How We Curated a Branding Photography Session for Wardrobe Stylist Drew Nicole
Drew Nicole, Wardrobe Stylist and owner of Curated Image Design, came to us because she wanted to upgrade the look and feel of her website after hitting some major business goals. Her website was first designed by our lead photographer Kelley Raye in 2020 when Drew was just launching her brand. Because Drew is so good at what she does, she hit her 2021 6-figure sales goal in only 6 months. Her 2022 sales goal is much bigger, so she wanted new brand images to match her elevation.
Knowing Drew’s background as a store merchandiser for some high-end brands before taking the leap into entrepreneurship, we decided to transform the studio into her very own luxury styling boutique. We wanted her ‘boutique’ to feel like a place where her six and seven figure clients could relax with a glass of champagne and try on all of Drew’s luxury pieces that she pulled just for them, in comfort and style.
After a short Visual Brand Strategy meeting, we created a custom Inspiration board with shots and prop recommendations that matched her brand colors and vibe. Drew added her own looks (of course) and we got to work ordering props that would make Drew’s branding images pop including:
gold seamstress scissors
gold wardrobe clips
grey ottoman
framed Chanel wall art
books about designer brands
faux animal skin rug
black velvet hangers
extra large gold safety pins
We through in some personal touches like pieces from her client jewelry collection, a framed photo of her grandmother and her favorite coffee mug. We also turned the prop shelf into a bag and shoe display, and even tossed in some of our own personal designer bags to drive home our intended vibe.
Voila! An instant luxury boutique as the backdrop to her updated branding images.
Check it out!
These Images Will Take Your Personal Brand Website Launch to New Levels!
Introducing your brand to the world is a big deal. And when it comes to a personal brand website, a cohesive look with professional, intentional brand images is one of the best investments you’ll ever make. Professional brand images scream “I’m an expert!” “You should trust me!” and (in our opinion) “I’m kind of a big deal! Respectfully.” If you’re thinking one headshot is all you need to go from zero to 6 figures, this blog post is for you!
When you’re planning your website branding session, you’ll want to consider creating images for your home page, about me page, services page, pricing page, contact page, and even some of your back end pages that people may only see after inquiring with you.
Here are a few images we love to shoot for our branding session clients when they let us know they are launching or re-launching their personal brand website (and why!) featuring Audris Campbell.
Shot List Must #1: Lifestyle Images
Every photographer is not specifically a LIFESTYLE photographer, but if you’re a service-based boss it is recommended that you book a lifestyle branding photographer specifically. Why? Because when you are the face of your brand, its important to show your audience who you are and what you do in a non-used-car-salesman kind of way. And a lifestyle branding photographer may be more versed in this style of imagery a little more than an interior homes photographer for example. Simple lifestyle images where you are ‘in action’, either from a work or leisure perspective, brings in that human dynamic that your audience is looking to connect with. Connection leads to trust and trust leads to sales. Think of lifestyle images as a behind-the-scenes look into your life.
Shot List Must #2: Detail Images
You don’t need to be in every image on your personal brand website. Detail shots are a great way to incorporate your services or interests in a curated way that saves you from having to upload stock photos that don’t match your other brand images. They’re also great for banner images, and images where you’d want to add text or buttons over them. Detail shots are like your own personal stock photo gallery!
Shot List Must #3: Creative Portraits
Creative portraits are our jam! Traditional headshots are great for LinkedIn, but creative portraits are where your brand’s soul lives. Try to throw both smiling and more serious looks at your photographer, for a good mix of creative portraits to work with.
Shot List Must #4: Headshots
A traditional headshot is tried and true. You can never go wrong with throwing a traditional headshot in the mix, even for a creative branding session. Traditional headshots can be used for ‘official’ bio requests that you might pass on for speaking engagements, media opportunities, podcast episode announcements, etc.
