P&G Beauty.ca – photoshoot destinations

The Distillery District, Toronto

 

Travel is the envy of many of us – especially when its part of our work. For those who regularly go off on location shoots – always heading to the ocean, sun and fun destinations – the search for the perfect recipe for a location shoot is the key. Stylists find inspiration in the unique cultures and environment, but what happens when budgets are restricted due to the recession?

Donna Bishop of Agency Vert sees the trend turning to interesting areas in our major cities to save money. “Location shooting has been affected by the recession,” explains Bishop,” there’s less staff, more in-studio work and a focus on simple propping to keep costs down.” Stylists are expected to draw from their experience for inspiration, when the exotic destination location is no longer an option. Even with magazine publication schedules still fixed on three to six months in advance, tighter budgets mean stylists are looking to be creative with less.

Locales such as London, South Beach, Iceland and the Mexican Riviera, which had figured prominently for many Canadian magazine location shoots, are replaced by major city hot spots, such as historic neighbourhoods and trendy boutique hotels. Each area presents a challenge for style teams to refocus their efforts for magazine, television and film with smaller budgets.

In Toronto, The Drake Hotel and the Gladstone Hotel are prime location shoot destinations while the historic Distillery District offers another avenue with its 19th century architecture and industrial areas. Cities such as Vancouver and Montreal are also focusing their energies into locations close to home – for west coasters there’s an abundance of photo-worthy landscape with the city’s Stanley Park, as well as ski resort Whistler/Blackcomb. In Montreal, Vieux Montreal and several of their boutique hotels such as W Hotel, Hotel Vogue or Le Saint Sulpice are at the top of the list for photo shoots.

So although stylists aren’t benefitting from lavish budgets of the past – their skills and experience are being challenged in new ways by the big city.

First published in P&G Beauty.ca http://pgbeauty.ca/2009/06/17/photoshoot-destinations-trendy-and-historic-top-the-list/