It’s now June, the month that I am carefully going back to do interior photo shoots following the coronavirus shutdown. I kicked off my “new world” summer photo shoot season by conducting a virtual shoot today with designer Jarret Yoshida. While many of my shoots in the coming months will welcome in-person participation with my client — following my policies & procedures of course, like wearing masks, 6 foot social distancing, cleaning, and so on — I wanted to explore whether a remote, live shoot could be an option, too. It was a total success!
Here are the details. I was completely alone in the residence in Montclair, NJ, while Jarret Yoshida was in his office in Brooklyn, NY. We had reviewed images of the space in advance and discussed his goals for the shoot (showing off his hi-low skills and sumptuous mix of materials), the feeling we wanted to transmit (drama, serious style, suburban chic), the furnishings to highlight (settee, floor lamp, rug), as well as the remarkable architecture of space. I suggested the best composition for the shot and Jarret agreed. Next, we talked about styling items, and went over a host of options together before the shoot. I assembled them, and styled the shot before we got on our video conferencing call, knowing that together we would finesse it. I had the shot all framed up, lighting done and got on our 2:30 call.
That’s when the magic happened, there on Google Meet. Jarret was smiling in the frame, and I shared my screen with him so he could see my Capture One interface. I shoot tethered into Capture One, and he could watch the captures coming in as I took them, and we shared ideas on the progress of the image. What was really amazing was when I switched to live view in Capture One, the additional screen that popped up was right there for him to see, so he could watch live video of me entering the space. Using this, we were able to talk about and tweak the space in real time. I was able to move a vase “a little more to the left” and hear him suggest I prop the painting up higher. This saved a lot of time and it was just as if we were together, with genuine banter and ideas being shared. It was a wonderful collaboration, a true give and take, and by 3 pm we were pretty much done with the shot. We actually had three excellent options, but for sure Jarret had his favorite (I will let you decide which one is yours, see the images below.)
My takeaways from this is that this is an excellent option for anyone who is located a distance away, is not feeling psychologically “ready” to be at a shoot, or has health or physical limitations. It is also a great option for when there are more people who want to participate than we can allow in the space, for safety reasons. Or, if there is a stylist on board who wants to work with us remotely. It does take a little bit longer overall, due to the set up time, and it involves more advance prep, but for a smaller shoot with great Wifi, it’s a terrific option.
