Alright friends, today’s practice was a photoshoot inspired by the actress Leighton Meester. You know, Blair from Gossip Girl? Wanted to capture that kinda sophisticated yet approachable vibe. Totally winged it, but man, it turned out interesting. Grab a coffee, here’s how it went down.
Scrambling For Inspiration & Gear
First off, dove headfirst into Pinterest looking for Leighton pics – those classic headshots, some candid street shots, even promo stuff. Wasn’t aiming to copy anything exactly, just wanted that feeling. Her style often feels put-together but not too stiff, you know?
Then came the fun part: raiding my closet and whatever props I could find lying around. Aimed for clean lines and simple elegance. Think:
- A crisp white button-down shirt (borrowed from my partner, hope he doesn’t mind!)
- A slightly-too-big blazer for that effortless look
- A simple pearl necklace (probably fake, honestly)
- Dark wash jeans to keep it grounded
Set up in my makeshift home studio – meaning a blank wall and a huge window. Didn’t even bother with fancy lights this time, figured natural light would work best for that softer look. Propped a big piece of white foam board on a chair opposite the window as a reflector. Stood my tripod up, slapped my camera on it. Ready? Not really!
Wrestling with Light & Directing My Poor Friend
Enlisted my buddy Sarah as my model. She doesn’t model, bless her heart, just agreed to help. Started with the window light hitting her straight on. Photos looked… flat. Like a driver’s license pic. Total snooze.
Remembered Leighton’s photos often have cool shadows. Shifted Sarah so the window light was hitting her at an angle. Played around with the white foam board reflector bouncing light back – held it up, dropped it, repositioned it a bunch. It kept falling over and flipping inside out like a dying fish. Annoying, but finally got it where it kinda worked.
Started directing Sarah, feeling like a proper bossy photographer: “Look towards the window slightly… chin down a tiny bit… nope, too much, you look angry! Okay, relax your shoulders… think happy thoughts, not ‘when will this end?’ thoughts!” We both cracked up a bunch. Got a bunch of shots that felt stiff or fake. Told Sarah to just ignore me for a minute and think about her dog. Bam. Got a couple of real smiles. That helped!
Switched up poses – leaning against the wall, looking over her shoulder, arms crossed loosely. Tried a few tighter close-ups focusing just on her face and shoulders, trying for that intense Blair Waldorf stare. Tough to pull off without laughing!
Tweaking & Hoping for the Best
Wanted a bit more depth, so fiddled with my camera settings on the fly. Lowered the aperture (f/2.8 felt about right) to blur the background a touch. Kept my shutter speed decently fast since we were relying on shaky hands holding reflectors and Sarah shifting slightly. ISO was jumping around as clouds passed outside. So frustrating! Felt like constantly chasing the right exposure.
Snapped away. Camera shutter clicking like crazy. Some poses lasted seconds, others longer as we tried to find the light again. Accidentally almost knocked the tripod over once. Smooth.
The Surprise in Editing
Later, dumped all the pics onto my laptop. Sorted through maybe a hundred. So many duds – bad focus, weird expressions, awkward poses. But then… found a solid ten or so gems.
Hopped into Lightroom. Kept the editing pretty minimal ’cause the natural light was already doing work.
- Fixed the white balance slightly to warm things up a smidge.
- Lifted the shadows just a little to soften the look.
- Added a tiny bit of sharpening mainly to the eyes.
- Played with some soft, muted tones – leaned into gentle greens and creamy whites – to get closer to that timeless feel.
Didn’t go crazy with presets or anything. Was genuinely surprised how a few minor tweaks brought out that vibe I was chasing – confident, kinda classic, but still warm and real. Sarah looked fantastic, and maybe, just maybe, you could see a hint of Leighton Meester’s style peeking through.
What Stuck With Me
Biggest takeaway? You don’t need tons of gear for this style. That big window and a piece of foam board saved the day. Natural light is your friend for this softer look, but man, you gotta be patient chasing it.
Directing a non-model was hilarious and actually produced more genuine moments than if I’d posed someone stiffly. Capturing authentic expressions totally trumped perfect, staged poses.
And editing lightly usually pays off. Letting the natural feel stay in the photos worked much better than slapping on heavy filters.
Honestly? It was messy. I knocked stuff over, the light changed constantly, directions got confusing… but somehow, we stumbled onto something pretty cool. Practice doesn’t need to be perfect, just gotta dive in and see what happens. Next time, maybe I’ll actually secure my reflector properly!
