Phew! Feet up, job done – that’s a wrap. The doodle photo shoot is in the can.

But what was it all about?

Well, we were shooting a doodle dinner party. Or three, to be precise. And, like any good dinner party, ours needed lots of careful planning and preparation.

 

First off – briefing our photographer, the rather genius Kellie French at Product Shot Studio. It helps to have a Kellie running things for you. Tick.

Then organising models – in this shoot we needed 3 generations, 7 models. All ridiculously good-looking of course. Well, we settled for well-behaved with a genial smile. Tick.

 

Next, planning the food. These were going to be dinner parties after all – 3 parties, 3 different occasions, 7 hungry model-mouths to feed, one cook. One awfully good and patient cook. Tick.

Finally props – everything from the plates, cutlery and glasses to the cheese and cheese board had to be carefully selected. Tick.

 

And then the big day – the models all arrived at the studio armed with changes of clothes (and perfect hair, naturally). The first set was dressed, the food underway, the lighting and camera set-up. And we were off...Everyone was a bit self-conscious to start with but then the doodling began. Good old doodling. Suddenly everything started to warm up nicely – models relaxed, food was eaten, tablecloth was avidly doodled – hey presto, great shots and dinner party 1 was in the bag.

 

Dinner party number two went without a hitch, smooth as a celeriac puree or crème pat.

 

And suddenly it was Christmas. Cue festive set-dressing, twinkly lights and, as our models pulled a few crackers, it genuinely started to feel a lot like Christmas. But then – like Christmas itself - it was all over but for the clearing up.

 

At the end, tired and full, we all felt as if we had spent Christmas together and were rather sad to leave. But we’ve got heaps of great photos we’ll be sharing over the next couple of months and happy memories of a fun and creative doodling day.

 

So what’s the secret to a good doodle photo shoot? A bunch of great models, a chef with a bit of flair, a very talented photographer armed with an endless stream of shockingly bad jokes and a whole heap of doodling. Magical.