Behind The Scenes
Behind the Scenes on a lifestyle shoot during COVID
This shoot, in its original form, was supposed to take place the week that COVID shut down Houston, Texas in March 2020.
It may have taken a year, lots of planning, and lots of adjustments, but I was finally able to move forward with this lifestyle and food shoot supported by a true dream team.
Photographer: Amy Scott
Talent: Marcia Smart
Digitech: Travis Schiebel
Photo Assistant: Michael Klein
Wardrobe: Summar Salah
Hair and Makeup: Victoria Callaway
Food Stylist: Tina Bell Stamos
Prop stylist: Stephanie Marett
Basecamp setup:
1. All stations were set up outside, hair and make-up, wardrobe, props, and food styling. This ensured maximum ventilation and safety, particularly for our Hair and Make-up Artist.
Crafty and Meals
1. Crafty and beverages were provided to each team member in an individual, labeled bag which they brought back to their station.
2. Lunch was ordered beforehand using a group ordering system so that no orders had to be taken the day of. Lunch orders were labeled and kept separate for team members to take and eat outdoors separated from one another.
Set management
1. All team members took their temperatures the morning of the shoot to ensure they did not have a fever.
2. We took oximeter readings on location before we began the day as an additional precaution
3. All team members filled out a health questionnaire that described any potential risks or symptoms they or those in their pod may have had at the time.
4. All team members aside from model, wore masks at all times unless they were eating or drinking at their station away from others. Many team members choose to wear two masks, as the information had just come out that wearing two masks could increase effectiveness of the masks. N95 masks were on set and available to anyone who wanted or needed a more effective mask.
5. Flow of props and risks were considered and analyzed. Food stylist was instructed to wipe down dishes with wipes before leaving on set where model may be interacting with the dishware to reduce risks.
6. Location was selected in part because of how spacious it was indoors and ability to have doors open for ventilation. Team members were told to go outside and distance unless they were needed on set to keep those on set at any given time to a minimum.
7. Photographer had a safety meeting at the beginning of the day to clarify expectations and safety protocol to be used throughout the day, and introduced a one warning rule. One warning would be given only to anyone who was not following the protocol, after that, they would be asked to leave immediately.
I'm so proud of what we were able to accomplish together and so thrilled for the images that we made! Looking forward to sharing the images very soon.
