Today, I’m so excited to share a recent branding session I photographed with a local creative. Maddie and I originally met up to shoot some marketing images for the best-selling pants offered by her online store, her regular 9-5.
When she contacted me for some branding shots for her freelance copywriting side business, I was really excited to work with her on on some branding shots and and capture another side of her life. When we started chatting, I also realized there’s so much more to her than meets the eye and that running a content writing business and an online store are only scratching the surface.
In her off-time, Maddie is a writer—specifically a copywriter or a “ghostwriter” for businesses who may be having a tough time keeping up with blogging client sessions or creating content that will educate their clients.
It’s a pretty niche field, but she rocks it.
Maddie wanted to highlight a few different things about herself during her branding photoshoot. Namely, she adores Taylor Swift, is obsessed with planners (I mean, what creative isn’t right!), is always down for a chai tea, and her happy place is behind her Mac screen typing up content for her clients.
I love when my clients come to a photoshoot with props to help tell a story of who they are and what they do. Anyone can take headshots, but to truly capture the full essence of a client sometimes requires lipstick stains on mugs and pouring over planner stickers as they show you what’s in store in the coming months.
People come alive when surrounded by the things they love, the things that make them who they are.
While Maddie is always content tapping away on a keyboard, there’s another layer to her that isn’t quite so common amongst other 20-somethings…She loves yarn and is an avid weaver and knitter. Her eyes lit up as she pulled ball after ball of yarn from her basket and the textures and colors were so luxurious that I could tell why she loves digging her hands into the squish.
When she asked if we could get some images of her weaving and knitting for her Instagram account, I happily agreed.
We all know the key to growing your audience on Instagram is consistency and good content, but sometimes it’s tough to balance. Since Maddie has a regular 9-5 and freelances on top of that, sometimes creating interesting content that people WANT to engage with gets pushed aside.
And that’s where I come in! We were able to grab some really incredible shots of her knitting in a speakeasy and contentedly weaving in front of a bright and beautiful window.
When I showed her a preview of a few of her photos after we finished up our shoot together, she said, “It’s perfect content for my account! My followers are going to love these!”
That’s exactly what I want to hear when I work with my amazing clients—that THEIR clients are going to love the final product—because when you’re a photographer whose job it is to tell other people’s branding stories, what matters most is getting their stories just right.
