Plan, Shoot, and Design an Album Cover At Home
Last month, I worked with my long-time collaborator and good friend Meera Dahlmann, an independent artist/singer-songwriter, to design the cover for her latest single, Campo Viejo. We went into this project with no budget, a short time frame as she prepped to move to another state, and limited resources. Luckily, this is one of our favorite ways to create together!
Campo Viejo, Meera Dahlmann. Cover by Claire Hambrick Photography
We started with a general look/aesthetic for the cover and video visualizer, which we would be shooting together: natural, personal, intimate, and eye-catching. The song is named after a past lover’s favorite kind of wine, so red wine naturally played a big role in our planning. To really highlight the deep color of red wine, we opted for more neutral and environmental color tones in the photo shoot: natural greens, white, tan, and brown. Coincidentally, we didn’t end up using one of the red wine photos for the cover (check the outtakes below), but still incorporated the deep red of the subject matter by way of a cherry in her mouth. One of my favorite parts of the cover shot was a serendipitous gust of wind as I was shooting that blew these soft white flowers from a nearby tree across Meera’s face, which you can see on her exposed shoulder and in the bottom right corned of the frame.
Our resources were limited when it came to location, so we went as DIY as it gets — at home, in Meera’s backyard. Meera, besides being a wonderful musician, is also a talented gardener, so we shot the series of portraits right there amidst the garden beds she had planted and lovingly tended to. We took our photos around golden hour as the sun got lower and lower in the sky. To supplement the natural light, I used an external flash for my Canon camera (look out for future blog posts regarding lighting design!). To spice up the otherwise plain yard, we experimented with putting up a white sheet on a portable clothing rack to add a background that would accentuate the visual impact of the red droplets flowing into her glass.
When crafting a new project, I love starting with a mood board to define the visual language we’ll be working with to achieve the final photos. I typically find photos through Pinterest, spend 30 minutes searching topics, go through related images, focus on color schemes, etc., download the photos that resonate or speak to a specific concept, and then place those on a board using an app called Landing - but you could also do this through Canva, photoshop, google slides, etc. I find that having all the images in one cohesive frame, beyond a scattered Pinterest board, allows the eye to draw new connections between the works. I like Landing because I can add short notes to myself to underline what specifically about a certain photo or angle resonates with me. Below is the vision board I crafted for this shoot. Note that all photos used in the board below are not mine and are saved from Pinterest; all credit belongs to the original creators.
Photos from Pinterest, all credit belongs to the original creators.
After a few hours of taking photos in the North Carolina muggy, late-summer air, we broke down equipment and went inside to cool off and look through what we had created. When it comes to deciding on one specific shot from a shoot full of cool pictures to be THE cover art, it can be easy to overthink which frame makes it to the final stage. It’s a tough decision! This is a point where relying on instinct and getting trusted input can be really helpful. Asking a friend who is not a photographer or the model to look through a couple of shots and pick their favorite is a nice way to get some objective, instinctual feedback to help decide the final selection. As much as photographers (myself strongly included) love to painstakingly analyze all aspects of a shot, keep perspective and remember that photography is an instinctual art form — meaning your eyes can often tell in a split second what photo is more evocative. The more you stare at a batch of photos, the harder this can be.
When in doubt, PHONE A FRIEND!
Meera’s sister was the one who pointed out the final shot to us, explaining that she couldn’t quite explain it; it just had a certain quality or star factor. Following that instinct, I put the shot into Canva and played around with adding the essential text. I went with white text in the top corners to keep the attention on Meera. Adding white to the top left and right corners adds an inverted triangle with the white of her shirt in the bottom middle — little details that make a big impact on the overall effect of a cover.
Check out the final visualizer and Behind-the-Scenes video on Meera’s YouTube channel, and stream her new single Campo Viejo on all platforms <3
