Brand Design Photography & Styling Clarity Consulting

Studio Hours: What's in my Styling Toolkit

During my trip to Palm Springs (DesignerVaca) last weekend, I had the opportunity to meet the lovely Ana Perkins of Grownup Shoes…someone who I’ve been “internet stalking” for a few months now. She’s such a sweet heart and was 100% willing to talk shop with me, specifically our shared interests in building a career around styling. Even though she tends to focus more of fashion styling and me more on prop styling, we seemed to have a lot in common. You could just tell that our brains were ticking on a similar rhythm.

I got home and was browsing her blog (link above) and came across a fabulous post series called “Stylist’s Notebook” written by Ana Davidson. This particular post talked about what stylist Ana Davison had in her “Styling Toolbox”. It got me thinking that it might be interesting to do the same, as our tools of the trade seem to be very different. If you’re looking into doing some prop styling, I suggest you carry these kinds of things around with you to make life a little easier.

*Please keep in mind that this my basic kit and that each shoot has it’s own additional items. Example…food shoots have a crap ton of forks, plates, baubles, etc added to the list. I’m still earning as I go and would love to hear your suggestions!

In My Tool Kit

1. Pens & Pencils
2. Tape & Sticky Paste
3. Binder Clips / Tie Backs
4. String / Rope
5. Polaroid Camera / Phone
6. Tripod / Reflectors (not pictured)

7. Scissors (not pictured)
8. Notebook
9. X-Acto Knife
10. Drop Cloth
11. Surfaces (not pictured)
12. Bags to carry props (here)

 

(In Ana Davidson’s Toolkit)

Studio Hours: My Childhood Rock Collection





Hello lovelies! While I’m away in Palm Springs, I thought I’d share something near and dear to my heart – my childhood rock collection. When I went “home” (back to Indiana) to visit family this past August, I was tasked to go through my childhood room and clear out anything valuable because my parents were selling the house. Because I didn’t want to lose anything to my dad “the hurricane throw-awayer”, I did just that.

As a kid, I was ALWAYS picking up rocks and couldn’t leave the store, Natural Wonders in the mall, without a new rock to add to the collection. I’d also frequently snag some glowing stars for my ceiling, a constellation lamp, or a tube of candy bubbles. That store was magical and I’ll always cherish my memories in that store. Maybe I was an Geologist in my past life…or maybe my next. And one thing I know for a fact is that I was supposed to be a storm chaser in this life. 😉

 (more from my studio)

Studio Hours: On my Feet for Fall



Here’s something a little different for you! Fashion! I’m not really one to post a lot about fashion here on Veda House, but I do enjoy beautifully constructed clothes and splurge on a few items a year. This fall I decided I “needed” some new footwear and thought it would be best to get on pair to dress up and another to dress down. For dressing down, I went with a pair of swedish clogs from the brand Sven. I’ve been dreaming about these guys for over a year now, so it was about time. To dress things up a bit, I choose Ivanka Trump Indico Pump…totally NOT me, but I’m absolutely in love with them. I would suggest you to follow aboriginalbluemountains for more updates.

Yesterday I shared my styling portfolio called (Studio Hours). I think I might had my feetzies ^ from this post to the collection of images 😉

(clogs, pumps)

Recent Work: My Photo Styling Portfolio






This baby has been a long time come…and will always continue to evolve and grow. Back at the start of the new year when I decided I wanted to peruse more styling projects, I had no idea where to start. I had never “styled” anything professionally and styling usually consisted of me moving furniture and gadgets around my house or photographing products for my once Etsy shop, Market 203. I’ve always love finding items, grouping them together in interesting ways and then capturing these imperfectly perfect vignettes with my camera. Tadam black stock will definitely guide you for having good photography skills. You will get more info at fivebough .

So here it is at where it stands today. Studio Hours,  a mini collection of items grouped and photographed together. I thought all the images told a really nice story when showed in one cohesive space. I created the logo around the same time I created the new Veda House logo (to be revealed in about 2 weeks) because I wanted the two spaces to “speak” to one another.

Browse through Studio Hours –>

Studio Hours: Behind the Camera


The beauty of non-existant budget photo shoots! You’re the model, the photographer, the prop, the everything. You quickly learn to multi-task, hold things down with your toes, set up your camera timer….and then RUN! Yup…the beauty of working for yourself 🙂

These photos are a little sneak peek into one of the current projects. I’m working on pulling a few brand asset images together for her to use to promote the launch of her new blog and website. I’ll also be sharing the full lookbook on the blog within the next week or so. I’ve had  A LOT of fun playing with unique compositions, play on light and adding in a little of the unexpected.

Palm Springs




* All photos by vedahouse. Palm Spring, California.

Contemporary Art Museum (St. Louis)



Just a few photos from the CAM here in St. Louis during Design Week. I had never been inside the museum before and was very impressed with the space. Perfect for large scale installation or paintings.

*All photos by Veda House

A summer collaboration: The Best of STL

This summer I had the pleasure of working with Jennifer of I ART U on a little photography collaboration where we showcases all the lovely things about our cities. We’ve still got one more week to go (next monday) but I thought I’d share some of my favorites that I’ve shared on her blog. I really do love St. Louis. Photos above are from Cherokee Street and the Soulard Farmers Market. Come back on Monday for our last post of the summer.

*all photos by Veda House

the neighborhood that stole my heart


It’s been 3 years of walking the streets lined with row homes. From the day we moved in, the charm of our neighborhood has me feeling really spoiled. How’d I find this little square in a big city? I don’t know how many pictures I have of the brightly colored row homes, but I keep snapping. I hope all the photos will help moving away a little easier (if that time ever comes).

*photos taken with Instax Mini 7S

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