Monica Nera - Shooting a fashion lookbook on cold London streets

Today I have a fashion lookbook I shot for Monica Nera – and about shooting it on cold London streets! I am very behind on sharing some shoots and tips as I had a very busy summer end/autumn. But can’t wait to show you all the new work!. Many more posts coming now as I’m winding down towards the end of the year and planning. And laying ground work for the next one. (Though might do some personal shoots still if time allows.)

Firstly, how have you been? Would love to know your thoughts about the months that just passed – how you feel about your life at the moment. What are your next goals and how you plan to reach them? Share them below! As I am very reflective at this time of year and it’s always nice to share thoughts with others. Doing this day in, day out alone can feel very lonely indeed. Mine are to pitch intensely to start the next year well, I especially want to travel for shoots next year.

Team:

Photography: Ailera Stone
Styling, creative director: Jubbi
Model: Lihi Shochatovich
Brand: Monica Nera

Monica Nera Spring 2021 fashion lookbook

Yes these are from March 2021! We shot it, just the three of us, on a super cold March morning in Notting Hill, London. It’s still one of my favorite areas in London and I was super excited to shoot there again.

However, if anyone has tried to shoot a full lookbook outside in the cold, you know how not easy it is. We had so many outfits to do and the model starts getting colder and colder, and tea/coffee doesn’t help much anymore. Changing was also very difficult as well, as it was still Covid times and most cafes didn’t let you use their toilets etc. We had to change quickly outside most of the time, hiding the model from the street..

So if I could give any advice how to do these type of shoots better, it’s to firstly have a thermos with some hot tea to warm up the model up after every few outfits. Any time we are not shooting, model should be bundled up in something very warm. Also to have a changing tent, which we forgot on this day and made it more difficult on ourselves. And then to keep moving all the time! Moving shots are always my fave anyway and we had to do a lot of that here too to help with the cold as well. The walking shot above might be my fave, let me know yours?

Some shoots are more difficult than others and I usually avoid doing long shoots outside when it’s this cold, but Covid times made us adapt and try a lot of different things. And especially with London weather being unpredictable, it’s good to be prepared for anything. (It actually was pouring down the first day we were supposed to shoot this and we had to postpone.) You can see my other commercial work here on my blog too.