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Outside a cabin in Los Angeles last spring, Amy Kellner, a senior photo editor for DailyExpertNews Magazine, was puzzled. The prop stylist had ordered over 100 wildflowers, as well as proteas, tulips, and artificial flowers for comedian Seth Rogen, the subject of a cover shoot, to lie in. But when the photographer, Chris Buck, took test shots from above, he realized that Mr. Rogen’s features would appear distorted from that angle. So Mr. Buck came up with a quick solution: Thread the flowers onto chicken wire, held up by clamping standards—and ask a standing Rogen to poke his head through. “He was wild,” Mrs. Kellner said.
The shoot with mr. Rogen is just one of dozens of ambitious, stylistically inventive shoots that seemingly effortlessly appear in the magazine every year. But behind the scenes, weeks of preparation involve shoots, which can last up to four hours, involving more than a dozen people and resulting in hundreds of outtakes. Here’s a look at how they come together.
Brainstorming about the concept
Preparation for a photo shoot can take anywhere from a week to three months. The first step is a brainstorming meeting with the magazine’s creative team, led by Jake Silverstein, the editor-in-chief, Gail Bichler, the creative director, and Kathy Ryan, the director of photography. For the Mr. Rogen session, Ms. Kellner and Mr. Buck brainstormed for a week before proposing a dozen concepts. Their ideas include photographing Mr. Rogen in a teddy bear costume, with his head in a jar, and even with a swarm of woodland creatures, possibly with a skunk on his shoulder as a nod to marijuana (Mr. Rogen is the co-founder of a cannabis company).
Once everyone agrees on a concept, the creative team then works with the photographer to refine the idea – that can evolve until the day of shooting.
A celebrity may know the concept of a shoot before stepping on set, but sometimes the idea comes as a surprise or the plan changes. “You want to capture their personality, but sometimes you don’t know what that is until you meet them,” said David Carthas, photo editor for the magazine. “That’s the challenge.”
Preparation for the photo shoot
Before a shoot, photo editors try to learn as much as possible about their subjects, including how a subject has been photographed before, to ensure the concept is fresh.
“People have no idea how much research it takes to create original photography,” says Ms. Kellner.
The creative team goes out of their way to bring a concept to life. Every shoot has its own challenges and the team has to adapt quickly. For example, Ms. Kellner said the photographer, Zachary Scott, drove 14 hours from his backyard in California to the shoot location in Albuquerque for a cover shoot with actor Bob Odenkirk, Zachary Scott. Mr. Odenkirk ended up talking, dancing with and – finally – sitting on the cactus for a photo. (There was a small, clear piece of Plexiglas between him and the cactus.)
Even the images that spring from spontaneous ideas on set only happen because the creative team did the research and developed an aesthetic before shooting, Ms Ryan said. “You create your own happiness,” she said.
Taking risky photos
While the team will always shoot some conventional portraits, it’s the risky shots that usually end up in the magazine. “We have to take risks. We go in prepared and then the magic happens; then you are ready to embrace the spontaneous,” said Mrs. Ryan.
For example, the creative team and photographer Arielle Bobb-Willis had a vision for a monochrome shoot for Billie Eilish’s cover of the March 2020 issue. Mrs. Eilish was dressed all in green (including her green hair) and was photographed in front of a green background. She was eventually captured in an unusual pose: bending backwards.
“Arielle is great with choreography,” said Mr. Carthas, who produced the shoot. He said that she and Ms. Eilish got along well on set, which is why Ms. Eilish felt comfortable enough to move and pose as she did.
But even on a more minimalist shoot, an experienced photographer knows how to spin based on the mood of the subject, as Ruven Afanador, a Colombian-born photographer known for his elegant, modern portraiture, did when he captured Ruth Negga for the December 2021 Great Performers issue. Ms. Negga, who was quite playful on set, was eventually photographed with a curled mustache, which her makeup artist had drawn on her face with an eyeliner pencil.
“Sometimes these require huge planning,” Ms. Ryan said of photo shoots. “And sometimes someone has an unexpected, great idea that we can build on.”