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Top Photos of 2019!

by Carys - Stylist for The Prop Factory

Tuesday 11th February 2020 10:48:18

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It's never a chore to take a moment to pause and look back over our year in pictures. The shots that I've chosen for my top 10 faves are all beautiful images - a mixture of our own styled photoshoots, lovely collaborations and fabulous images that customers have sent to us. I'm not going to say much more - I'll just let the photos speak for themselves...

10. Under Lock and Key

This dark and moody photo isn't my typical styled shoot but it has a significant meaning. It illustrates our director Carmen's thoughts on the links between her bipolar disorder diagnosis and her building of a successful company. The composition of this image (taken by Mimosa Photography) looking through our previous giant keyhole entrance onto Carmen in a circus ring of her own prop ideas was the money shot from this styled shoot. In contrast to the empty space of the foreground, there are actually a huge number of our more eclectic props jostling for attention in the background of this striking image. Carmen wrote a very honest blog about the inspiration for this photo shoot that you can read here.9. California Dreaming 

Such a simple, yet super-effective, photo of our heart cinema lightbox at the beautiful Almonry Barn. This image landed in my inbox just after I returned to the office after my own Californian adventure... what amazing timing! Our heart has been perfectly placed for the best photo opportunity, but if you're thinking of hiring our lighting do be aware that it needs to be used undercover if your event is outside. Photo by Jennifer Jane Photography.8. Christmas Sausage Dogs

Anything festive almost always becomes a fave of mine. Last year we took Christmas to a new level with the cutest of photo shoots. At the time I was very excited as we had a brand new studio space in our HQ. For its first shoot, I transformed it into a Christmas living room with our ruby Emily three seater sofa sat in front of the Christmas present concertina panels. Our old white rustic door was dressed with a giant traditional Christmas wreath and I added wooden nutcrackers, giant Christmas biscuits and gingerbread men (Most of these props have now been sold but check out our new ebay shop for all our recent goodies!) The room felt so cosy and festive even before the arrival of cutest element of all - five miniature dachshunds dogs! It could have been a disaster with so many pups on set, but they were all beautifully behaved and Meg from Mimosa Photography managed to snap a photo of them all. If one picture of pups in Christmas outfits isn't enough cuteness for you, see more in our blog of the event here.7. Colourful Boho

The colours in this photo won it a place in my top 10. The luscious green fields and far-reaching views make for an idyllic setting with our old white farmhouse table and colourful wooden folding chairs. The concept and styling was created by the lovely team at Pea-Green Boat Events and photographed by Weddings with Soul.6. Fairground Wedding

This photo, sent to us by Samuel Box Photography, is a real wedding with a fun fair theme. I love that they chose our fairground arch as the entrance to their beautiful wedding venue which hosted an actual fun fair carousel! We love to see how customers have styled our props and your pictures will spark inspiration for others too.5. Giant flower garden

This perfect picture of summer was captured in February! We set up our complete giant flower collection at nearby Froginwell Vineyard, creating a backdrop of colour amongst the vines. Our models included four-year-old Charlotte, who danced amongst the giant daisies and sunflowers. This gorgeous photo is by Confetti Rose Photography.4. Moon and Clouds Photo Seat

Not a photo shoot at all, but a customer event set up at Exeter Castle where I snapped this photo of our new moon and clouds photo seat in front of a starry lighting backdrop. The photo was taken on my phone but it was one of my favourites from 2019!3. Circus in a Barn

Wow, what a creation! We hung drapes across a cavernous barn and filled the floor space with all of our vintage circus props for some amazing photos that also featured the creative costume team at Valerian entertainment with shots by Alistair Campbell Photography. I was pretty pleased with the set we'd built when it was empty, but once the performers arrived they completely brought it to life - you can see the before and after images in our blog. They performed like a real circus troupe - with jugglers, stilt walkers and even a contortionist. I love this image of two cheeky jesters amongst the props.2. Victorian Botanical at Aynhoe Park

This shoot was a big opportunity for us. Not only was it at Aynhoe Park, a beautiful Cotswolds estate, but we had creative cake company Peboryon build some Victorian style desserts and cakes for us that would be filmed for the Channel 4 show Extreme Cake Makers. All of the Victorian-inspired furniture and tropical plants looked stunning against the white washed architecture of the Orangery. You can still see our episode on Catch Up - Series 4, Episode 25 - and read how we put it together in our behind-the-scenes blog. I just love the mix of eclectic props used to make this timeless photo, taken by Catherine Spiller Photography.1. Enchanted Fairytale

My fave photo from 2019 has to be this dream-like shot from an enchanted fairytale shoot with Valerian Entertainment. Deerpark Hotel offered us the use of their gigantic wooden tree trunk table and benches which we used to create a magical tea party on using our oversized garden flowers and crazy giant toadstools. The space was a treat to fill, especially hanging tasseled stars and dreamcatchers from the trees. As planned, the fairies looked teeny-tiny standing on the table surrounded by our giant props - a perfect composition taken by Confetti Rose Photography. There are so many glorious images from this shoot that it was really difficult to choose just one. Have a look at a few more here.So there we have it - from fairies to fairgrounds, Christmas pups to circus props - my top 10 perfect moments captured on camera. It's lovely to look back, but it's also very inspiring - just look at all the fabulous styling you can achieve with our props!

See all the props featured in my top 10 photos here.

Carys x





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