What are the considerations for making a shoot at a model’s home?

Model’s own homes are pretty much always the best location for abbywinters.com shoots. There’s a few reasons for this;

  • It’s personal and unique to her
    • This is exactly what our customers are seeking when they pay us
  • Each model’s home is different – decorations, layout, style, furniture, view from windows
    • Thus, minimal set-dressing is necessary
  • We’ll have access to the model’s full wardrobe, so we can identify ideal and unusual clothes to include in the shoot
    • Including items she may not have thought to bring if she was to travel to a different location
  • There will be many props available for use in the shoot
    • Props of all types, but especially Personal and Sentimental props (the most valuable to our customers), again, things the model may not have thought to bring, or were too awkward to bring to another location
  • It’s more convenient for the Shoot Producer 
    • That is, they don’t have to find a separate location for this shoot

However, shooting at the model’s own home is rarely possible because most models don’t live in the same city as our Shoot Producers. 😔

Even when models do live in the same city as the Shoot Producer, making shoots at her home may not be possible. Common reasons include;

  • The model lives with her parents, and she does not want parents to know;
  • The model lives with flatmates who are “always home”, so it’s not possible for shoot to be kept private;
  • Home is too small and their partner works from home;
  • The model is concerned what neighbours would see and say;
  • The model is embarrassed to show the simplicity of their home (not “fancy” enough);
  • Concerns about the risk of Covid-19 contamination;
  • Not comfortable for other reasons.

Model Liaisons work with models to determine if this is possible in the Shoot Booking stage of the proces, and will inform Shoot Producers when it is possible. 

Considerations when making a shoot at a model’s home is possible

Just because making a shoot at a model’s home is possible does not mean it’s practical. Consider;

  • Travel distance for the Shoot Producer
  • Parking for the Shoot Producer
  • Audio issues at the location (airport, major roads, construction, schools, etc)
  • Other people present in the home
  • How the location looks
  • The size of the location / settings

Checking out the travel distance, parking and likely audio issues can be done using Google Maps in most cases. 

For the rest, we need to get more info from the model before we can make a decision. Email the model – use this template (it’s fine to modify it to suit the situation);

SUBJ: Making the shoot at your home

Hey,

Model Liaison [Booking Model Liaison fname] let me know that making this shoot at your home might be possible – it’d be great if we can do that! There are a few considerations for me to be able to make this work, so can you please let me know;

Is it your home at [address listed in MDB]?

How many people live there? Would they be home when we make the shoot?

What rooms could we shoot in? (your bedroom or the lounge room are probably ideal, but can we actually shoot there? Any other spaces we could shoot?)

Can you please send me images of each room or area we could shoot in? Just with your smartphone is fine, as “wide angle” as possible.

Is there any construction going on near you currently? (I am concerned about the sound such works make)

Best regards,

[sig]

Engage the model in conversation to reveal the details we need to know to make a decision. Consult The Collective on WhatsApp on how to proceed 0 provide all the info learned so far about the situation.

Consider that travelling a few hours to get to a low quality location – even if it’s the model’s own – may not be worthwhile.

Special considerations for model’s own locations

Some models live in sparsely furnished homes, perhaps as rudimentary as a mattress on the floor with a phone charger and a hair brush… and not much else. That’s fine, there’s no need to set-dress these locations. Showing how the model really lives “trumps” the normal requirement for colourful locations.

ABOVE: In this shoot of Helen, we see how sparsely she lived. That’s fine for an abbywinters.com shoot – even if there was no mosquito net, no pink sheet, and no cardboard-box-wrapped-in-a-blue-sarong side-table, it would still be ideal, because it’s how she really lives (a British backpacker in Sydney, in this case).

 

ABOVE: Conversely, in this shoot of Kara, there was not one square inch of the floor that was uncovered – clothes and the detritus of her life was everywhere. This is also excellent for an abbywinters.com shoot!