Denver Filmmaker?
When I photographed my client in Paris last year, I decided to take short video clips that would potentially be tied together to create a behind-the-scenes video for both the client and my marketing. But between you and me (and the Internet), having a camera that has video capabilities does NOT make one a professional videographer or Filmmaker!
I honestly didn’t really know what I was doing. But a number of professionals in my industry had told me that video marketing was becoming huge for their businesses. And since I did not have the budget for a film crew to follow us around Paris, I decided to have a go at it myself. I truly didn’t know if any of the footage would even be usable, but I took it, anyway.
When we returned from Paris, my only real focus was to begin the arduous task of editing and retouching the still images. And there were a LOT to sort through, as you can imagine. It was only at the completion of my editing process that I even felt tempted to peek at the video clips.
near the end of 2018, I finally got to it. And those several second video clips, one after the other, created something that I’m really proud of.
Dresses, dresses and more dresses
I purchased a lot of wardrobe for my client Maggie’s Portrait sessions in Paris. It was one of my first times doing this, although before Paris I did have a few simple tulle skirts for clients to wear. But Paris had to be extra special and I knew we would be there for more than a week, so I needed more than just a tulle skirt or two.
Red Ball Gown
Flower Ball Gown
Gold Dress
unbeknownst to me, the Portrait Client Glam Closet was in the process of being born.
Bar Suit
I bought dresses/accessories not only for Paris…not only for Maggie…but for all future clients to potentially wear. With the exception of the Replica Bar Suit (inspired by Dior), the wardrobe started with rather affordable pieces from Amazon or Etsy. But by the time I finished editing the final images from Paris, I knew that I wanted to improve even more on the collection I was starting to build.
As a Portrait Photographer, I take copyright quite seriously. But once I found out that fashion designs are very difficult to copyright and that producing garments inspired by luxury and couture pieces is totally legal (not to be confused with counterfeit garments), my eyes started to light up!
I contacted several dressmakers from overseas and asked each one if they could create a dress greatly inspired by photographs I could link them to. And to my delight, they said yes! I showed one dressmaker images of a stunning Ballerina-inspired tulle gown by a famous designer, and several weeks later was sent this image:
The glam closet is born
My jaw dropped. I immediately started picturing all of my future clients having the red carpet moment of their dreams. And I knew in that moment that the Glam Closet had officially been born.
An answer comes in the middle of the night
The dress looked beyond incredible. And as I waited for its arrival to my denver office, I started dreaming about what else could be added to the closet in 2019. But I was facing a really big problem.
People…random individuals from Google searches, my social media followers and even close friends…still did not understand the service I offered. This has been a huge frustration and hurdle for me in my business. So many people confuse me for being a fashion photographer. Professional models Direct Message me on Instagram asking to do what’s called a “Time for Print” or “trade” shoot and I have to explain that I don’t photograph models, I photograph real people. And real People comment on posted images, “oh, your models are just so gorgeous!”
This is one of my portrait clients. She is not a professional model. Her hair and makeup was professionally done (courtesy of LStyle Bar), her wardrobe/Accessories are from my Glam Closet and her pose was fully directed by me as I photographed her. the two things I clearly remember her saying at her reveal appointment are that she couldn’t believe it was really her in the photographs, and that she had felt “fancy” the entire experience. She is a normal…and extraordinary…everyday woman.
Calling my clients “Models” is meant to be a compliment. But it actually makes me cringe.
My service…the experience I offer…is empowering real, everyday women by giving them the fashion magazine experience for the day. I am not a fashion photographer. I’m a portrait photographer. And all I long for is to give non-models the model experience that they thought was so out of reach for them. To give them the opportunity to exist in Magazine worthy photographs that will literally outlive them.
For all of 2018, I was struggling with this. The clients that got it, really got it. They understood what I do…and they felt empowered beyond words once they experienced it. But I knew that I needed more people to understand my business and I knew that it was my responsibility to communicate a clear message in my marketing. I just couldn’t figure out how. truthfully, the frustration over this has brought me to tears more times than I can count or want to admit. And I’d be lying if I said I haven’t felt tempted to close the doors on my business more than once.
Just Moments after getting hit with a spark of inspiration. it felt like magic.
One night I was in my office browsing the music selection on the website used to create the Paris video. The selection of music was overwhelming and only some of it was, in my perfectionist opinion, usable for my clients. In my mind, I would first take the video clips at each future portrait session, string them together, and then find the perfect music during the editing process to be the soundtrack of a behind the scenes video to show the client.
