More Props

I've recently stumbled across the world of prop hiring (as in renting items from a company to use in film/tv/photography etc) whilst searching for fake books to use in my next set of images. With excitement I looked through the long list of goodies I could hire, rubbing my hands together with glee. You name it and it can be hired, it's amazing! Want a bench made of books? A full, working fairy pond? A life sized Cheshire Cat? Oh the fun I could have...

But then I remembered I'm a student, and I have two children, and that no amount of rubbing these old brass buttons together would conjure up the kind of money I needed, so I moved on to plan B, Youtube. To paraphrase the Grinch, if I can't find one, I'll make one instead.

I spent some time watching tutorials on how to create large, fake books and then set to work in the hopes of making something which looks half decent. In the shoot I'm planning I want at least two stacks of books that reach no lower than my models waist. Starting with my cereal box, thick cardboard and glue, I got sticking until I'd achieved the stereotypical, 'old book' shape.

Next came the messy part. Papier mache.

After repeating the tedious task of applying a layer and letting it dry a few times, my 'masterpiece' was ready to paint. That was an interesting task with two little people trying to 'help' but never the less, the first book was created.

I'm hopeful that these will ad to the theatrical look of this next shoot, and being as lightweight as they are I won't have to worry about them hurting anyone if they get knocked over. So... one book down, around eleven more to go.