Prop Closet

Styling Class in New York City

If you've wished you could be a person who dreams up ideas for photo shoots, shops for beautiful things all day, plays with fabrics and color swatches, picks out tableware, props and clothing and gets invited to product launches and gets paid for it…then commercial photo styling may just be the career you've been looking for. This class will make you feel like a stylist and learn to start acting like one. Now taking registration for my Prop & Styling Workshop which begins May 30th. This will be an introduction. Over 4 Saturday sessions, we'll cover composition and color palettes, art direction, mood boards, sourcing props, styling kits, planning the shoot and then shooting. I'll share my trade secrets and resources gathered from 20 years in the business. You'll love the small group setting at a beautiful daylight studio in Chelsea. Click for registration or email me right away for more information. A big thank you to Janelle Gonyea of Refind Joy for the beautiful logo design.

Rustic Food Shoot Props

I've been dying for some new food photos for my portfolio for some time now. I love the vibe on food shoots—there's a balance between creativity and hard work—and food stylists are such great people to collaborate with. I had the pleasure of working with veteran stylists Grady and Mariann and photographer David Lazarus today. David and I just wrapped a shoot for Bridal Guide last month and he asked me to join them. I was grateful to be included. What a great way to start the new year!

I don't have the shots David took yet, but here are some of my photos of the props I gathered, a combination of handmade ceramics, tin pieces and kitchen tools. I've been into the dark industrial look of vintage utilitarian pieces. Can't wait to show you the food shots. 

Photos and styling by Robin Zachary.

 

Inspiration Box - Color Story: Baby Blue

Here's a brand new dose of color inspiration in shades of soothing blues. This box is number 8 in my Inspiration Box series. I haven't done one in over 2 years, but hopefully will work on them more frequently again. Life and work always seem to get in the way. Now there's a category on the right column so you can click to see them all. They are all based on monochromatic palettes. This one features soft, gray blues (fluffy vintage flowers) to darker blues (velvet flowers). I see it as a study in texture and hue. That's the name of the game for me and why I do them. It's a sophisticated approach to wedding reception or bridal party color. Nail polish is Oscar de la Renta's signature bridal blue. Vintage silk flowers were found at Elephant Props and wide ribbon is from Hyman Hendler. Cotton print fabric is from Hen House Linens. Silk fabric swatch is from Mood. Favor bag of tree branch buttons was purchased on Etsy years ago. That polka dot feather—like most of my things—has been hanging around a while waiting for the right moment to be included. Photo and styling by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Prop Styling for Wine Spectator Magazine Photo Shoot

The September issue of Wine Spectator has hit the newsstand! Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this shoot by photographer Jennifer Lévy at her stunning Brooklyn home. Photo editor Alex De Toth allowed me some freedom with the color palette. She wanted it to look Fall appropriate yet modern and clean. She indicated she liked some of the handmade ceramics I used in another shoot. Lately I had been exploring palettes of grays, blues and white with a pop of tangerine so that is what I went with. Not classically "Fall", but I like a twist on stereotypical seasonal colors. First I selected a wooden tabletop surface from Surface Archive. Todd has a great selection and I couldn't decide! I chose the one pictured in the front but really liked the hue of the one in the back so I planned on using that shade in the linens.

Here are some of the props I rented from Good Light Props.

Here's some vintage flatware and props I rented from Prophaus.

Some props waiting to be used on the side of the set.

A pulled back shot of one of the sets. See how the final shot was taken and used in the actual story shown above.

And my favorite prop of the day, a little tiny vintage spoon paired with a tiny glass bowl for salt.

Here's the final story from Wine Spectator.The shoot ended up sans orange, and as things often go, you think on your feet and new ideas emerge on the set. The food itself had orange tones, so all contrasted nicely off the blues, grays and white. The wine was fantastic and when we wrapped we had a toast to a successful shoot! Editorial photos by Jennifer Lévy, food styling by Jamie King, prop styling by Robin Zachary. All behind the scenes photos by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Birdcage Tablescape

I'm in love with this table because it reflects a side of my personality that connects with my mother, grandmother and aunt, 3 beautiful women that are all gone. My grandmother had a collection of tea cups and saucers, each one different and more beautiful than the next. I imagined her having an afternoon tea with her table set with mix and match patterns of delicate china. Keeping in the spirit of Grandma, my philosophy is that one should make a table fun to look at by filling it with surprises, props like little birds and non-matching glasses and flatware. The color story here is pink and ivory with a pop of green, tarnished silver and glass. This table has a girly, modern-day vintage vibe and would be perfect for a bridal shower brunch. The items I used here: pink dinnerware from MUD Australia, mix and match glassware and vintage flatware all available at ABC Home. The pearl metallic linen tablecloth and the textured floral napkins are from Nuage Designs. Denise Fasanello filled the white bird cage with gorgeous Clematis and garden roses. Laser cut place mats and place cards are from Ceci New York. Look at the original inspiration photo behind this design in my previous post here and see how the idea has evolved! 

Table designed and styled by Robin Zachary for the Ceci New York Paper Art Party on August 4th. Photos by Fiona Osborne.

 

My Tabletop Designs Featured in CeciStyle Today!