Shot List Must #5: A Healthy Mix of Horizontal + Vertical Images
Your branding session should include a good mix of both horizontal and vertical shots. In the age of Instagram, influencers have created a demand for vertical images because they look better ask you are scrolling through your feed (because they fit perfectly into the shape of your phone). However, horizontal images are used more often on websites, you guessed it, because they match the shape of your computer screen. You’ll still want a combo of both per look or ‘scene’ for various reasons, such as how we’ve stacked the images throughout this blog post.
Shot List Must #6: Negative Space/Off-Center Images
If you’re not a website designer, this may never cross your mind, but we think website designers will agree. It’s a great idea to get some images with plenty of negative or white space during your branding session for moments when you want to add copy or text over them later. The negative space will allow your copy or text to be clearly read by your audience no matter the font size.
Want to see Audris’ full Ultimate Branding Session? Check it out here!
Images by Lead Photographer Kelley Raye
3 Looks You Can Easily Curate For Your First Branding Session
So you haven’t booked that branding session yet because you don’t know what to wear. Valid point, but luckily we know a thing or two about branding session wardrobe. Most photographers provide their clients inspiration boards to get them started on their wardrobe journey, but if you don’t know where to start for your next branding session, this blog post is for you.
The easiest way to approach your branding session wardrobe is by putting together a Session Wardrobe Capsule. What’s that you ask? A Session Wardrobe Capsule is a collection of looks (literally from head to toe) that present a beautifully cohesive (and did we mention high-end and professional?) vibe. Curating a Session Wardrobe Capsule means your images will always compliment each other across all of your platforms including your website, social media and marketing materials.
No matter how much coverage time you book, these three minimum looks will definitely take your Branding Session from meh to mogul in no time.
Look 1: The Power Suit
Branding means business. So what better way to introduce yourself as a boss than the always timeless Power Suit? For an even bigger wave, skip the traditional colors like black or grey which can sometimes read as “I’m trying to blend in” and go for bolder colors such as white which proudly proclaim “I was born to stand out!”
Look 2: A Leisure Look
A good branding session showcases you from several angles including what you do in your leisure time (a great way to remind your audience that you are indeed human just like them btw). A leisure look also makes for great filler content, especially for your blog or instagram feed. When rocking a leisure look, don’t forget to match these colors with your more “boss” looks that they can easily fit into your website or social media feed. The key to a great session wardrobe capsule is to keep everything visually cohesive no matter what you’re wearing.
Look 3: Personality Pick
A curated session wardrobe capsule is important to create stellar brand images that get noticed, but that doesn’t mean wear things you wouldn’t normally. Your audience wants to know who you are, really, so incorporating your true personality (within the session wardrobe capsule, of course) is highly suggested. If you are normally a lux gal at heart then bring that lux vibe to your session. If we can typically catch you in a flowy dress on a Tuesday, then be sure to pack one.
Images by Lead Photographer Kelley Raye
How to Create a Session Wardrobe Capsule for Your Branding Photography Clients
When it comes to Branding Photography, clients look to their photographers for alllllll the expertise, because they probably have no idea where to start, what they’re doing, what they need, what they want, or how to execute their vision authentically. When you don’t plan your branding session accurately, it can lead to off-brand, off-message images that never see the light of day.
Since implementing our Session Prep Board system, our clients have exceeded even their own expectations for their branding session. Want to know how we prep our clients so they come confident, organized and ready to show out? Keep reading!
Step 1: Start with a Discovery Chat
It’s always a best practice for photographers to get an idea of who their client is and what they do before diving into what the creative process will look like. Although your new clients may have some similarities to past clients, it’s still important to ask questions before you begin building your shot list or picking locations. These are some of the questions we like to have a handle on before we start curating our branding sessions:
What do you do and for who?
How will you use your brand images most of the time? (ex: website? social media? marketing materials? speaking engagements?)
Do you see yourself shooting indoors, outdoors or a combination of both?
What can’t you do your ‘job’ without?
