Behind the scenes at the Pomalo photoshoot

Working with Andrea Hilgers to bring her vision for Pomalo to life has been an absolute joy, and working with her on the brand photoshoot was no exception! SUCH a full on day with barely a moment to breathe, we worked through an enormous shot list with exceptional efficiency and created an abundance of beautiful imagery. As ever, the brilliant Michael Jackson at Saltwick was my willing accomplice and did the most beautiful job.

There was an awful lot to cover, and capturing it all within a day was a tall order - and that’s before you consider that our shoot was scheduled for late February when the British weather is less than predictable (in fact, it was less than a week after storm Eunice - so that weather really was precarious!).

The Pomalo brand has enormous depth to it; food, curious collaboration, family, generous hospitality, celebrating the countryside, and a sense of place. We decided to capture the distinct sides of the Pomalo brand with several ‘chapters’ within the shoot, which together weave together to tell a richer story. For each, we looked to different styling cues to create the correct mood, which meant considering props, space, outfits and subject. Lots to think about!

Chapter one: food

To get the most out of Andrea’s investment in the shoot, we planned with meticulous attention to detail to ensure we had absolutely everything she’d need in order to launch her brand with the right feel. This involved 4 (or was it 5?) outfit changes, several set ups in different rooms, and moving between the house, gardens and grounds to cover the full scope of everything that makes the Pomalo brand so special.

Chapter two: collaboration

Andrea had enlisted the help of her incredibly talented florist friend Amy at Beahatti Blooms; her mum was on hand, as was her husband Paul, her children came home for a quick shoot at lunchtime and a couple of friends also made an appearance for '‘guest’ scenes. I’d built a Pinterest board to express the images I wanted to capture, which Andrea and Amy ran with to bring the styling to life. On the day, they already had two spaces styled to perfection, with plenty of flowers and props lined up for spontaneous shots too. Andrea has an exceptional eye for detail and between us, we had discussed the mood for each set up - we wanted to create a relaxed, family feel in the kitchen, a formal feel in the dining room, a dreamy outdoors-y feel for the picnic scene, a convivial mood in the outside dining space and something cosy and creative in the glasshouse. The props, flowers and styling had all been prepared accordingly. This level of preparation requires so much thought and hard work ahead of the day, but meant that we could blast through our shot list with everything we needed at our fingertips.

Chapter three: family

Chapter four: hospitality

Chapter five: celebrating the countryside

‘We’ was, of course, me and our good friend Michael at Saltwick who threw every bit of energy, creativity and humour into the shoot. We arrived at 9 with a clear plan for the day ahead - a bursting shot list and visual prompts for the styling I knew I’d need to do on the day. One of the things I love most about working with Michael is the magic that happens when two minds come together - we approach each shot slightly differently yet with the same commitment to excellence. Whilst I take care of the finer styling (with a smart eye on the shots I know I’ll need for practical purposes - banner images for websites, product images for marketing pieces, a variety of headshots…) Michael can spot moments as they unfold and gives exactly the right level of direction to nail each shot.

Chapter six: sense of place

The results are absolutely stunning. Enormous thanks to all involved, especially to Andrea and Paul who gave us free rein of their beautiful home to set up all the shots we dreamt up. And despite Michael’s worries of my ‘that ain’t gonna happen’ shot list, we covered everything! I think you’ll agree that our collective efforts ahead of the day really paid off and the mages speak for themselves.