5 Must-have items for the prop styling toolkit
Being a stylist can be a really glamour affair be it a prop stylist or a fashion stylist. It gives us an opportunity to publish our work in various renowned magazines such as Zink Magazine, Dress to Kill, Spade, Fantastikmag, and many more.
For instance, a stylist and designer Salem Moussallam who works in Toronto for the past seven years had the privilege of having his work published in the said magazines. Salem Moussallam also got the chance to work with many high profile photographers such as Josh Cornell, and David Ho for collaborations with BCBG, Herve Lege, Nine West, and Dean Davidson.”As a prop stylist, we can also look forward to attaining such heights. If we are determined and well organized from the very beginning.
Whenever we go to style an image we can always find bits and bobs for no matter what we are styling. Though there are thousands of props that we need to keep handy when it comes to prop styling. But there are certain things we must not miss and always keep them handy so our props are straight, to capture the right angles of all the products in question. And to ensure that what we get in the end is a refined top quality image!
So if we have to go for another shoot an image we will be more than well prepared with our Stylist Toolkit along with camera kit too. It can be very handy because not only does it save us from running back and forwards and accidentally tripping over props or camera cords, but it also because it makes the overall styling process way more efficient!
So here are the topmost must have things in the Stylist Toolkit:
Fishing Line:
It doesn’t matter if we are going fishing or not but having them can be Well worth a catch! Fishing lines can save the day when we are hanging thing’s from the ceiling. For example, it is at times of something like a hanging plant which at even the slightest breeze starts swinging like anything. This can get things a bit tricky when we are trying to get the shot of the nice side’ of the plant in the photo or when we are taking shots with slow shutter speeds as it makes everything blurry.
But worry not as we have fishing lines to save our day. We can tie the fishing line to the moving object and tie the other end to the nearby object of tape it nearby. This ensures the object doesn’t move and we the fishing line doesn’t even appear in the photo either. Magic!
Sticky Hooks:
Sticky can be termed as a boon to the hanging world of the prop stylist.
A box of these sticky hooks close by can make a difference when we are ready to move the prints around the house or for prop styling on sets when we have to use fake walls or need to put on a piece of art or a hanging plant to fill the frame of an image
Rulers:
If there is a perfectionist around or we can’t bear the slightest of error in the lineup of the props. Then we must have a ruler at dispense to make sure everything sits in a nice straight row. It can be frustrating seeing something slightly off-kilter while taking the shot. We can also go for at-square if we want to have supper precision and need some help with lining up of flat lay to the backdrop.
Bull Clips:
These bull clips also come in pretty gold color which doesn’t look ugly and can help with keeping pages of magazines and books open without creating an obvious bulge
Background:
It is a bit baffling to decide whether background has to be part of the prop or the toolkit But it must be included because, many times when we are on a styling job or a studio there are no surfaces suitable to be used as a backdrop.
Conclusion:
All in all, it takes real precision and focuses along with being careful and caring as prop stylist Miriam Bouleanu have has been taught by her mother that the meaning of the word curate is to take care of, and that’s crucial to my approach as a prop stylist.” Miriam is a photo stylist residing in Chicago, IL. Her clients have included CB2, Crate and Barrel, Crate and Kids, Walgreens, Kraft, Sprint, and Motorola among others.
Apart from this getting and deploying all of the above things can enhance our experience as a prop stylist and make us more efficient and help us create the best shots.