Insights into a Lifestyle Photography Photoshoot

Today I’ve invited Laura Renton from That’s Sew Laura to share her story of starting a children’s clothing business and discuss how she decided on a lifestyle photography shoot for her ‘No Rain’ Summer collection.

Firstly I want to thank Isa for letting me loose on her blog. I’m a big fan of The Academy and I wish I’d have found it sooner! I suppose the polite thing to do now would be to introduce myself. I’m Laura from That’s Sew Laura and it’s nice to meet you!

I started That’s Sew Laura back in January as a 100% Facebook business, sewing all sorts of custom-made baby related items. I design my own creations, often influenced by images from past eras. Things have picked up very quickly since the beginning of the year. I now attend various markets and shows, I have a website and of course the Facebook Page. In the last few months I’ve found myself reducing the number of product-types I offer to remain focused and fine-tune my ranges. I still dabble in blankets & toy boxes, but designing and making children’s clothing is my passion.

Myself and my Husband have a beautiful 16 month old daughter called Alana who rifles through the house like a crazed racoon. She has a thing for investigating cupboards and generally causing mischief (in the nicest possible way of course). Alana is also the main inspiration behind what I do – my muse as it were. I work mostly on bespoke orders when Alana is asleep. To keep up with requests I generally work from 8pm – 1am most nights & then when I can during her daily nap time. It’s tough, especially trying to squeeze-in all of those other jobs that need to be done, but it’s totally worth it. I’ve seen my business grow really quickly and it’s very fulfilling. I enjoy the creative outlet and I love seeing pictures of customer’s children wearing their new outfits.

It was these photos that made me want professional lifestyle shots to showcase the Summer Collection of clothing. I wanted to show the clothes being worn. It’s all well and good using a mannequin, but to see how those clothes fit an actual child is a much better way to sell your products. It’s like anything; you want to see how it works before you buy it. I wanted to create an image and a lifestyle. I wanted people to see the inspiration behind the designs and my fabric choices. Most of all I wanted to capture the children having fun and to embody that vintage British summer feel.

I asked a good friend Louise from Louise Jolley Photography to capture the day, she is an amazing photographer, she seems able to capture THAT moment, the one that says exactly what you want it to say. She has photographed Alana before & we loved the results so much, there was never a question of who I would ask to photograph the Collection.

On a beautiful sunny day we headed down to Bournemouth Gardens with some of Alana’s friends to set up for the shoot. Once set up we decided to just let them play and get candid shots, only intervening to stop them running into the stream or stealing each others toys/cakes!

The day was a complete success! The resulting photos and video were just as I imagined. They created exactly what I wanted to say about the That’s Sew Laura ‘No Rain’ Summer Collection. When I shared the pictures on Facebook I was delighted that one of my customers said: “beautiful, the clothes, the kids, the setting, the photography. Think this has really cracked it – it is not just selling the clothes, you are creating aspirational lifestyle shots. Now to rob a bank so I can have a piece of it.”

Financially the photo shoot worked too. I had orders placed directly for items that were in the photos. As far as I’m concerned it did it’s job fantastically and I can’t thank Louise and the parents enough. We are currently planning a photo shoot for the Winter Collection. We have a few new ideas and I can’t wait!

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Living in sunny Dorset, Laura is mum to Alana and wife to Dan. Laura designs and makes bespoke, vintage-inspired clothing and accessories for babies and children. Taking inspiration from the fashions of yesteryear; Laura adds her own take on designs to create something truly special and unique for children to wear. All clothing is designed with cloth nappies in mind.