Lara Jade’s "Dog Days" Journal: Breaking Down a High-End Fashion Shoot

Fashion photographer and New York City resident Lara Jade is an expert at turning great ideas into gorgeous images. Here, she breaks down one of her latest assignments, “Dog Days,” from concepts and budgets, to building a team, to the big shoot day, to when the real work begins.

For Lara Jade’s ELLE Singapore shoot, fashionable models, canines and a New York City backdrop made for successful editorial. Photos © Lara Jade

THE CONCEPT
“As an animal lover, I’ve always been drawn to photographs where animals are featured with people (whether in fashion shoots or portraits),” Lara explains. “For the last couple of years, I’ve wanted to do a fashion editorial based around dog-walking with different breeds of dogs. I’m thinking chic and modern, visualizing rich ladies living on the Upper East Side walking their fancy dogs on the streets of Madison Avenue and in Central Park. “

THE PITCH
After doing research and making sure her idea hasn’t already been done somewhere else, Lara decided to pitch to the editors at ELLE Singapore because “they like feminine and playful editorials, a good fit for my photographic style,” she says. “I prepared a mood board with inspirational shots, and I’ve had my wardrobe stylist, Anna Katsanis, prepare another one that features the fashion brands and trends that ELLE prefers (designers like Fendi, Eugenia Kim, Dior, Armani, Prada and Saint Laurent).”

“I wanted to mix younger designs with more classic ones, but still remain contemporary and modern,” Katsanis says. “The beautiful dogs with luxurious manes and upscale breeds are so inspiring that the clothes have to live up to the lifestyle.”

IT’S A GO! GETTING THE PULL LETTER
A pull letter (also known as the stylist’s letter or LOR, “letter of recommendation”) from the magazine gives the stylist the opportunity to pull known clothing brands from showrooms and request specific clothing from PR companies. It also assigns a wardrobe stylist to the project. Often pull letters will also address who the photographer is and what date the shoot will be published so the clothing brands know who is responsible for the shoot.

At this point, the editor also gives Lara the assigned budget for the shoot. “Editorial work is known for not having huge budgets—even for covers! It’s to be expected,” Lara explains. “When I do get a larger budget, I make sure everyone on the team has a small fee or at least their expenses covered and I save some for the assistants, as they are the only ones who don’t get a huge benefit or credit. Models, hair, makeup, wardrobe stylists and photo retouchers often work for tear-sheet only if the shoot is for a larger magazine.”

THE TEAM
“Fashion shoots are all about collaborative effort,” Lara says, “and so I like to work with people I am familiar with. A larger magazine like ELLE is putting a lot of trust in me that the team I pitch to them will deliver, so experience is a key factor when deciding on who to book. Most of the creatives I work with are found through recommendation or my reaching out to them.”

For this shoot, Lara gathered…
Stylist: Anna Katsanis, The Wall Group.
“I knew Anna would be perfect for the role; she has a lot of experience and is well connected with the brands ELLE wanted.”
Makeup: Misha Shahzada, Artist & Agency
Hair: Stefano Greco, Bryan Bantry Agency. “Stefano uses wigs to make the models look similar and part of a story, which in this case he prepares the day before to save time.”
Photo Assistants: Tak and Natalie Walsh
Production: Rachel McLaughlin 

Retouching: Ashlee Gray

CASTING THE MODELS
“Because I am working with more than one model, I want them to look quite similar in height and face shape, almost like sisters, in order to create a cohesive look,” Lara says. “For this story I’ve chosen models Alexandra Tikerpuu and Helene Desmettre (both of IMG) and one of my favorite faces of the season, Steffi Soede, of New York Models). When casting for larger editorials, it’s important to search for models who are ‘in’ as ‘it girls,’ fit the brief and whom you can meet with in person if possible. I did the casting with Steffi at her agency, which helped me understand her personality and make the decision on booking her. If you don’t have the opportunity to meet models in person ahead of your shoot, ask for a recent snap with no hair/makeup. I’ve had models turn up with completely different hair, with a dark tan and very bad skin!”

