BTS: Why Styling and Photography go hand in hand.

Working with an experienced photographer and stylist can dramatically elevate your photos.

In this article we will go over why adding styling to your photography can make a difference and when is a good time to incorporate both.

Having a photographer and stylist working together adds another set of eyes, new ideas, more dimension and imagination. In an ideal world the stylist can make a site visit first and come up with an interior and exterior styling plan for the property. Depending on the number of shots the client selects, we will focus on showing the rooms and architecture (interior and exterior) and/or creating more detailed editorial vignettes. The photographer will assess the facing of the house and the light and determine the time of day to shoot and where to start. For the shoot day the stylist will arrive a few hours before the photographer (or sometimes the day before) to have plenty of time to style and set up the spaces so they are ready for the photographer to start shooting. Together they will find the angles that will tell a visually interesting story. Depending on the purpose of the images we will tailor our photography and styling accordingly. For real estate our goal is to showcase all the property has to offer so prospective buyers can imagine themselves living in the home. For short term rentals we focus on featuring the types of experiences guests can enjoy at the property. Below we feature three different types of properties and how we styled and photographed them.

In this Catskill new build adding styling to bring life and energy into the real estate photos made sense. Winona and I worked together to find the best angles to highlight the architecture as well showing how the indoor and outdoor spaces could be used. Adding place settings, kitchen items and branches in the open kitchen/dining area shows how the kitchen is beautiful and functional. Adding flowers, crystals, shells, plants etc into the bathrooms brought in warmth and nature into otherwise cool spaces.

For the outside spaces we added plants, sculptures and towels to the sauna, turned the rooftop deck into a place for relaxation and exercise and created an inviting outdoor dining experience so potential buyers dont have to work hard to imagine the type of lifestyle they could live in this home.

For this East Jewett Airbnb photoshoot Winona and I worked together to create the shots that would highlight the types of experiences guests could experience while staying at this home. I set up a puzzle and a pool game in the living spaces a pool game in the games room, and styled an inviting dining table and kitchen scenes. Winona captured the gorgeous light in the primary bathroom where I set up an inviting bathtub scene where guests can imagine themselves decompressing. We then moved outside and set up the outdoor furniture to create vignettes on the deck and by the fire pit. Guests browsing these photos can imagine cozy afternoons by the fire, reading a magazine and relaxing on the deck and al fresco dining.

For this Wurtsboro lake house, I used items the homeowners already had in their homes as well as pulling from my own prop collection to create inviting cozy moments in all the different spaces of this three season home. Sometimes there isn’t an opportunity to visit a home ahead of the shoot date so I’ll use photos to review and get a sense of the home, its style and what I can add in to enhance that. A lit candle can add so much warmth to a dark corner and fresh flowers and vegetables bring nature indoors.

Photos by Winona Barton Ballentine, Words & Styling by Venetia Boucher