My only real experience with a photoshoot was having my picture taken. With a passion for anything creative, I jumped at the chance to tag along with our resident photographer Pat Young. I was really excited to see how a seemingly simple setting like a yoga studio could take a new product like The Mat and turn it into something stunning.
1. I was honestly frightened for him being up that rickety ladder. I was debating whether I was meant to save him or the camera first:
2. Happily watching from afar as Pat worked out his angles, he called me over. Surprised and delight to help, I scurried over only to be asked to hold his camera. At first I thought he was joking, me carry that amazing and precious thing? I didn't tell him this at the time, but when he handed it to me, I felt like I was carrying the crown jewels or maybe his first born. I felt terrified and privileged, which I'm sure would have been most amusing to Pat. Tentatively taking the camera and passing it back and forth, I relaxed a little (well, maybe just stopped holding my breath as much):
3. Once we had the camera angle set, Carmen stepped in to work out the placement of each yogi. You would think perfect alignment on the mat would be key, but for the camera angle Pat was using, we needed to adjust their position to work with the frame he was taking. Lighting was also played with. The studio's light had a gorgeous warm glow, but actually made the picture flat. Using the natural light, although minimal, gave the picture a more dynamic quality:
4. Next was working on poses: which one would add to the frame: warrior, camel, cobra? One thing that stuck with me from this experience, was always remember your focus. The yoga position, although beautiful, couldn't detract from our focus, which was the mat. It also needed to create the right mood, and so in the end camel position was chosen. With using only natural light that poured into the yoga studio, to me it gave the feel of gentle strength, a quiet and powerful inner presence.
5. Having a look at their work. After being so amazing at holding those poses, Pat showed the lovely Anita, Janice and Jenn how the pictures turned out.
6. Moving on to solely pictures of the mat, Pat played with positioning of the mats and angles of the camera. Taking a shot from the side with a low depth of field versus taking it from above created a big difference in the frame, both with a completely different feel. Before I knew it, we were done and I reluctantly started to back up.
I would like to give a big shout out to Pat for letting me come along and experience behind the scenes of a photoshoot. I had such a great time.
The final masterpiece that is currently on our lululemon homepage!
