Saturday, October 5, 2013

Behind the Scenes of My This Old House Magazine Cover Photo Shoot…Everything You’d Want to Know!


This Old House

Hey you guys! I’m still reeling from all the excitement of being on the cover of This Old House Magazine…it’s been such a fun experience!
I thought I would spill my guts and tell you everything I could think of that you might like to know about the shoot. :0)

The first question I had when my friends found out about the photo shoot was “how did it happen?”  They figured I submitted pictures or something to the magazine, but I didn’t, they found me. I had pinned pics of my window seat build to Pinterest, and Megan (sweetest girl!) found it on there and followed it back to my blog, and emailed me.  First they asked me if I would be willing to do a photo shoot and allow them to use my window seat in their magazine. ……WELL DUH! lol  :0)  Megan (writer for the piece in the magazine) said she wanted to use it in a small article, and I was fine with that.  THEN she called and said it would be a main featured article…and I was fine with that too! Then about a week and half before the magazine hit the stand I found out it was going to be on the cover, and that my friends, was a fun day! I don’t think my feet touched the floor the rest of the day! :0)

Lets go back for a minute to the photo shoot, I want to tell you about the day. It happened on July 30th…yes, a long time for this girl to keep her mouth shut! I had to sign a contract that I wouldn’t spill the beans until the magazine came out…and I have a big mouth!  SO HARD!  I found out right before the photo shoot that Brian Carter, a stylist from Atlanta, would be coming up to style everything…super nice guy! The photographer was coming down from Chicago, his name is Nathan Kirkman, and his assistant was Brett.  They were THE nicest guys!  Brian came by the night before and dropped off many bags of goodies by our house, so you KNOW I had to be nosey and look at the pillows.  I took a lot of photos, but I’m making sure to only post pictures here of things he definitely used in the photo shoot, just in case they want to use the other stuff later.

target

TJ Maxx

Homegoods

target

how to build a window seat

photo shoot

what happens in a photo shoot

Yes, our house was FULL of goodies!  Since the cover was to be for the October issue, they wanted fall colors…so they brought pillows with all the autumnal colors in them.   After they left, I went pillow shopping too…but that’s another post! :0)

Here’s the lovely flowers from the shoot, Brian left them with me after he left, I enjoyed them for at least a week or two!

how to arrange fall flowers

I cannot tell you how much fun the photo shoot day was….but it was LONG!  Here’s the set up!  They arrived at 8:30 in the morning, and Brian the stylist (the guy in the glasses) set everything up for the magazine shot, then Nathan (guy on the computer)  set up all his equipment.

how to build a window seat

I learned so much about my own camera that day! Nathan was working with a Canon camera and he had it tethered to his computer….I did NOT know my canon camera could do that! See the pic above…he’s taking pics from his computer, his camera is closer to me and to the left.

how to use a canon t2i camera

I have been playing with taking tethered pictures since they left! I love learning new things!

Anyway, Nathan would take a picture, they would decide if they liked it, then they would email it to New York where five people were waiting to give their opinions.  They would say things like, “move the table closer to the camera”, or we don’t like that piece of pottery there, could you move it over 6 inches to the left”.  They did this over and over! It was SO fun to watch and see how it was all done!  I asked Nathan if it stressed him out changing things and then waiting….he struck this pose. His fake stressed look…how funny! :)

photo shoot fun

OH..there is one story I have to tell you!  On the front cover photo there is a tray with a red cup on it….well it started out as a white ironstone mug, but they decided they wanted some color so they asked for a red mug. I don’t own a red mug, so Brian had to run out and buy one. Well he went to several places and ended up buying an entire set of red dishes from Kmart.  Long story short…they ended up taking two of every picture we did…….one with the white mug, and one with the red mug.  After we were all finished, he took the set of dishes back to Kmart, THEN New York called and wanted to re-do a shot, so he had to go back to Kmart and buy the set of dishes again! He told me when everything was over he wasn’t returning those dishes again, he would just take them back to Atlanta and return them there! :0) As you can see, they ended up with the red cup on the cover, but what I didn’t notice until a few days after reading my magazine, was that they used the white mug on the 2 page spread! How funny!

In between all the waiting for New York to call back and see how they liked everything, we did this…………..

What to fix for a luncheon

Yep, we did some serious munching! I bought a meat and cheese  tray, croissants, had fruit and dip and frosted brownies! I also brought out my homemade pickles….they liked those a lot! They said hardly anyone ever feeds them on photo shoots…I thought that was kinda sad!  Hopefully they enjoyed the little spread…I know I did, I was starving! :)

So after OVER EIGHT HOURS of shooting pictures (and watching my neighbors drive by our house REALLY slowly trying to figure out what all the lights and camera equipment was for)…………

This Old House photo shoot

We ended up with this……. A magazine cover, a wonderfully fun day, and a shot of me in Joseph Beth bookstore by my first ever published piece in a magazine. 

IMG_5009
(this pic taken by my very sweet hubby….wish he had told me to move my hair back, what a mess! lol)

I’d say it was a really good day. :0)
Blessings,
Missy

PS…I PROMISE I’ll show you the twist to my garden shed in my next post….I just couldn’t hold this in any longer, I mean it’s only been a secret since JULY!!

10 comments:

Susan Nowell @ My Place to Yours said...

The window seat totally caught my eye when TOH arrived in the mail - and I didn't even know it was yours! What a fun opportunity for you. Congratulations! ...And thanks for the "behind the scenes" peek, too. Tethered camera? I've got to go check that out...

My Repurposed Life said...

so.much.fun. I really enjoyed reading this post Misy... and you look beautiful!!! Happy from the inside out!

Thanks for all the behind the scenes info.

gail

Marilyn said...

What fun you must have had, along with the honor of the magazine contacting YOU! Having food for the guys would just fit with everything else about you--always gracious and caring for others. I think those red dishes should have stayed with you as a special gift. Hugs!! Marilyn

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

I just loved reading about your whole experience, Missy! It was almost like being there! How fun! Thank you for sharing it with us...and congratulations again!!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

I loved hearing all the details and sounds like such a fun day. Congratulations again, what a thrill. Hugs, Marty

Rosalie Calloway said...

Loved reading the "behind the camera" posts!! How fun.Congratulations!!

Cindy said...

Sooo exciting! I loved reading every word of this post. So THAT's how they do it. Woooowww.... So funny about the cups too. Your window seat looks fabulous on the cover! I'm so tickled for you, and you look so cute standing in front of your magazine!

Cindy

❁Velma ~Down Our Country Road❁ said...

One day you will never forget, huh? You put alot of hard work into that window seat and so you deserve some recognition. Again, congratulations!!

Feral Turtle said...

Way to go!!! What an exciting day for you and that is definitely a huge secret to keep! I will have to get a copy when I am in town. CONGRATULATIONS!!

Jillybarb said...

What a great post to read!!! It was so much fun I read it twice. Thank you for sharing this, it really opened my eyes to what happens at a photo shoot. I had no idea they paid such attention to detail. I need to find this magazine!

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