Better Homes & Gardens Shoot!

 

Do you guys have any idea how weird it was for me to just type out that post title?? Better Homes & Gardens just did a photo shoot at my house! At MY house. Seriously? Is this real life, or just some crazy alternative universe where dreams come true? Currently, it’s both, and I’m excited to tell you all about it!

 

 The tiniest sneak peak:)

 

So, let me back track a few months. I received an email towards the end of summer from Ann Blevins. an editor of BHG specialty issues. She told me they were interested in featuring our home in the BHG Christmas Ideas issue for the 2018 holiday season. I was thrilled and so honored. Better Homes & Gardens is such a classic. I have so much respect for that publication and the awesome people I’ve met who work there, most recently at the StyleMaker event in NYC this past September. Here I am with Stephen Orr, Editor In Chief of BHG…

 

 Find this dress by clicking HERE.

 Find this dress by clicking HERE.

 

After reading that email, I second guessed myself a bit, wondering if my style was “too funky” for such a traditional magazine. Should I decorate any differently this holiday season for the shoot? Tone it down? Fit the mold? But one thing I loved learning in NYC is that their new tagline is “Life In Color.” And I decided to remind myself that they asked me for a reason, and to be myself and just go with it!

 

So, the tricky part was having to hold back sharing my Christmas decor this holiday season. They didn’t want me to post anything that was going to be shot for the magazine. Spoilers are no fun! 

 

Last Monday, Molly, the photo stylist, arrived to walk through the house and talk about any last minute tweaking that was needed. The official shoot happened the following day. It was off to a little bit of a late start because Jay, the fun and super talented photographer, had to run out to a nearby camera shop and buy a new tripod because his broke on the airplane! Once that was situated we started in the foyer.

 

 

We actually ended up removing all of those frames up there for that shot. Which I’ve been meaning to do anyway. Just a bit too rustic for my taste these days. Doesn’t quite work next to my modern foyer feature wall. I’ll find a place for them though- as they hold photographs I took from our last trip to Napa:)

 

 

Another small mishap in the equipment: a new software program wasn’t allowing the photos to show up directly on the laptop screen immediately after snapping a pic, so periodically they’d have to pull the camera card out and insert it into the laptop to check out the photographs they just took. It slowed the process a bit, but it certainly didn’t phase me! I loved every bit of the experience!

 

 

 

 

 

It was so fun to watch their process. To get a good shot of our console table in the family room, they completely moved half of the sectional, flipped up the rug, and threw the drapes over the curtain rod to let more light in. 

 

 

That doesn’t exactly look magazine worthy. Lol! But I promise, what the camera pointed at was perfection! 🙂

 

To get a good angled shot of the Christmas buy generic viagra online europe tree, they actually pulled it completely off-center.

 

 

That’s Jay there on the floor trying to drag the tree where it needs to be:)

 

In the room, it made no sense. But for the actual photograph, I totally understood why they were doing what they were doing. It was all about the composition of the shot. Really took me back to my college days. I actually have a photography degree, but interestingly, I covet Molly’s job more than Jay’s! My love of photography is really all about the visual part of it all. I’ve always had a good eye for what looks good in a frame. I love styling shots. It’s the technical side I struggle with remembering! I need a refresher course! But the styling? LOVE! And I really appreciated that Molly was open to me helping or giving suggestions. I definitely sat back and let them do their thing, but I didn’t hesitate to ask questions along the way. Sure, this is a fun feature in a national magazine, but I had professionals at my fingertips, folks! I also looked at this as a learning experience and wanted to soak in all the info I could!

 

One of the most fun tid-bits I learned, is how much actually gets edited after the photo is taken. Did you know magazines get rid of outlets, light switches and any cords? There was a point in the day AFTER we were done shooting the foyer when I realized one of Zane’s tiny toys was on a shelf we shot. Lol. I think we threw it up there a few days prior because we didn’t want the dog to choke on it, and I completely forgot it was there! But it was no biggie! Easily removable when they edit later!

 

 

Just a random selfie to document the fake lashes I got for the day:) By the way, this isn’t what I wore for the portrait they took of me. They ended up wanting me in green. Which is fitting, really, considering green seems to be a bit of a trend in my home right now. If you know me, you know I have a weird love affair with green vintage books. I think that’s where it started:)

 

 

If you watched my InstaStory videos on Instagram recently, you may have seen me do a little shopping before this shoot:) Here are some pieces that I tried on. The blue velvet top I’m wearing in this photo is from Marshall’s, but I found similar ones below. Also, you can find that necklace by clicking HERE.

 

 

And that’s a wrap! Here I am with Molly and Jay before they were headed out the door at the end of a long, but really fun day. The day isn’t complete without a selfie with the crew, right? 🙂 A huge thank you to the two of them for their work and kindness. Molly did some Michael Jackson dance moves for Zane! And thank goodness she’s a dog-lover! She loved Gibson! We tried to get a photo, but Gibby was a bit too excited to sit still:)

 

Thank you all so much for your excitement in all of this! It was so fun to share this with you! Come fall, keep your eyes open for the Christmas Ideas issue! So excited to see my work in print!

 

Cheers,

Haneen

 

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