Behind the Scenes | Shooting Outfit Photos

Behind the Scenes of Being a Fashion Blogger

Gal Meets Glam Jane Dress (also comes in black, navy and pink) / Hudson + Bleecker Garment Bag (c/o) / White Bracelet Bag ($40 dupe of this designer bag) / Bamboo Ark Bag ($43 dupe of this designer bag) / White Tote / Rose Gold Friendship Bracelet / Ankle Strap Block Heels

There are only two times that I ever miss owning a car: 1) carrying groceries home and 2) taking blog photos. And lucky for me, both of these things happen pretty much every weekend.

Spring Wedding Guest Style

Being a blogger (in addition to holding down a full time job) is not easy. And being a fashion blogger that has to take outfit photos in New York City? Now that can be a bit of a nightmare. James and I shoot anywhere between 3-5 different outfits every weekend (depending on how much torture he’s willing to endure), which means I have to pack all of my outfits, along with shoes, bags and jewelry. If you’re ever in Manhattan and spot someone who is overdressed, surrounded by more bags than necessary and is being photographed by a mildly annoyed husband – that’s probably me!

In the spirit of sharing more personal things on my blog, I thought I’d give you a little flavor of what go into shooting my outfits every week.

  • Because James and I both have full-time jobs, we take photos on Saturdays and Sundays. As twisted as this sounds, I always hope for a cloudy forecast on at least one of the days because I think photos look best when it’s overcast out. It’s so much easier when you don’t have to worry about harsh sunlight or shadows.
  • On shoot days, I wake up around 7:30 or 8:00, make a cup of joe and start putting on my makeup. Makeup and hair usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour while I listen to a podcast to kill the time.
  • I always have my outfits planned ahead of time, but I’m typically too lazy to steam things until the day of. There goes another 15 minutes before I have to start packing.
  • Thankfully, my friends over at Hudson + Bleecker designed this incredible snakeskin-embossed garment bag so that I can nicely hang my outfits without worrying about wrinkles. I’ve used it for a few weeks now and I love it – it’s beautiful, durable and has straps so that I can wear it on my shoulder. Once I’ve gathered my things and pleaded with James to shoot more outfits than he’d like, we’re out the door!
  • There are a few favorite locations that I like to shoot at: the Conservatory Garden at the top of Central Park (pictured here), Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and South Street Seaport. As you can tell, I prefer to shoot at parks because there’s always a beautiful background and a nearby public restroom. The downside about park bathrooms is that for some strange reason, it’s against the rules to change in them. I’ve actually had a security guard tell me to stop using the restroom (on the same day we shot this outfit to be exact!).
  • If we end up shooting on the streets instead, I’ll bring my pop up tent and change outfits on the sidewalk because ain’t no shame in my game! And it actually cuts down on the time I need to run to a bathroom, because I can set it up wherever I want. James stands guard outside and tells me when the coast is clear for me to come out so I don’t have to make eye contact with the judge-y onlookers. Sometimes I can’t believe he puts up with my shenanigans!
  • From there, we’ve got our outfit shots pretty much down to a formula. We do full body, portraits, landscape and closeups in probably about 50 frames or less (back when we started, James would take 200 and I would hate all of them). These days, there are so many great shots to choose from, that it’s hard to narrow it down to six or seven – kudos babe!

Strangely enough, shooting outfit photos is my least favorite part about being a fashion blog. I love to shop for clothes (obviously), style outfits, edit photos and write blog posts, but taking photos? Well, now that you know the level of effort that goes into a shoot, I’ll let you decide if that sounds like a fun weekend activity for you or not!

Are there any other aspects about blogging that you’d like to know about? Let me know in the comments section or shoot me an email at jen@skirttherulesblog.com. I’m always looking for new content ideas and I might just cover your question in a future post!

White Leather Garment Bag by Hudson + Bleecker

Spring Wedding Guest Style / Periwinkle Dress Gal Meets Glam Jane Tie Waist Midi Dress Gal Meets Glam Jane Tie Waist Midi Dress Behind the Scenes of Being a Fashion Blogger Spring Wedding Guest Style / Periwinkle Dress

Get the Look:

Gal Meets Glam Jane Dress (also comes in black, navy and pink) / Hudson + Bleecker Garment Bag (c/o) / White Bracelet Bag ($40 dupe of this designer bag) / Bamboo Ark Bag ($43 dupe of this designer bag) / White Tote / Rose Gold Friendship Bracelet / Ankle Strap Block Heels

Thank you Hudson + Bleeker for sponsoring this postc!

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2 Comments

  1. lyddiegal wrote:

    I can’t imagine how hard it must be to take multiple outfit photos without a car! I definitely have no shame about changing in my car and it’s a safe place to store other outfits. That is too funny you can’t change in the bathrooms – I wonder what could have spawned that rule?
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    Posted 6.13.18 Reply