Finding Great Photography Props
A Special Chair
One year ago I went to the Infocus Conference run by NZIPP. I came back from Wellington on a Tuesday morning feeling extremely tired and almost hallucinating due to being up so late and being so busy for five days in a row. I saw an email pop up with a chair for sale and clicked the buy now.
Why did I buy it?
Why on earth did I buy it? I instantly regretted the push of that button. It was a $450 chair which I was hoping to use for my photography. I decided to pick it up that afternoon and ended up in Sydenham at a place called Rullen Furniture. I was shown the chair and realised it was double the size I thought it was.
However, once I got it home, I realised it was going to be super awesome. The guy who sold it to me said it’s either from France or Italy. It even smelt genuine, like it had been in an old chateau. Oh, the stories it could have told me – if only it could talk.
Sometimes I use this chair fully in the photo and sometimes I just use the edge of it. I’d recommend Rullen Furniture for unique photography props!
A Facebook Page for props
Little Prop Junkies is probably the best Facebook page for buying and selling your photography props in NZ. It is a private group so you have to apply to join. It helps if you have a business page to show you are actually in business. There are a lot of newborn wraps, headbands and all sorts of smaller props on there, but people also sell backdrops, maternity dresses, furniture props and other things they’ve used, often with example photos so you can see how wonderful the props can look.
I would recommend joining this group as you never know what might pop up.
Juno Boutique
Juno Boutique do amazing maternity dresses. Wow, wow, wow! They floor me every time. Amy at Juno Boutique has a great little business going. These dresses don’t have to be used for maternity – some do very well as dresses for other studio and outdoor photographic work. I particularly love this green dress which I borrowed from a friend recently and ended up buying my own one as it is so versatile. I’m going to use this one a LOT! Check out this photo of beautiful Hazel wearing the dress.
Your Own Wardrobe
Where else can you find the BEST ever photography props but your own wardrobe! I found this dress that I wore in the early 2000s and it was still beautiful and relevant. It looked perfect on my beautiful dancer and I didn’t mind that it was going into the water as it was old and I wasn’t going to wear it again. I even split it up the sides so that she could do dance jumps. Isn’t it wonderful, and it cost me nothing!
Mayfield Antique shop
This is such a treasure of a shop. It is called Overflow Retro Collectables but everyone just calls it the Mayfield Antique shop. I could spend hours and hours in there. It is fantastic! Recently I went in there on the way back from Lake Hawea. I found a globe that I’m going to use for a photoshoot. I’m so excited about it you have no idea. It was exactly what I wanted and cost me only $2.
I was tempted to buy some old antique dresses for girls and little boys suits for boys, but I already have a lot of clothing and have nowhere else to put it. It is the best antique shop for general clothes and items I’ve ever been too. It’s worth going there just for a day trip. Visit the Rakaia Gorge and go and get an icecream on the way home at Glentunnel – a fabulous family trip out!
Fabric Vision
This is a fabulous fabric shop. I go there a lot. It has fabric for baby wraps – lots of stretch knits in different colours. There are lots of beautiful chiffons for dancers to throw in the air. I would recommend going here over the larger chain stores as you get one on one service and they will even match fabrics for you. Where else would do that?
I make ballroom and latin dresses for my girls who are in the dance scene and they have gone above and beyond to help me find the fabrics I need. Fabric Vision is a must if you live in Christchurch. If you are out of Christchurch you will need to hunt for your own local fabric shop.
These are my top places for props. Hope this has helped some of you! If you are wanting a shoot with me, I have a lot of props in the studio. Please just contact me to discuss what kind of shoot you would like, and I’ll hunt through my huge collection of props!