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)

14 comments on “Studio Hours: What's in my Styling Toolkit

    1. What kind of things would you like to learn? I’m open to sharing what I know or what I’ve learned along the way. Let me know and I can see what I can do!

      Thanks for stopping by!

  1. Really really loved reading Ana’s post about what’s in her toolbox! I would love to get more into prop styling so it’s great to get an insight as to what the pros take along 🙂 Often I kick myself in the butt for forgetting something and then have to make-shift!! Thanks for sharing what’s in your basic toolbox, too – I love your cohesive b+w 🙂

  2. Thanks so much for this Cassie! I “stalk” Ana Perkins as well and love all her styling posts, but I’m more interested in prop styling. I love your Studio Hours posts and this one was perfect!

  3. I’ve been thinking about setting up a little photo corner at my place. Sadly the lighting in this place is terrible and there’s not very much natural light (especially where I was planning to set up). If I could I would use mostly natural light but especially with winter around the corner that’s just going to get trickier, sooo….I’m looking for additional options. Do you use anything specific for lighting or have any suggestions?

    1. Hi Alicia,
      Sorry I can’t be much help in this department. Because I ONLY shoot with natural daylight, I’m the chick that pushes a photo shoot to another day if the clouds are out!

    2. That’s great tho! I’ve been the same for years. The only time I used a studio was when I was still in school. I need to move to a place with more light….:)

  4. Yay! So happy you shared this! I think this is a great starter kit for styling since so many different types of photos would need drastically different things!

  5. Hey Cassie!

    It would be great if you could just show us some or any of your basic styling tip + tricks. As a newbie blogger I am trying to learn myself and it is always great to learn from others you respect!

    Have a great weekend!

Leave a Comment

Loading...