Calendar Girl
Shoot a calendar in a day, you say? No way! You are crazy! It can’t be done!
Well, when Christi, Lela, and our good friend Jo Makay (aka Millie Rose Mitchell) got together we proved it COULD be done. In fact, I’d say we knocked out of the park. We made a goal of shooting all twelve months plus a cover in a day and we got ‘er done in under 9 hours. We had 13 different looks with 5 different hairstyles and a few makeup touch-ups. Lela is a wiz on hair and makeup and figured out the perfect progression for our hairstyles and makeup looks while Christi got the sets ready. We mapped out this plan to make transitions easy! Jo and I had already gone over each month’s looks at a previous date and had the perfect outfits lined up using mostly items from Jo’s personal vintage collection. Her collection is something to behold! Her bedroom-turned-closet houses looks from the early 1900s to the late ’80s with the bulk of her wardrobe being from the fashionable 1950s. We had a blast picking these ensembles out with jewelry, purses, and shoes to match! Each month was perfectly on a theme from the outfit to the accessories to the fun backdrops Christi came up with! Having someone to help get me in and out of each look also helped us stay on schedule.
Thankfully, I am a quick shot, and Christi and I work so well together we nailed each look in very few tries. The hardest part of the whole day was picking out which images to use for each month! We had SO many good ones to choose from! Each shot better than the last and because HMU and wardrobe were so on point and Christi knows lighting so well, the images were amazing straight from the camera! I had never seen myself look so well put together! I was so pleased with how the photos turned out. We hemmed and hawed over which ones to choose and in the end, we had an amazing calendar lined up. Too bad it happened to be a calendar for the worst year on record most of our lives. I ended up selling them to raise money for various charities so hopefully, despite this year’s hardships, it brings a smile to everyone who purchased one month after month! I may need to make another one once 2020 is behind us!
Christi and I agreed doing a calendar in a day is not for the faint of heart or a less experienced “model” (though I don’t consider myself a model… I have just taken a lot of photos!). For most people wanting to do something like this, I would recommend doing four looks OR spreading it out over two days for the sake of Hair/Make-up and shooting. We proved it can be done but after 8.5 hours at the studio I was ready to go home, put on comfy clothes, and finally eat something!
Lela and Christi of Grinkie Girls Photography really are a dream team, so if it is your goal to do something like this do not hesitate! Pull the trigger and book your calendar shoot. You will be glad you did!