It all started with a little bird and a laser cut placemat months ago. I met Ceci, the luxury invitation designer and was immediately taken by her Vivre collection of paper tabletop items for Ceci New York. I was shooting a tabletop story for Bridal Guide and created a shot with photographer David Lazarus for Susan Schneider's editor's picks page. See it here. A few months ago Ceci asked me to style more photos along the same lines using her other tabletop pieces. They are featured today on the online magazine, CeciStyle. The shots above and below are  for the Wildflower and Bird Watching stories using Ceci's pink peony placemat and bird cage table card. The background is a patchwork of vintage floral book prints.

To create a vintage style table I selected these gorgeous textured table linens from Nuage Designs and the pink dinnerware and glassware from ABC Carpet & Home. I like to leave little surprises at each place setting like the little orange bird you see here. I also like using glassware in varying heights to draw the eye upward.
The above photo shows the Caribbean Palm theme with Ceci's Seashell place card placed in a bowl of sand. A rolled napkin of layered organza sits beside.

The final image, shown below is the Divine Damask theme which juxtaposes vintage metals with modern tableware and a pop of orange in the napkin.

A laid back but fun photo session with photographer William Brinson (and wife Susan of House of Brinson making jam) impressed Ceci so much that a huge paper art party idea was born. As I am writing this, I am transposing these small vignettes of fantasy tables into real live table designs for a party at Ceci's 23rd St. studio and showroom. All the little props and details you see here are items I have as single pieces. I've spent the last 2 weeks shopping and sourcing everything in multiples to bring these tables to life. I'm also collaborating with two super talented floral designers, Jessy from Fleurs NYC and Denise Fasanello in addition to Nuage, ABC Carpet & Home, Donna Karan Lenox, kate spade new york and Juliska. By the time you read this post, the event will be over, the photos published on CeciStyle and well, I'll be relaxing seaside in Cape May, NJ. Party pix will be here when I return. In the meantime, hope you enjoy! All photos by William Brinson, Styling by Robin Zachary for Ceci New York.

Obsessed with Ribbon

Every so often I get a call from a nice saleswoman at Hyman Hendler Ribbon in NYC telling me that she has some "stuff" for me. I get a little tingle of excitement and plan a time to drop by. Today I was looking for something to keep me from working on my taxes, so the call came just in time! I made it to the store within the hour to get my goodies. Now don't get all excited. What I'm looking for may be garbage to some but to me is a treasure. New ribbon is wound on plastic or cardboard rolls but back in the day ribbon came on beautifully crafted wooden spools with typographic labels and paper wound between the layers. Whenever a vintage ribbon is exhausted, sold out, gone forever she is so kind to save me the spools and paper left behind. Look at how pretty they are!

Of course I can't help myself around vintage ribbons, especially if they're French, so I always come home at least $30 or $40 poorer but with a yard or two of beautiful trimmings. As Elegant Thrifter tells me, these ribbons can be found for pennies at garage sales in KC, but where's a garage sale on the island of Manhattan? There's no such thing as a garage let alone a garage sale here! I know what he means and when I get out of the city I score some wonderful finds. But sometimes you just have to fork over the big bucks for things you really want.

Photography by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box - Denim & Steel

A new inspiration box! I'm taking a turn away from all the pink shades I explored in the weeks leading up to Valentine's day and finishing up a new box inspired by a piece of denim I've been hanging onto for a while from the leg of a pair of my son's jeans. Gap denim is such good quality and I hope for a great pair of jeans to last forever. Well little kids always wear out the knees before they grow out of the pants, so I made this pair into cut off shorts for him (which he never wore) and kept the fabric to use in a tabletop shoot someday. I mixed the denim with steel toned items. Other items pictured:  Number 3 laser cut steel ornament from Apartment 48, card of vintage buttons (a thrift shop find), family vintage metal hole punch, printed cotton twill tape, cloth tag from husband's jeans (10 year old son does not wear 32 x 30!), red paper tag from husband's laundered shirt and a spool of metal wire. This box has a bit of an all American garment center feel to it. If you want to read more about my color inspiration boxes you can click here. Photo by Prop Closet.

Inspiration Box - Valentine's Day Pink

Here's a palette of pinks, white and gold. As it gets close to Valentine's Day, I've been getting in that romantic frame of mind, so instead of this being a really easy project it has been quite challenging! My table has been filled with tons of frilly pink things. It was so hard to choose what to put into this box. I'm always experimenting with shades within a color and how different textures reflect the color in a different way. Multiple shades of pink make a great wedding palette. To see my other inspiration boxes click on the "Color" or "Inspiration" categories to the right. Pictured above: A vintage white beaded lipstick case, tiny pink pillows, a pair of Victoria Secret pink panties, salmon pink silk ribbon, tiny pearl strands, vintage gold thread, hot pink satin ribbon, pink resin leaf pin and assorted hearts. Are you feeling the love? Photo by Prop Closet.

Inspiration box - Vintage Ballerina Pink

This just might be my favorite box so far. Inspired by a vintage ballerina theme, I started with pleated tulle from M&J Trimming, vintage silk and grosgrain ribbons from Hyman Hendler. I added Sarah Jessica Parker's Twilight fragrance and a bottle top from another fragrance, a mini ballet slipper that I've had for so long and a tiny gold hinged box. I love how the shades of pale champagne pink merge with vintage weathered gold, glass, ballet pink, mauve and brown. A perfect wedding palette. Let me know what you think! Photo by Prop Closet. For more information on my inspiration boxes, click here.