Yesterday, Gem PR & Media undertook our second fashion shoot at the Springfield Racquet & Fitness Center with the unbelievably talented Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer Photography, models Lauren and Brett, hair by Javita Martin of BJ Grand Salon and Spa, make up by Miranda Mogle of Pure Skin and clothes kindly supplied by Scheels. It was an extremely successful shoot full of professionalism and positive energy.

Much goes into the fashion shoot for Springfield’s Own Magazine. There are weeks of preparation, which include meetings between the team to decide on a concept, sourcing models, a location, organizing and selecting clothing, deciding on make up and hair. Work begins between two to three months before the shoot takes place and up to five months before the edition is published. This means we can often end up shooting the fashion pages and front cover in seasonal weather conditions that will have passed by the time the magazine is in the hands of our readers. For example, we shot the November / December edition on a sunny September afternoon and luckily it wasn’t too hot for our models who were dressed in festive party gear. Our models are not paid, but provide their time free of charge and for that we are very grateful. All of our models work and live in or around Springfield. Like we’ve said before, this is a magazine for Springfield by people in Springfield – and we’re proud of it.

We intend to keep our readers on their toes though. Each edition we plan on having a different concept, location and clothing for our fashion shoot. The shoot itself can take between four and six hours, depending upon location, number of outfits and weather conditions (we managed to get our outdoor photos for the January / February edition done just before it started to pour yesterday).

There’s still plenty of work to do once the shoot has taken place. Kate, Chris and I usually wade through between three and five hundred images to pick out between 10 and 12 of our favorites, which also allows for a selection of different outfits, poses, expressions etc. When it all comes together it’s a brilliant feeling. We are so lucky that we have the opportunity to work with great people in this awesome city. We hope you have enjoyed the shoot in the current edition and don’t forget to look out for the January / February issue next year!