Creating a Clothing Line: Editing Photo Shoot Pictures and Helping your Pockets

Waiting! This is what I hate. But waiting is good sometimes. It gives you a break from the rushing, the running! Right now I’m just trying to get all of the pictures done so that I am able to post them. Unfortunately, I still have to work L so this process might take longer than I want. I was going to give the pictures to this guy that is actually pretty dope. Even though I didn’t give him the pictures, I’m still going to mention his name. I went to school with him, AIU Atlanta, and his name is Reggie. I don’t know his instagram, or if he even has one, but his facebook name is Reginal Boone, D.N.A Elite Designs. The only reason I didn’t give him the pics to edit was simply because of budget… I AM CHEAP! Lol and I already spent a nice little check on the photo shoot, the clothes, and everybody that was involved or helped. One things’ for sure is that I PAY! Anyway, so I’m doing the pictures myself. I actually went on powerpoint, imported all of the pictures on there and took the background out. I then made an extra slide that only had the gray background and put the pictures in the order that I wanted them in. At this point, I was almost finished. There is this website that I used to use in school when we had projects and I wanted my work to look professional. This website is SOOOOO helpful. If you do not want to spend a lot of money and want things done within the same day, use the website Retouchup.com. There are different price ranges for what you want but the turn-around is incredible!! After I placed all pictures how I want them, I submit it to that website so they can do all my final airbrushing to make it look professional. They charge $2.50 a photo. So I went from going to spend $200 to have someone else do it to only $20-$30 if I did it myself. Yes, a big difference! Well that’s all I’m waiting for… Waiting for ME to get all of this done. Haha. And then submit them. I’m going to post an example of one of the pictures because I got one done and submitted it. I’ll post a before and after so you can see the difference of how they look. After that process is done, it’s all about setting up the website and getting ready for your marketing plan!

 

 

The picture above shows a darker picture and also has harsh lines in the middle of the picture in the background. There are also portions within the looks that I couldn't get the background out. Look on the floor in between her legs, you can see portions that I couldn't get out on my own. The last picture on the right also needed touching up. Her legs need to be smoothed out and her back as well.

 

This picture is lightened and fixed everything that I stated above. A good difference!

 

Retouchup.com

 

Thanks to them!

 

Creating a Clothing Line: Photo Shoot

I finally had the photo shoot! I didn’t have it the first week of August like I thought because we had to push it back a little bit. But it happened, none the less. I already showed you the sketches of the full line last time but I'm going to post them again!

 

Like I said in an earlier post, I did 2 lines… All Black Affaire and All White Affaire. We did the shoot on Saturday, April 9, call time at 1pm. Brittany and Freddie (the Make-up artist) came in town Friday night. I wanted to make sure I got the fit just right so the next morning we can put the clothes on and shoot. To my surprise… Almost everything fit!!! I didn’t have to do many alterations except to one dress.  I showed the make-up artist and hair stylist the look that I wanted implemented, we had a few laughs, a few drinks and we were on our way.

 

This is how I wanted the hair to look

 

This is how I wanted the make-up to look

 

The next morning we all met at my house. Everybody except the hair dresser, Phil. I wanted him to meet us at the studio because the humidity in Atlanta is a bit much sometimes. I didn’t want him to do her hair and then it fall or turn into an afro before we even got a chance to shoot. Freddie and Brit went downstairs in my office to do the make-up. I had a few last minute things to do so I was finishing that up. Tagging was all that was left.

On a photo shoot when there are several people involved, sometimes it can be a bit hectic. It works a lot smoother when you're organized, have help, and things written down. You, as the designer and stylist, cannot be everywhere at once. Having things written down help out the people around you. For instance, time is money. Sometimes photo shoots can be charged by the hour. If you are shooting one look, your helpers can be in the back getting the next look ready. As soon as the model comes into the changing room, they can hop out of one look and right into the next one. 

I usually set the looks up in order on the rack. I tie the hangers together with a rubber band and tag them. The tag has the sequence number on the front and the description of everything the look is supposed to be shot with. For example, get an index card and a sharpie. On the front of the index card, I put a number “1” if it is the first look you are going to shoot. On the back, I write down what the full look consists of. “Black top, black shawl, shredded short skirt, leggings, black leather booties, gold bracelet, gold ring, gold chandelier ear rings.” That’s just an example. I posted a picture of what the card would look like and how it looks on the rack.

 

 

This is how I organize a rack

 

This is how I tag them. I write the sequence number on each card and tag each look

 

 

This is how I tag them for my helper to know what to grab. If you have a great amount of jewelry, write specifics on what piece you are talking about

 

 

Now onto the PhotoShoot:

The hair dresser’s name is Phil. You can find him on Instagram with the name of “philbeautiful”. He did a great job on the hair and Freddie (Instagram: FreddieLYoung) did a wonderful job on the make-up. After she was prepped and put into her first look, I let Britt (Instagram: Kick_rox_) do her thing.

The shoot went great! The model was well seasoned and I really didn’t have to say much to get the look that I wanted for the pictures. By the way, always have an idea of what you want the pictures to look like. What I was going for was a picture I saw a LONG TIME AGO that Kim Kardashian did and I still had the screen shots in my phone. I think she did the shoot like 2 years ago. Try to make sure you have a visual of how you want everything so you can tell the model and photographer so that they are able to implement it. This is how I wanted my pictures to look when I post them to my website.

 

I like the way these pictures look because I can have all different views of the same outfit on one shot

(Side view, Back view, Front Views)

I’m also going to post a short video below to get a sneak peak of what the pictures look like. I will post everything else as soon as all of the pictures are done being edited and the website is up. But for now, this is all I can give!

When the shoot was finally over I was SO EXHAUSTED! Making all of this happen is a great deal of work. Writing about it doesn't make it sound like it's a lot but imagine staring from complete scratch and making something completely amazing out of it. It's never an easy thing. We all decided to go out to eat afterwards at Longhorn... Which was GREAT! I love that place! I was so full that when I made it home by 9:30 I went right to sleep till 6 in the morning! I hope this post helps out the organization much better for your shoot! Ugh! The struggle of being organized! haha

 

 

There was so much food on this table after a while we couldn't fit anything on it. We were telling them to slow down with all of these plates! lol Feast fit for a King and Queen!!

 

Good Luck My Loves!

 

Creating A Clothing Line: Final Drawing Sketches

I'm only posting right now to show you all my full line that I am going to shoot. I was supposed to post it a while ago, but you all know it gets pretty hectic in this fashion world! I actually had a hard time designing because I was so diluted with this Atlanta Fashion that I couldn't get away from it. Don't get me wrong, I love Atlanta. I just don't love the fact that people are so influenced by the next person. I'm from up north and it's just such a big difference. You do what you want when it comes to fashion. There are a select few people that have their own style down here and own it but not many. You can walk the streets of New York and you will see SO many different styles and flavor. I love it! I stayed off social networks in order to get these looks! So check them out! Trying to be original...ugh the struggle