Avoiding the cliches can be a bit like navigating a minefield, but the best way to miss these altogether is by starting right at the source. The 1920’s to 1930’s is an extremely rich period of time regarding design. There was a divergence of both clean modernist structures, the bold colours of bauhaus and incredible ornamental detail, inspired by the newly unearthed historical and cultural artefacts of ancient civilisations. There is a lot to consider for a 1920’s inspired photoshoot!

We began looking towards the architecture found in this time period. These spaces held some of the most ornate objects history offers, framed incredible and experimental art, and housed such influential furniture design that it is still significantly celebrated and present in homes today. These structures can handle our rings. 

The most recognisable part of this architectural period would be the strong structural geometric forms contrasted with the smooth curves. The sunburst with its clearly defined circle surrounded by radiating lines is one of them; the stepped shape of the ziggurat is another, as is the formalised fountain motif with its arc-shapes. 

When it comes to Art Deco jewellery, envision a world of emeralds, tourmalines, sapphires, and a whole lot of dazzling diamonds. The ornate and opulent designs of Art Deco make this jewellery style both fascinating and eternally stylish. Our Junior Designer, Emma, has masterfully woven all these elements into her Art Deco-inspired engagement ring collection, and we're so excited to unveil the final pieces to you!

From this point we needed to consider how these features could be worked into the shoot without overwhelming the final images, and we want our rings to be the main character! We knew from the start we wanted to celebrate age and size inclusion in this shoot, so we expected skin textures to be a prominent feature in the composition itself. 

This led us to explore the idea of using the hands alone as the reference to Art Deco. Creating the architectural structures found in the time period through the positioning of the hands, and creating a spectacle without crowding our gorgeous scene! 

To make sure the idea is interpreted properly, research and visual references are key to translating an idea to our models hands and then on to the viewer. We gather a wealth of potential poses, try them out and if they work we compile them for the day of the shoot. You never know which ones are going to work perfectly on the day, so having a bunch to work through is a godsend! 

Props can make or break a photoshoot, so choose them wisely! For this one we aimed to evoke luxury, without being too elaborate or cluttered. After painful deliberation, simply opting for draping fabrics in the most gorgeous and lavish colours would create the Art-Deco atmosphere of candle light dance halls and dripping diamonds, emeralds and rubies that we were looking for!

Our goal is simple: we want our unique rings to shine brightly and let their sapphires, laboratory-grown diamonds, and tourmalines take centre stage!

Visualising the shoot space is important for measuring the quantity of materials needed to create the immersive capsule ‘world’ we want our shoot to take place in. We achieve this by doing a ‘Test Shoot’. A practice run of the shoot setup either in location or mocked up in a similar environment to see what potential chaos we may encounter, and whether our ideas would fly or flop.

During a test shoot we try out our lighting ideas, our camera angles, arrange the props, and decide what sort of post shoot editing we want to apply to our imagery after we receive the results! It’s a nerve wracking process, but often the adaptations that need to be made can end up becoming improvements!

Once we have our ideal setup, we need to assemble the dream team. Shoots require a variety of skilled creatives to run smoothly. Such as Makeup Artists, VIdeographers, Photographers, Stylists, Creative Directors, Content Creators, Designers, Models and more. Having a trusted team is the difference between a successful day and a visual car crash. There has to be a balance of enthusiasm and energy, hyping up the group and keeping everyone moving, as well as a steady and calm structure, reassuring people that we have plenty of time to achieve our outcomes!

With this in mind, a call sheet needs to be made and sent out to each member of the shoot team, outlining location, times, dates, concepts, and of course, who will be there! This puts us all on the same page, and keeps track of the day. Once the whole team has this, the plan is set, and the date approaches! 

After months of meticulous planning, gathering inspiration, and arranging all the essential logistics like models, locations, and travel, our primary focus shifts to ensuring the photoshoot runs like a well-oiled machine. Our ultimate aim is to produce top-notch photos and videos of the highest quality. It's all about letting our remarkable ring collection shine and giving you a glimpse of the new stars at Jessica Flinn!

Creative Director: 

Jessie Batsford, jessieb@jessicafinn.co.uk

Styling:

Grace Stephenson, grace@jessicafinn.co.uk

Emma Fathers, emma@jessicafinn.co.uk

Content Creation:

paige@jessicafinn.co.uk

Studio Assistant:

Maddy Bradley-Few, maddy@jessicafinn.co.uk

Videography/Photography:

Jake Ingamells, jake@bigskycreative

Hair/Make-up/Nails:

Laura Mosley, @craft_makeup_ (Instagram)

Models:

Elainea Emmott, @emmottelainea (Instagram)

Lindy Pieri, @lindylou.zbd (Instagram)