How often do you plan to post to Instagram (if at all)?
Have you done a branding session before? What did you like about your last experience? What didn’t you like?
How comfortable are you in front of the camera? (we already know the answer, but this determines how much wine we’ll need…jk. Kind of)
After your discovery chat (and official booking), you can begin to curate your session based on your expertise, your clients vision and the perfect brand vibe.
Step 2: Head over to Pinterest
Pinterest is a great place to pull inspiration images because you can search by keyword. So if your branding client is an interior designer, start by searching “interior designer branding session” to get ideas that are specific to that line of work. You can add them to a private board, but we like to screenshot these images to use them outside of Pinterest. Once you’ve saved brand-specific inspiration images, be sure to look for general images and detail shots that match your own photography vibe. For example, if we were searching for our own brand client, we would also look for editorial studio images because that’s what we shoot in the studio.
Now, the images you pull may not feature the model in a wardrobe capsule that matches your client. So once you’ve pulled inspiration shots, pull inspiration wardrobe next. Now, it all to your session prep board (see below) so that your client can see the full picture.
Step 3: Create a Session Prep Board
We create our session prep boards in Milanote. One thing we love about Milanote is it is easy to use + super interactive. You can add images, notes, links to website pages you’d like to share, and our favorite feature of all, the handy dandy checklist. We love to add information about our studio, things to remember to do before the session, and makeup stylist recommendations.
Once you’e pulled some inspiration shots for your client, fill up a milanote board just for them so that they can not only see it, but add ideas and notes of their own. Be sure to add them as an editor so that they have access to updating the board alongside you.
Savanah is a photographer from the U.S. Virgin Islands. She loves neutrals and has a spiritual, ethereal vibe. She wanted to upgrade her brand to match her new premium pricing structure. We pulled this minimal yet statement inspiration wardrobe together with that in mind.
Savanah’s shoot was a combination of studio + outdoor shots, so we pulled creative images that also reminds her target audience that she’s a cool + vibey photographer. She hadn’t planned to bring her camera until she saw the shot inspiration board.
After studying our inspiration board, Savanah purchased/packed these looks for her session. We even had her packages sent directly to us, just in case they wouldn’t arrive to her island in time. We dropped them off to her hotel the day before for her to try on and we steamed everything when she arrived to the studio. What she didn’t keep, we shipped back for her so that she wouldn’t have to.
Want to see the results of a perfectly organized Session Prep + Inspiration Board? View Savanah’s studio session images here.
Images by Lead Photographer Kelley Raye
Atlanta Photography Studio and Creative Space opens in Castleberry Hill
Designed and curated by Photographer and Entrepreneur Kelley Raye-Wright and Filmmaker and Entrepreneur Fallon Raye-Wright, Neutral Moon Studio is a boutique Atlanta photography studio and creative space designed with creatives and entrepreneurs in mind.
From branding and editorial photography sessions to styled shoots and client meetings, our beautiful naturally-lit studio is the perfect place to create your next big idea.
With its lofted ceilings, brick accent wall and industrial steel windows original to the 1923 building it resides in, Neutral Moon Studio is a creative’s dream. The studio design is a mix of cozy, neutral, scandi-luxe vibes with gold, marble and brass accents, and rotating furniture that is modern, sleek and timeless. Every piece is intentionally curated with stunning photography moments in mind for everyone who steps into this one-of-a-kind Atlanta natural light creative studio space.
The studio is available for rent by the hour for creative projects of all kinds and includes amenities such as:
Lofted ceilings
Industrial Windows
Natural Light
Wifi
Bluetooth speaker
102in (h) x 10ft (w) backdrop stand setup
Various neutral-toned seamless paper backdrops
Wardrobe Rack
Steamer
Neutral Moon Studio opens to the public on January 11, 2022. Reservations can be made now through the studio website’s booking page.
Photography by Lifestyle Branding Photographer Kelley Raye