May Love Letter: The Photos That Changed Safran
What began as "we need better product photos" turned into years of collaboration and friendship.
When I first started Safran Everyday, photography was always one of the biggest headaches. Not because it wasn't worth the cost — good photography absolutely is — but because, as a tiny newly-sprouted business, it felt almost impossible to justify.
In the beginning, we tried a lot of workarounds. Some of them actually worked surprisingly well. We did shoots with Soona back when Keegan still lived in Minneapolis (remember when she was the face of our Instagram? I still miss that era).
Those photos were fun and scrappy and helped us get started. We also worked with our friend Tara on more lifestyle-focused shoots, which gave us beautiful installed images of the products in real spaces.
But none of it was truly ecommerce photography.
At one point, a marketing group we were working with strongly — though politely — suggested that real retail photography might matter more than we realized. So we finally decided to take the plunge.
I honestly think Keegan just googled "Pittsburgh retail photographer," and somehow we found Javo Studios.
We scheduled a Zoom meeting with Lisa, and it genuinely felt like love at first sight.
Lisa Javo has been doing retail photography for decades, and working with her completely changed our business. I don't think I understood before then that we didn't just need "better pictures" — we needed ecommerce photos taken by someone who deeply understood retail.
She knew the right angles. She knew how to make colors appear as accurately as possible. She caught details we never would have noticed until it was too late (hello, random hair tie left on a wrist).
The amount of knowledge she brought into every shoot was something I couldn't have anticipated.
Over the past four years, we've done so many shoots together, and they've only gotten more fun over time.
Once we had the foundational product photography figured out, we were able to start getting more creative together too — not just clean retail shots, but more stylized images that still felt functional and useful.
Some of my favorite photos we've ever taken are the Catch and Keep tray images. They felt like such a perfect combination of Keegan's eye for styling and Lisa and her team's technical skill.
Javo Studios is located in Lawrenceville in an old social hall that Lisa renovated into an incredible studio space years ago. It's one of those places that instantly feels creative the second you walk in. The space is also available for rentals if you're looking for a unique spot for an event, shoot, or even longer-term studio or office space.
One of the unexpected joys of working with Lisa over the years has been getting to know the people she brings onto shoots. We worked with Chelsea for years, who created many of the instructional videos tucked away in our Instagram highlights.
Lately we've been working with Forrest, who is wildly talented technically and also happens to moonlight as a wrestler. I finally got to see one of his matches this month, which was strange, hilarious, and honestly kind of incredible. (Their instagram are: @polskidevil and @chel.say)
This isn't meant to be an advertisement for Lisa or her studio. More than anything, it just feels like another example of the kind of magic Pittsburgh quietly holds. What started as a random Google search turned into a years-long creative relationship and a true friendship, and I feel incredibly lucky for that.