To save myself time in the future, I decided to browse the entire library, one track at a time, and favorite the songs I thought I might use one day. This was weeks and weeks ago…but I’ll remember what happened next forever.
In a daze, I was scrolling…clicking…scrolling…clicking…when suddenly I stopped. A piece of music started playing and instantly it was like I had stuck my finger in a light socket.
Images started absolutely flooding my mind’s eye, one right after the other. The first image was of the ballerina dress that had just been completed. The next was the person wearing it…somebody I had never even photographed before. And the next was the story I needed to tell. Her story. And the story of women just like her.
The images continued to snowball all night. I played the music over and over, and each time my arms would finish covered in goosebumps. I realized that in making this video, I would not only be able to create something extraordinary for a special client (in addition to her still images), but I would be able to very clearly spell out to my audience what my business is truly about…and who it is for.
I was so invigorated that I could not sleep. I waited and waited for Martin to wake up. The moment he did, I ran to him with a full mental storyboard of my idea. And then I played him the music saying, “that will go there…that will go there…that part will be out of focus…that is a close-up…”. When the music ended, Martin’s eyes began to water. He looked at me and said…
“Mark. You have to make this video.”
Dress Arrives
The dress was incredibly disappointing upon arrival. Yay.
Later that week, the dress in question arrived. And truthfully? IT was a disaster.
It looked amazing in the photos I was sent. And yes, I had been sent photos of the actual dress I received. But there were problems. The biggest being the structure of the bodice, and that it had none.
The dress is a strapless dress, constructed of mesh and tulle. But unfortunately, the see-through bodice had no boning in it. And no breast cups. So unless the dress fit absolutely perfectly on the client, it could totally fall off (which is totally a look…but you know, not what we are going for). Clear and detachable plastic straps were included…but that was not how the original dress looked and frankly, I felt the straps took away from the (potential) beauty of the dress.
Furthermore, without the belt tied at the waist, the top part of the dress looked like long tulle streamers (see above photo). The belt was required to both form the tulle covered bust, as well as the first tier of the skirt. But even with the belt tied tightly, the moment the client would lift her arms, the tulle would shift and expose the breasts.
I felt like an idiot for spending so much money on a custom dress. Until I remembered Michelle.
Custom corset created for my office by Michelle.
Michelle is a corset-maker right here in Denver. And an incredibly, incredibly talented corset-maker at that! She created two custom corsets for my office that truly still take my breath away. So I knew that if anybody in Denver could fix this disaster, it would be her.
I sent her a message…she quickly showed up in my denver office…and after taking a quick look at the dress (as well as two others I had made from the same dressmaker), she said she could absolutely add boning/structure to the bodice and save it from going out the door!
Dress comes back from the hospital
While Michelle got to work on rescuing the new dresses, I went back to brainstorming my upcoming video project.
I reached out to somebody who had expressed past interest in becoming a client, but unfortunately she had become very busy and didn’t seem available. I started reaching out to a couple other people, both who had interest in my work and potentially wanted to be clients in the future. As I waited for responses to find one person ready to commit…and as I listened to the hypnotizing music on loop day after day…it occurred to me that I needed to involve more than one woman in this project.
Which, of course, meant more dresses!
I searched for and found a better dressmaker. And overnight I think I single-handedly started paying her rent!!! Kidding. Kind of.
There are more dresses in production now. And more sizes of the dresses pictured will be added to the glam closet. But this past week, I was delighted beyond words when Michelle returned with the dresses from the original dressmaker, including the ballerina-inspired dream that was the foundation for the marketing video taking over my imagination daily.
A dress to make your ballerina dreams come true
The mended dress truly took my breath away. The bodice was now fully boned, the tulle was all sewn down at the waist, and the belt was changed to better match the belt of the original inspiration dress. In short, Michelle truly saved the day!!! To see Michelle’s etsy store and to commission her for your own custom corset, please click here!
Follow along on the journey
I am so glad that my photographer friend challenged me to get back into blogging! Not just because it’s a great creative outlet, but because I can give all of you a glimpse into the world of being a portrait photographer, as well as show you what it’s like to build and run your own business.
The video telling the story of some very incredible women is still in its very early stages, but I invite you to follow along on the journey to the completed project by visiting this blog every week!
Thanks for reading.
