Designing a Shoot: From Glam to In-N-Out Burger 

David Suh

10.11.17

So you ask… how did we go from a huge pastel flower crown to stuffing down a Double Cheeseburger at In-N-Out. 

Short answer: Tom, Neesha, and I styled the shoot 

Longer-blog-length answer: Well here we go

 

Getting to Know Tom and Neesha 
I can’t stress enough how important the in-person consultation is in the entire process of designing a custom photo shoot. 
Tom actually initially came to the consultation looking for professional headshots for his new startup company around healthy instant ramen called Smart Ramen, but Tom also mentioned that it’ll soon be his 8th anniversary being together with Neesha and that he wants to surprise her with a photo shoot. 
So next thing you know (with Tom being the romantic he is), we’re having another consultation – this time with Neesha. 
I asked them about how they met, how they survived doing long distance as Neesha went to UC San Diego while Tom was at UC Davis, and few other questions to get to know them better. Just after seeing them talk and interact for 5 minutes, I could see another level of comfort and security they felt around each other that I don’t see in other newer couples. 
That was a good sign. They were cool and comfortable. My job gets a lot easier when my clients are cool and comfortable. So we moved on to designing.
Designing the Shoot

Designing a shoot can either go in two directions: the client brings in their own ideas and concepts to tell me how exactly they want to look or the client fully trusts me to create a beautiful photo shoot for them. 

Neesha and Tom were in the latter group. They never had couple portraits taken and they both didn’t remember the last time they had their pictures taken. (First timers are one of my favorites to photograph!!)

So first we determined that the shoot was going to be two parts: First, for Neesha’s portraits and second, for the two of them together.

They liked the idea of studio portraits but also wanted some outdoors. I asked them if they had anywhere in mind, Tom brought up the classic arboretum. I thought aw they probably have cute memories from there but apparently, they’ve never been! So I rephrased the question to: “is there a significant spot in Davis where you shared a romantic moment?

“In-N-Out” Tom joked. 

ON THE SHOOT DAY

The shoot day came around fast and we started it off as we planned. We put Neesha into make-up & hair and glam’d it up in the studio.

Absolutely loved this dress Neesha brought <3

We got to utilize the beautiful flower crown we have and of course our oh-so-popular tulle dress (I really need to order more variety, seriously)! Of course, Tom was in and out of shots 🙂

Before we headed off to In-N-Out, we decided to hit up the park right next to us to get a few shots.

We captured some beautiful shots there but the sun was dropping so fast out of nowhere so with fresh In-N-Out burgers and fries in mind, we jolted for our cars and raced our way to our last stop.

Now, THIS is the proper way to end your 8th-anniversary photoshoot.

Hope everyone enjoyed this blog post with the gorgeous images as much as we enjoyed producing everything 🙂

Tell us what you thought in the comments below! Do you think Tom and Neesha should be recognized Couple of the Year by In-N-Out like I do? Or … will you contest it?