Laurie Sandell

I’m sitting in a large white room at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, California, getting ready to do my next story for Glamour. There’s music blaring–the Glee soundtrack, of all things–and a woman dancing around and getting photographed in a gorgeous Dior dress. I’ve been here for hours, since shoots always last longer than they’re supposed to, so of course I’ve already eaten three lemon bars and a plate of steak.

The photographer's dog, Sontag

(Someone–I’m not naming names–has been my constant companion because of the steak, and it’s not my editor, Leslie, pictured left.) Much like a movie shoot, photo shoots are long and fairly arduous: Most of the energy happens in front of the camera; behind the scenes, there’s a lot of waiting around, checking e-mail, and, yes–eating lemon bars. Curses.