A few months ago Insta account @UOVirginia reached out to me and Tori Radday about a potential collaboration. Vanna from UO noticed Tori and I tagging her @UOVirginia account very regularly. She loved our work together and wanted us to create content for their Instagram.
After all expectations had been set, Tori and I met with Vanna at the UO in Shortpump a few days prior to the shoot to pick out three outfits. Vanna told us about some themes she would like to work off of and then let us free. From there Tori styled the outfits with her own accessories, while I planned out the locations.
The first outfit was my absolute favorite. I love clothing with texture and a bold pattern. Because of the complexity of this outfit, I wanted a plain urban/warehouse background. I actually have had this location picked out for a few months and was waiting for the right outfit. I also have been obsessed with these shiny wall hangings and wanted to use them for a shoot. Shoutout to Vanna for shaking them in the background while I shot.
For the second outfit we started with this green dress from Urban. One of the themes Vanna told us about was "cozy", so we grabbed this big sweater from Urban too. Since the outfit was focused around greens and shades of gold, I really wanted to go to the yellow wall in Carytown where Tori and I frequently shoot. Along the way we stopped at some white backgrounds. I also chose to quickly go to the overpass for the final location for this outfit to add some variety.
The third outfit was a cute, red dress that had a low cut back. The dress was more formal, so I really wanted it to feel like a holiday shoot. When I think New Year's Eve I think shiny, metallic, sequence, and anything along those lines. There is a metallic background in an alley near my house that I chose for the first location. Again, the goal of this shoot is to highlight the outfits, so I wanted the backgrounds to be simple, but with slight texture.
For the second location we wanted to the Byrd Theater in Carytown. It has a lot of old charm and Tori radiates vintage, so it was a great fit. The first challenge was that we were chasing the sun. The second challenge was shooting in Carytown on a Sunday around the holidays. So many people were out in the streets and it was very difficult to get a good shot. I bumped up the ISO and had to wait for my opportunity to shoot between crowds of people.
Overall the collab was very successful and a lot of fun. Big thanks to Vanna from Urban Outfitters for being a fantastic partner. She really let Tori and I take over creatively and offered assistance where ever she could. I love creating Instagram content and it was a dream come true to work with @UOVirginia. I would say that you can expect at least one more collaboration between us three.
BTS: I used my Canon 6D Markii and my 2.8 24-70mm lens. I kept my aperture at 2.8 for all of the photos.
Photographer: Me, Rachel Dwyer - Website - Instagram
Model: Tori Radday - Website - Instagram
Partner: Urban Outfitters Virginia - UO's website - Instagram