sneak peek: 2011 calendar photo shoot

Today I'm going to let you peek behind the curtain to see how a seemingly casual, effortless photo like the one above actually comes together. It's a looong process. First, we do some brainstorming about the story we'd like the photos to tell. Delphine intern Caleb Jones came up with the idea that the calendar photos would be the story of one person's desk throughout the year. The calendar, pen box and cute birdie prop would stay in the same place each month, but all the goodies around it would reflect how a person's desk, and life, changes from month to month.

The second step was to start pulling props from our giant collection of ephemera. A step I call:

It looks like a giant mess, but truly we have a plan!

 

Next, we create a tray for each photo, dividing up props for each month's photo. We throw everything we can think of that would go with the month's image. 

Then the exciting part: we prop a month and look through the lens. Then we edit, edit, edit ... taking away lots of distractions so the star of the photo, the calendar, can shine.

 

Invariably, our toughest critic comes by to check out the scene and give the final Meow approval.

I hope you like our new 2011 desk calendar! I'll post a few more final photos later today.