding our kitchen, finding a simple glass cup, and transforming it into an elegant bud vase for the shoot. This highlights the importance of seeing objects with fresh eyes and imagining their potential beyond their primary function. Her next tip is a classic decorating mantra: accessorize in groups of three. This isn’t just an arbitrary number; it’s a widely recognized design trick because three objects on a side table, a mantelpiece, or any surface naturally create a more aesthetically pleasing, balanced, and harmonious visual arrangement than two or four. The eye finds odd numbers, especially three, inherently more engaging. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Cat emphasizes the need to simply “play around.” There is no single “right answer” when it comes to styling a room. The process should be fun, encouraging you to experiment freely with different textures, combine various objects in novel ways, and continue adjusting until you land on a combination that you absolutely love. This iterative and playful approach is truly par for the course in professional styling, leading to unique and captivating results.
A Day to Remember: More Than Just Hard Work
So, there you have it – the invaluable lessons and delightful experiences we gleaned from our whirlwind photo shoot with the incredibly kind and talented folks from BHG. Oh, and did we mention that they fed us like kings and queens? It was an unexpected, but very welcome, perk! They even meticulously arranged the delicious spread they picked up from Whole Foods in a manner that was utterly worthy of a glossy magazine feature itself. Doesn’t it look absolutely delectable? Indeed, we had a truly fantastic time collaborating with Erik, Abby, and Cat. And, as a thoughtful gesture, they even left a few extra sandwiches behind for us, ensuring our post-shoot hunger was well satisfied. Honestly, one couldn’t really ask for more than such a delightful and professional experience.
We extend a huge, heartfelt thank you to the entire dedicated crew and to Do It Yourselfmagazine and Kitchen + Bath Makeovers for orchestrating such a fun and memorable day for us. We are truly honored and deeply grateful that they considered our home worthy of a professional photo shoot. We sincerely hope that you, our readers, thoroughly enjoyed this little peek into the behind-the-scenes details of what goes into creating those beautiful magazine spreads. We are eagerly awaiting to see how all those incredible shots actually turn out in print. Rest assured, we will most definitely keep you posted with updates as soon as the magazines are released!
Dive Deeper: More Behind-the-Scenes Adventures
Psst- Want to delve into other captivating behind-the-scenes photo shoot tales of yore? Discover the fascinating stories and secret insights from our past collaborations:
- A previous shoot from a while back, featuring some of the same incredible crew.
- Another exciting shoot for a totally different, equally prestigious magazine.
- The full backstage play-by-play from our brief but memorable appearance on HGTV’s Rate My Space.