Since 2007, I have been shooting “The Cool Book”, a catalog produced by the Top 50 boutique prom & evening wear shops in the United States.  The Cool Book is the brain child of Meg Walters, owner of Henri’s Cloud Nine in Minerva, OH and Columbus, OH.  This video was produced to show the 50 “Cool Book Member Stores” how the catalog was produced during their annual meeting in August.

The Cool Book isn’t the standard catalog, Meg refers to it as a “Magalog” – part magazine, part catalog.  Through there are very few words in the publication, we produce it in sections with 8-12 page “stories”.  Together with Creative Director, Christopher Widdoes, each year we try to come up with new concepts and ideas to feature the 100+ dresses in the catalog.  Months of pre-production, set building, location scouting, and casting lead up to the 6-day shoot that takes place in July.

For the last two years, we’ve shot in the Akron/Canton area of Ohio.  Though it’s always been our goal to move to a new city each year, we loved working in the Akron area because of the variety of locations and because it’s close to home for the staff that comes from Henri’s Cloud Nine to work on the shoot.  (You can read more about last year’s shoot, and the whole process in last year’s post.)

This year we shot 114 dresses, over 6 days, at 6 different locations (plus two days in studio), with 14 models, 3 wardrobe stylists, 3 makeup artists, 9 photo assistants, and two videographers.  We estimate that our team brought about 20,000 pounds of equipment from New York to Akron, Ohio for the shoot. Our first production meeting was in February, the shoot was in July, the catalog went to print in November, and this week it’s being mailed to 1.5 million high school girls.

The Images

Here’s 24 of the 92 images we captured:

The Team

Executive Producer: Meg Walters
Produced By: RedFOG Visual Media
Photographer / Director: Kevin Michael Reed
Creative Director: Christopher Widdoes
Models: Viviane @ Major Model Management, Tatsiana @ Fenton Moon, Kianna, Anna Sophie @ Q Models, Scott @ Red Model Management, Eric @ Q Models, Kendal, Kaitlin White, Summer, Anastasia, Riley, Haley, Lauren
Production Manager: Kristine Guzman @ RedFOG Visual Media
Production Coordinator: Jillian Parra
Transportation Coordinator: Sara Waltz
Key Hair & Makeup: Austin Ryde
Asst. Hair & Makeup: Michael Bondi @ Edge Artistry & Tiffany Knight @ Edge Artistry
Wardrobe Stylists: Nick Tuttle, Nate Green, Christopher Widdoes
1st Assistant: Eric Pearson
2nd Assistant: John Keiger
3rd Assistant: B. Charles Johnson
Assistants: Katie Hayes, Elliot Townsend
Behind The Scenes Photographer: Scott Berens
Retoucher: Jeffrey Scott Fogarty
Asst. Retoucher: Jessica Teng
Locations: Kridler Gardens (Homeworth, OH), Kopp Clay Company (Malvern, OH), Greystone Hall (Akron, OH), Glen Oak High School (Canton, OH), The Art Factory (Akron, OH)
Set Design: Kevin Michael Reed
Set Renderings: Jeffrey Scott Fogarty
Carpenter: Jeffrey Scott Fogarty
Asst. Carpenter: Eric Michael Pearson
Accommodations: Hilton Garden Inn (Canton, OH)
Catering: Kishman’s IGA (Minerva, OH), The Greystone (Akron, OH)
Equipment: The Set Shop, Adorama, Dodds Camera, General Rent-All, B&H Photo-Video
Production Insurance: Tom C. Pickard & Co

About the author

Kevin Michael Reed
Kevin Michael Reed (Google+, Facebook) is a fashion & beauty photographer and producer/director based in New York City and Los Angeles, CA. He is the President/CEO of RedFOG Visual Media, a production company in New York City, and a partner in Passion of Photography, Inc, a company dedicated to teaching photographers and sharing our passion through charitable causes. Kevin has lectured and hosted workshops throughout the United States and the world teaching photographers the business and creative sides of photography. (Kevin's Fashion & Beauty Photography Portfolio can be seen here).