Humble beginnings

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It's been a busy month with two weddings, a major photo shoot, new client meetings, and prepping for a jaunt to the lake with my family. Pink & Honey is still on a learning journey and moments of doubt and confusion are inevitable. One of the biggest challenges seems to be educating about the role and value of an event stylist.

As a new and somewhat abstract field, there's a long way to go in best explaining and showcasing the value a stylist adds to a wedding or event. I've also found myself acting as a creative director on several projects and photo shoots. Again, a role that can be somewhat convoluted.

The pioneer of wedding styling, Joy Thigpen, explains it well: 

I see the role of Creative Director as keeper of the vision…responsible for setting the best possible course and eliciting the best work out of each team member involved in the project to serve the end goal. It is my job to bring everyone and everything together in an aesthetically pleasing, cohesive way.

Most of my styling work involves finding objects, combining them in ways that are interesting and appealing, and then arranging and tweaking them so that they look best for cameras, guests, and viewers alike.

It was relieving to read this passage and remind myself of what I'm doing and why. While attending Joy's styling workshop several months ago, we did an exercise that showed the skill it takes to make the ordinary extraordinary.

The simple project was shooting what Joy carries in her diaper bag for a feature on the sweet blog, On to Baby. It involved using what we had in the room and arranging the items from her bag to be photographed.

Nothing was pre-planned, just on the spot styling and shooting. It was incredible to see how beauty and interest can be created with the most simple of items, techniques and vision.

Here's how it happened...

Photo by Joey Kennedy 

Here's what happened...

Photo by Rylee Hitchner

There is typically so much planning behind good styling, but there is also a naturally possessed skill of being able to quickly create something incredible in a less than ideal environment or with the most humble of means. Such as a diaper bag full of mommy stuff.  

A true stylist or creative director is someone with the passion and ability to bring a beautiful vision, big or small, to life. 

Tonight I remind myself... from humble beginnings... 

See the full On to Baby post here.