Ever wondered just how much work goes in behind the scenes?
After a huge positive response I received about the front page video of my site ( only available on desktop, not on the phone as I didn’t want to eat up everyone’s data) I thought I’d give you all a little insight into how it was done! ( because I’m quite proud of it, and it took forever to do!)
Deciding to rebrand and relaunch was a huge decision for this mamma of 2. It wasn’t just about work, it was about the decision to ONLY have two children, and not go for a third. That was a hard one. Actually, I tell lies. It was pretty easy after the 56th toddler tantrum that day. I think I put her fruit in the wrong coloured bowl? Who knows…
One night after a couple of glasses of much needed red, I was doing some website research, and came across a gorgeous photography word press template from flothemes, that featured a video on the front page and said to Gav, (my photographer husband of Gavin Cato Photography) “I want that website”… “Let’s do it” was his answer. Isn’t he a wonderful, obliging husband?! Truth be told I wouldn’t know where to start- these things have a back end to them that I’m convinced isn’t in English, but thankfully, it’s a language Gav is expertly fluent in.
From here it took about a day of planning. I called up a staff member of mine, and the conversation went something like this;
“Hi Kasey, so, tomorrow I need you to come to my house at 9am. I’m going to take you to a bridal store in Gerringong called Storybook Bridal so we can choose you a wedding dress, I’ll do your hair and makeup and then we are going to take some photos and video of you, sound ok? “. Who knows what Kasey actually thought of this conversation, but, luckily for me she was on board with the idea.
Kasey at Storybook Bridal, trying on gowns.
I then raced into Wildflower Florist in Wollongong, and fluttered my eyelashes at Carla to make me a “really cool” flowercrown….with about 12 hours notice… Well, Carla delivered the goods. And did she ever! It was perfect.
Kasey, my model, a fellow beauty therapist, has great skin, and I knew the perfect look I wanted to create for this shoot…That dewy skin, bronzed eye with a stunning lash ( thanks Helen Dowsley Lashes) and a nice natural lip colour that picked up a bit of the colour from the flowercrown.
In the hair and makeup chair at my home studio
I was actually quite nervous about putting it all together, and anxious about wasting a huge amount of time on this, time I really didn’t have time to waste. Oh and there was just one other thing- We had to have perfect weather, and a killer sunset… so I wasn’t asking for much was I? But these are the elements that had to be ticked off the list, if it was going to work the way we wanted it too. Otherwise, we would be doing it all over again on another day that DID have perfect weather.
We jump in the car and travel about 45 mins to our location, of course stopping for car snacks ( snickers/ twix and pringles) on the way. We get to the open field and Kase is a bit nervous. We laugh, and almost cry with laughter at certain points, but she is damn good natural model (with no experience!!) and she nails it under Gav’s photography direction. Lucky for me, (and for Kasey for that matter!) Gav has fashion photography experience, so his direction really got the best out of the afternoon.
Gavin photographing Kasey in that gorgeous tall grass and sunset in the back round
Playing around and having fun on set!
The sun starts to set and we change location, and it starts to get cold, so I wrap my fluffy dressing gown around her to keep her warm. Kasey starts to get the shits with the flowercrown ( sort of my fault here, it wasn’t pinned in because I wanted “creative control” to change the angle of it in different photos to be able to show off the makeup properly…) yet we are racing against the time as the sun starts to set. I cheer her up by pushing my Tiffanys Soleste engagement ring and wedding band onto her finger… Nope, you can’t keep it Kasey! 😛
The wind picks up and her relaxed hair style starts to look a little tired- so I whack in a quick braid and viola! It’s perfect! So perfect for the style in fact, I’m almost regretting not doing this in the first place, but can’t change it now! So we roll with it! We wrap up just after sunset with high fives all round. It was a pretty successful day. And I was so tired. Thai takeaway for us on the way home please!
Kasey sporting her comfy shoes, and my fluffy dressing gown 🙂
“That damn flowercrown!” – Kasey ( sorry Kase, my fault! Thanks for putting up with me!)
Once the kids were in bed that night, Gav and I were up until midnight going through the images- we were thrilled with the outcome. And I was so excited to really see this starting to take shape for my new site.
The next thing was to go through the video footage we took, and take the snippets I wanted- and then string them all together to create what you see on the front page. All this planning, time, effort, for 18 seconds worth.
Yes, you read right. An 18 second video, took a whole day from 9am to 6pm, a photographer, hair and makeup artist, model, dress designer and florist, a pack of pringles, 3 twix, 3 snickers and 2 diet cokes, and I’ve lost how many hours worth of my time and Gav’s in front of the computer screen. It’s really made me appreciate shoots in general- and how much time and effort goes into not only doing them, but doing them well.
BUT, was it worth it? Absolutely!
I feel like I have something so unique, so beautiful, that represents my style and me perfectly. I love the fact it’s a little different to the mainstream. But I also know how incredibly lucky I am , as a professional bridal hair and makeup artist, to be married to an awesome wedding photographer that not only is amazing at what he does, but is just so supportive in me and my work. Thanks Gav for bringing my vision to life! Kasey, you were perfect.
Michelle.x
