It’s that time again. Our Project Manager, Anneliese, has been hard at work finalizing the lifestyle photography for our Fall Winter 2012 collections. It’s quite a task in our businss. When photographing our new shoes with podiatrist designed technology, we have a couple of important things to think about. For instance, does the foot model we’re considering have the right feet to fit our sample sizes? Does he or she pronate? If she’s an athlete, does she have all ten toenails? Yes, that’s gross, but hey, Athlete or not, our feet do go through a lot.

We also have to pay close attention to the grounds on which our shoes are photographed. Anneliese scours interesting and unique locations year-round so that she’ll have the right space when it comes time to shoot. Last fall when we shot our Spring Summer 2012 collection, we knew Filoli was just the right place.

Wouldn’t you agree?

Just 30 miles south of San Francisco, Filoli is not only one of the best-kept country estates from the early 20th century, but also an educational oasis and community resource.

One of the horticulturists with the enormous task of maintaining the beauty of these immaculate gardens has worked with Filoli for more than 17 years. His name is Alex and he let us snap a picture of him while our photographers had their cameras out.

With his contagious smile and enthusiasm, Alex gave a tour of the gardens and a brief history of Filoli to our crew. When asked what is his favorite part of the job, he replied, “Without a doubt, the most rewarding is the planting, maintenance, and harvest of all the fruit trees in the Orchard.  With over 1000 fruit trees, the work is endless.”

Needless to say, our photo shoot was seemless in a place of such serenity, cared for by helpful professionals. Experiences like these, Anneliese agrees, are one of the best parts of our own jobs. The other best? Creating stylish shoes to make our customers happy, of course!

If you would like to see Filoli for yourself, you can learn more here.

We’ll write again soon with a sneak peek of our Fall Winter 2012 photo shoot. Stay tuned!