THE PUPS
When all other systems are in place, where does one get trained dogs? “My producer, Rachel, got in touch with an animal agency she had previously worked with that immediately sent me a few options available on the shoot day and within budget,” Lara says. “I saw the poodles and thought they would look perfect with the clothing choice. Only one thing—I couldn’t seem to find a Great Dane, which I had in mind since the inception of this shoot. I put out a tweet and within a day, I had a lead—the owner of a Great Dane who lives in Brooklyn! The producer reached out and we organized the logistics of when the dogs would arrive on set (we were only using each dog for a few hours because it was warm outside and we were shooting in a busy part of Manhattan).”

SCOUTING THE LOCATION
“A few days before the shoot, Rachel and I did a location scout around the Upper East Side,” Lara says. “Because the areas we liked were all quite far apart, and with no set place to prep the models and team, we decided it would be best to rent an RV. This was a significant part of the editorial budget, but it was vital for the shoot since we only had one day and the timing had to be perfect. The RV also gave us a base to work from, so after each shot we could walk back and prep the models for the next look.

THE SHOT LIST
“After the location scout, I created a shot list, which helps organize time and ensure nothing important is missed,” Lara says. “The shot list featured quick snaps I took on my phone of the locations in mind combined with an inspirational image of what I was looking for in that area, whether it was an expression, pose or general idea. Adding inspiring elements helps to trigger new ideas on the day and to change the story up. The producer and photo assistants will be in control of the shot list on the day of the shoot and they will remind us how long we have to complete each shot in each location.”

LARA’S GEAR
Camera: Canon 5D Mark III
Lenses: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.2
Other: One circular gold/silver Lastolite reflector

THE BIG DAY
“As usual I couldn’t sleep the night before (a mix of tiredness and nervousness), but my nervousness turned to excitement the moment I saw the models on set in their wigs and clothing. The weeks of planning paid off and helped us structure the timing. Models were booked to a certain time and the RV was only booked until 5 p.m. At the end of the day, we were rushing to find areas for the last looks so I gave myself several options—shooting in different locations in angles. This helped when doing the final edit as editors like to see options when they plan the layout on the magazine pages.

FINAL EDIT
“For an editorial, I usually send a selection of 40 to 60 images to a magazine out of around 1,000 to 1,500, and then 8 to 10 are chosen for the editorial spread,” Lara says. “The selects are then passed to my professional retoucher, Ashlee Gray; she has a similar eye to mine and a very natural touch with post processing.”

“Most of the workload came down to cleaning up the backgrounds,” Gray says. “With a busy street, there were things that couldn’t be avoided, like people walking down the street, construction on the sidewalk, etc. In one of the images, the dog was scared and his tail was between his leg, so I had to find another ‘happy tail’ and replace his original tail.”

The final edit appeared in the August 2014 issue of ELLE Singapore.

Growing up in West Midlands, England, outside the city of Birmingham, Lara Jade was inspired to express herself artistically by her supportive and talented parents. When she found herself the target of bullies during her middle school years, she responded creatively and began shooting self-portraits with masks and costumes, exploring emotional concepts through her work. During that time, she found a community on the website DeviantART where she showed her photos and got constructive criticism. Encouraged by the positive feedback, she launched her own photography business a few years later at the young age of 17. Her work is now featured in Harrods, Littlewoods, Nanette Lepore and Observer campaigns, and Lara is often seen online and on stage sharing her tips with other photographers. “To hone your art,” she explains, “you grow with people that are encouraging and nurturing of your talent, but you also grow from people who aren’t afraid to tell you that you need to think outside the box.”

Related Links

From Weddings to Fashion Photography: The Nuances of Broadening a Brand

High Fashion, Small Market: How to Shoot Editorial Anywhere

Motion à la Mode: The Story of a Fashion Filmmaker