On a cold, wet, Saturday morning, Studio Raconteur followed a fashion designer and photographer to Camp North End in Charlotte, NC, for a two-day photo shoot.
For me, this was the perfect project – capturing creativity in action, finding the story within, and letting that story take center stage with minimal interference from me.
Like the proverbial ‘fly on the wall,’ my job was simply to document what happened as it happened, only interjecting myself into the story to get a few ‘to-camera’ pieces from designer Melissa Crosson and allowing her to set the context for the audience.
The Story: Creative Work is Hard Work
If these videos show anything, it’s that creativity is hard work, especially in the fashion world.
Fashion has this reputation for being glamorous. In fact, in some of my previous work with Crosson’s Unique Custom Threads label, we were advised to keep that polished edge. Heaven forbid anyone see the reality of all the long hours and toil that goes into creating a flicker of a glamerous moment.
But here’s the thing:
I find the creative process way more fascinating than any slick presentation that hides the work behind it. That’s what these videos show – the hard work. The problem-solving, the patience, the small moments of breakthrough that make it all worthwhile.
There was nothing glamorous about this shoot. On day one, it was cold, wet and miserable. Models braved the elements, shivering between set-ups, and with Camp North End serving as such a vast and wonderful playground for this kind of creativity, we did a lot of walking between those set ups.
Yet with Unique Custom Threads directing and the models turning it on like true professionals the moment David of Pinnacle Photo began working his magic behind the lens – everyone worked hard to get the job done.
The Moments That Mattered
The moment that stands out most was on Day 1, between takes. I turned the camera on Melissa and asked her, “How does it feel to see your creativity come to life like this?”
Melissa welled up, emotions taking over, a creative professional seeing something that once existed purely as an idea in her imagination now fully brought to life. Her garment, David’s photography, model Courtney shrugging off the chilly North Carolina air to make it all happen.
When I’m trying to tell stories, those are the moments I live for. Moments that anchor the story in reality and reveal what’s really happening beneath the surface. Although this scene led us into the final photo-shoot montage of the first video, it transformed what we were doing into something much more than taking photos.
Creativity matters, and here we were, a bunch of creative professionals helping one person bring her vision to life. Melissa, Courtney, David, and myself, all playing our part in making someone’s dream tangible.
I’ve never harbored dreams of being a fashion designer, but I can imagine that if I had, a photo shoot featuring my own designs would be the ultimate validation. As a musician, it would be like shooting a music video for a song I wrote, or an artist seeing their work professionally photographed for a coffee table book.
That’s the power of staying patient and keeping the camera rolling – you catch the moments that matter, the ones that show why the work matters to the people doing it.
The Documentary Difference
This is what happens when you step back and let the story tell itself.
Instead of forcing moments or manufacturing emotion, you capture what’s actually thereand what’s actually there is almost always more compelling than anything you could script.
For brands, businesses, and creatives, this approach means your story gets told authentically. Whether it’s documenting a product launch, following your team through a typical day, or capturing the passion behind your craft, the fly-on-the-wall method reveals the human moments that make audiences actually care.
Polished presentations have their place, but they don’t build the same connection. When people see real emotion, genuine problem-solving, and authentic passion (like Melissa’s tears or the models pushing through the cold) they’re no longer simply consuming content, they’re experiencing your story.
That’s the difference between showing what you do and showing why it matters. In a world saturated with perfectly curated content, the real moments are what make people stop scrolling and start caring.
Let’s Tell Stories Together
The best stories aren’t the ones we plan. They’re the ones we’re patient enough to discover.
What stories are waiting to be discovered in your business? Shoot me a message and let’s find out together.