Photo Session Styling: Sisters Vintage Farmhouse Shoot with Joshua Hohweiler

I’m excited to share our “Haunted Farmhouse Shoot” shoot with you on the blog today…

I first posted a few pics from this session back in March, but so many of you requested the styling details on this shoot that I had Mrs. Gatsby (who does most of our session styling) pull a post together… so, here goes… let me introduce you to my better half…

Session Styling by Mrs. Gatsby:

I had so much fun styling this session with these two sweet sisters!  I love when we get the opportunity to style sessions, and these two silly girls were a joy to work with!

When I start planning a shoot, I typically start with my notebook of ideas/concepts.  I typically keep a notebook with me at all times (I’m a list maker), and when I see something that sparks an idea for a potential shoot, I jot down a note or sketch that I can reference later.  Yes, I know, actual pen and paper… I’m a little old school in that respect ; )  I also keep categorized Pinterest inspiration boards where I can pin images that inspire ideas for shoots such as hairstyles, scenery, locations, outfit inspirations, etc.  They are a great reference point for bringing a concept together!   I definitely recommend finding some method of getting your ideas down when you have them because, if you’re anything like me, you’ll forget them almost as soon as you have them!

For this shoot, in particular, the inspiration actually came from one of our old family photographs.  I was looking through one of Josh’s Great Grandmother’s albums (she was very into photography in the 20’s and 30’s… how cool is that?!), and I found the inspiration picture.  It sparked the idea of a vintage country styled session with two sisters, so I filed the idea away for just the right session…

I typically have “go to” clothing brands for certain looks.  For children’s vintage styled clothes, two of these brands are Blu Pony Vintage and Dagmar Daley, which the girls wore here.  We styled Race in a cranberry colored dress by Blu Pony Vintage with gorgeous saddle style shoes by Joyfolie and lace trimmed knee socks.  We kept her hair simple with a bow clip, also by Joyfolie, to add a little interest.  I loved the cranberry color of Race’s dress for this shoot because (1) it was fitting with the vintage theme of the shoot and (2) since we were going to be shooting with two subjects, I didn’t want either outfit to overpower the other.  This cranberry color allowed me to add a color that could stand alone for solo pics while still allowing for the addition of a second subject in other shots.

For her sister, we obviously wanted to keep with the same vintage feel, but in a different, complimentary color way.  I typically shy away from a matching color scheme in sessions with multiple subjects.  In my opinion, different, but complimentary, tones add so much more interest to a photo with more than one subject.  For Pyper, we chose a taupe/gray dress by Dagmar Daley, and to add a little interest, as well as to tie back to the lace detail in Race’s dress, we added a Lace trimmed skirt by Jak and Peppar as an under layer.  I find that layering as well as choosing fabrics with texture is a great way to give an outfit subtle interest.  Pyper’s boots are some of my all-time favorites, again by Joyfolie, and we completed her outfit with a multi colored necktie and an emerald colored hairpin (both vintage) to add a pop of color to her more muted outfit.  For me, pops of color are another key!

As for the location… that was all Joshua!  He scouted out a few spots in a rural country setting that we’ve shot at before, but stumbling upon this gorgeous 1900s farmhouse was pure chance… Don’t you love when that happens?!  The owners couldn’t have been nicer about letting us shoot in front of their home, and honestly, those images made the session for me!

Thanks for letting me blog today… I enjoyed sharing my process for styling this shoot with you!  Would you like to see more session styling details featured in future blog posts?

*All Color images were edited with a combination of actions from the Innocence and Three Nails Collections.  All Black & White images were edited with actions and overlays from the Wet Plate Collection.

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