It’s hard to believe it it was only a few short months ago that I flew off to Morocco on a fabulous adventure to join my friend and mentor Annette Joseph at one of her amazing photography and styling workshops. I shared a bit of our trip in a previous post, but today I wanted to share the images we took from the workshop portion itself because… signups are now available for next year’s trip!! (If you want all that info, skip to the end of this post!)
If you were following along on my instagram, you already know that we stayed at the beautiful Peacock Pavilions – the perfect setting for styling, thanks to the collection of glasses, pottery and linens that our host Maryam already had on hand…
Our first day started off with shooting some still life moments. Now, I consider myself a fairly adept stylist, but there is always more to learn when it comes to this job. Different styles, techniques, thoughts on lighting, spacing, and texture were just a few things that Annette touched on.
Combine that with the expert guidance from photographer Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn, and we were really diving into some new stuff that helped take my styling skills to a whole new level and photography to a point where I felt much more comfortable using my manual camera.
After playing with props (this moody setup above was one of my favorites) , we moved on to interiors! Peacock Pavilions is unbelievably gorgeous and well decorated. I felt like I was shooting a room for some high end publication … which was kind of the point. After a bit of instruction Annette and Debra sent us off to shoot and style our own rooms.
Our assignment was to capture the essence of Peacock Pavilions as if we were shooting for a travel publication. Each space needed to be presented in vertical and horizontal formats. Then we were to add detail shots as well.
Here’s what I ended up with…
This was the main living area in the ‘house’ we were in – stunning right? I moved around some of the furniture to create some visual space and angled the chairs in a way that opened the room up without feeling unnatural…
The best part about shooting this way is learning to take your time. If you’ve ever been on set for a real editorial shoot you know that it can take hour (yes hours) to capture one room. Crazy as it sounds, it really does ensure that you get every detail perfect. And that you have to do minimal post-editing.
If we had had all day, I would have ironed out those linens and made things a bit more perfect in the bedroom, buuuuut… we didn’t.
I loved the lanterns in this room so much, I had to get an extra shot with them in it.
And then, of course, there were the outdoor areas…
Pure heaven, right? I took these earlier in the morning when the sun had yet to peek out yet so that it wasn’t too bright and I think they turned out better for it.
And – finally – my favorite ‘detail’ shot that I haven’t shared already… (most of them are here)
If I could steal one thing from this magical place, it may be this door handle. I found her enchanting!
So, now that you’re all ready to pack your bags you’re probably wondering how to get in on next year’s workshop, right? Well, mark your calendars because we are returning to Peacock Pavilions from February 22nd – 27th, 2016
Online registration will open June 15th, but if you’re ready to book it now and get all the details email Annette to pre-reserve your spot. I’ll be doing a presentation on blogging and social media this time around too! Believe it or not, we only have a few spots left, so if you’re at all interested, hop on it!!! Questions? Leave a comment or shoot me an email. This workshop is for people of all levels, so even if you’re a beginner you are absolutely welcome. And yes, there will be shopping!
Come join us and be sure to tell Annette that I sent you so that you can receive a little gift from me for signing up!
