What: Camille AW21 Collection Shoot
When: February 2021
Where: Lewellyn House & St Etienne, both hosted by The Houses Daylesford, VIC
Who: Photography: Armelle Habib, assisted by Maki Levine & Sarah Wilkosz, styling: Heather Nette King, assisted by Annabelle King & David.
Team S x C: Erin, Mim, Jem, Bonnie and myself.
With thanks to: House Of Orange, Heatherly Beds, Vintage Posters Only, Lights Lights Lights, Curated Spaces
I have *always* loved the photoshoot component of this biz and after having that luxury taken away from me last year, I’ll never ever ever everrrr take a shoot for granted again (not that I did anyway). Given the circumstances and struggles presented by old mate Rona’ we decided to stick local for Camille in case things went topsy turvy. I’m so glad we did because when I arrived to the Lewellyn House in Daylesford and looked around on that warm Sunday arvo in Feb, I knew it was exactly right for Camille.
This humble abode has 9 bedrooms and 9 en suites in total, which includes a guest house outside… fam holiday anyone?? There will be absolutely no qualms over a spot in the shower if that tickles ya fancy, find it here. A charming home, full of character, situated right next to the Daylesford botanical gardens. From the striking bay window with golden sunlight trickling through, to the garden setting filled with magnolia blooms and the surroundings of lush green trees EVERYWHEREEE you looked… we were totally in luuuurve with this place.
The first night involved shoot prep, stocking up on supplies, a big feast of enchiladas and lots of furniture rearranging…to get to that big ol’ bay window? We had to move five very large + heavy couches (amongst other large objects)… sooo it’s fair to say we were sweatin’ bullets by the end of it. As we settled in for our first night, we ordered a copious amount of Mexican food and sat around chatting plans for the week ahead. We stayed at Lewellyn House for the majority of the week and then moved onto a second location named St Etienne to shoot bathe, PLAY and Rollie Nation for the last day of shooting.
S x C shoots have been known to be pretty chaotic in the past and there alwaaays seems to be an unexpected curve ball thrown our way… but this shoot? Was as smoooooth as they come. *Green light*… i’ll explain later.
The ebb and flow of this photoshoot was really quite commendable. The complete rearranging of an entire house, the extensive ironing and fluffing, the styling + creation of set combinations by Heather Nette King, watching Armelle Habib’s concrete focus and envisioning the right scene for an image, every little detail must be considered.
Here’s 11 unforgettable moments from the week (the good and the bad):
1. An Inconvenient realisation: Day one and everything was moving like clockwork… until I realised I’d left my breast pump in North Warrandyte. Lucky Uber driver I say, embarking on that scenic Sunday night drive (+ $250 later). Crisis averted though and I almost hugged this man when he rocked up with the precious cargo.
2. Hostess with the mostess: Jem + Mim's cooking across the week was nothing short of magnifique and deserves a round of applause!! From fish tacos, to pasta, to Thai curry… we certainly didn’t go hungry. As well as that, we opted for some local and delish catering spots for lunch - Spade To Blade and Dele.
3. GREEN LIGHT: Our catchphrase for the trip came about on night one as we sat around on the couches telling stories. Bonnie passionately informed us about Matthew McConaughey’s new must-read book Greenlights and that just like him, she now used the phrase ‘green light’ in her mind every time great + momentous things occur. It caught on pretty quick… FAB-U-LOUS weather all week? GREEN LIGHT! Camille looking even better than I imagined it? GREEN LIGHT! Jem’s fish tacos? GREEN LIGHT! You get the gist…
4. Exploring nature: Bush walks with the crew after clocking off for the day were all kinds of wholesome… although I will note: the walking crew members crumbled as the week progressed and the couch called. Ohhh yeah and FYI: I meant special for those who participated… I manned the fort while the others trotted off into the Daylesford shrub, with a hot tea in hand and soaked up every bit of peace & quiet (my first week ever away from Heidi).
5. Panic mode: Mid-week we had a COVID scare… the bludddddy tennis hey! Dan Andrews made an announcement at 10:00pm sharp and we all sat around in our pj’s with fear, freakin’ the hell out that our shoot week could come to an abrupt end. Phewwww, no lockdown. We thanked our lucky stars. Camille could continue.
6. Hellooooo sunshine: I gotta’ say, the weather really turned it on for us this week… golden hour, every hour!!! Sun rays beamed through that ha-ugggge a$$ bay window every.single.day. Except for the final day that is… when we were at our next location St Etienne, it poured for hours but hey 4/5 sunny days is a blessing if you ask me.
7. Down time with the crew: every single night looked a little like this: we ate dinner + dessert and sat around getting to know each other. Everyone (so comfortably) opened up about their lives and their personal journeys… it was a circle of trust.
We discussed travelling the world (past experiences and future bucket lists), heartbreak, career, family, phobias, motherhood, the aftermath of COVID and so much more. When you’re creating things together, it’s so important to actually understand each other and I feel so lucky to have spent valuable time with each person from this crew.
8. Special guests: maaaassive shoutout and thanks to Katie + Chris for making the trip down mid-week so that Nelly, Judie Pie and Heidi could model the kids + baby range. I managed to get in some cuddles and Judie Pie + Nelly got in some cousin hangs and ate a whole heap of strawberries.
9. We secured our next shoot location: Now, because things were running so well, Erin and I even managed some free time to go suss out the next shoot location for Spring/Summer… CRAZY right? Spoiler alert… our love affair with Daylesford continues. We booked another spot in this tranquil countryside town.
10. First shoot feels: Mim + Bonnie's reaction to their first shoot was priceless. After encountering more shoots than I can remember over the last six years, I’d kinda’ forgotten about how it all feels to a set of fresh eyes… magic, awe and admiration for what goes on.
We needed a sewing machine to fix a sample and Mim conveniently had one in her car... see? I told ya' things just went smoothly.
11. Rollie campaign: The vibe of the shoot with Rollie Nation @rollienation… was AWESOME!! We all had soooo much fun, it was the best crew of people to hang out with and frankly, to be the opposite of humble pie… we NAILED it. We transformed St Etienne for the day and covered the whole house in colour + texture.
Bob’s your uncle, there you have my favourite memories from our Camille 2021 shoot. Camille was supposed to be shot and released last year would you believe? So finally being able to execute it was a triumphant and momentous feeling. Despite my gloating about the mellowness of this shoot, don’t get me wrong, it was still steady and still hard work. As well as the frantic planning and prop sourcing in the lead up… but for the first time ever I felt like I could stand back, breathe and admire everything for once. And it felt good. X