How to work as a group by LaTressa

Last months theme was "family Christmas cards". We got some pretty intense awkwardness and amazingness, that's for sure! I don't even have words for it. Go look for yourself.

The dream keeps coming true with each new group that joins in. Here are some tips from LaTressa on how the group she plays with plan their photoshoots.


People often ask "Where do you get all your ideas?!" Well, I'll give you a little insight into what goes on in the mind of this silly girl when preparing for a Silly Girls Photo shoot.

Before I even know what the month's theme is, I like to brainstorm with my group to get any suggestions for themes we'd like to do, costumes we'd like to dress up in, etc. One tip is to think back on your childhood... what kind of things did you like to pretend or dress up as? Did you love to make-believe you were a princess, an astronaut, a rock-star, an animal? Reconnect with your inner child and you will probably find it easy to come up with inspiration. So we start throwing ideas out there, and see how everyone reacts. If all seem excited by a particular idea, we add it to a list we keep in my phone notebook. So, once we've got our list of ideas we all think we'd enjoy seeing come to life, we save that until we find out what the theme is for the upcoming month is. If nothing immediatly pops into our heads as an idea for that theme, we go to our list and see if any of those ideas would fit in with the theme. Once we decide which direction we want to go in, we start letting our creativity take over, and it all sort of falls into place from there.

One thing we do to prepare for our shoot is go through our closets, our husband's closets, our mom's closets, wherever we can think to get clothing and accesories that will fit with our theme. Most of the time we find what we need and just have to put outfits together creativily with stuff we already own. But occasionally we will do a little thrift store/yard sale shopping, searching for that perfect piece that will complete our look. We have get together a couple weeks before our shoot, and bring all our clothes/jewelry/accessories/props together and share and swap stuff to make our outfits cohesive and coordinate our looks.

When it comes to putting an outfit(s) together for a specific style, we find it helpful to go to the internet and search images in that theme, we will copy those pics and share them with each other through texts or facebook messages. It helps the ideas flow and gets you in the right mood, and then we take those ideas we like and apply them, and add our own twist and flare to make it "ours."

The next step, once we've figured out our outfits and costumes, is to find a perfect location. We all brainstorm and suggest what we think might be a good backdrop for the occasion. If nothing comes immediately to mind, we each do a little looking around before we meet up for the shoot. I like to drive around town and keep my eyes open for any place that would make a good spot. I've found lots of great places just by doing "drive-by's".

So that is basically a step-by-step of our process of coming up with, and carrying out our ideas for Silly Girls Photo shoots. I find it a perfect outlet for my creativity, and enjoy stretching my artistic muscles to come up with new ideas and seeing them come to life. I think the most important part is to have FUN with the whole process!!! Don't be afriad of or concerned with what people will think, choose themes that get you excited and make you giggle. Sometimes you have to go outside your comfort zone, but that encourages growth, and makes for some great memories and interesting photos you can enjoy for years to come!