branding – Branding Bee

Ollogii … product photography for Lotus Therapies in Whitstable

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Sam in Product Photography

Inspired owner of this fabulous local company Lotus Therapies in Whitstable is launching a new range of products to enhance her online (and stocked in some businesses) range.

We met up at the The Canterbury Hotel which, in its four poster bedroom, has the most amazing ensuite, perfect for setting up a series of product shots.

Using a mix of natural light and flash, we managed to create some beautiful images, nice and clean and focusing on the products (with the help of a little bit of BluTac …)

Caroline really wanted to highlight the colour of the Anti-Ageing Facial Oil so we worked out a couple of places that would really show the depth of colour of the oil … and Caroline even jumped into the bath so we could get some “drop” shots!

The session time sped past and we created some great images using both of our knowledge and expertise … and I’m very much looking forward to creating more images for Caroline to use on social media and update posts too.

P.S.

Here’s a cheeky behind-the scenes image caught by Caroline … you can see the final image above … got to love a toilet seat reflection!

Kerry Hales … she’s the lady who gives you a “gentle” push in the right direction

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Sam in Personal branding photography

I’ve known Kerry for a good few years now, have listened to her speak and attended a few of her coaching meetings. She’s someone who I see as strong, with a powerful will and determination to help her clients succeed. She loves meeting people face-to-face and, although she runs online courses and has a very active Facebook group, to meet her in person is the best way forward for many of her clients.

Her mantra is:

“Kerry finds your inner wisdom & a love for who you are!”

So that kind of tells you how she works. On her site, it mentions Kerry’s firestarter spirit and infectious enthusiasm. And it’s true. She herself holds nothing back whilst encouraging you to look deeper into what is holding you back.

Kerry needed some up-to-date images for her website which has a fresh look, with a white background. White is one of the challenging backgrounds to use and the editing takes longer (but once I’m in the groove, it’s not so challenging) and so we set up a small studio in her home.

We had a mood board with images for inspiration and guidelines from Rebecca who is the brains behind Rebecca Martin who offers brand consultancy, strategy and content direction amongst other offerings. Kerry’s site has been created by Jonathan at fairlymarvellous.co.uk who I’ve worked for, and with, on a number of occasions in the past.

Kerry made her choice … and the one below was included. When she posted it on Facebook, it received a huge amount of comments … it certainly grabbed people’s attention.

And that’s what Kerry is about. She is a transformational life coach. I’ve seen her business grow and flourish over the years that I’ve known her and am certain that it will continue to do so.

Branding photography is about capturing the spirit of you. Your personality, your business, your passion.

If you need a refresh or, indeed, an entire set of images to document you and your brand, please do get in touch.

My Allergy Kitchen … meet the powerhouse behind the blog …

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

People have a story to tell. But not everyone self-publishes a book. A book about which they are extremely passionate and knowledgeable and is close to their heart and then becomes an Amazon best seller!

Meet Zoe, the powerhouse behind My Allergy Kitchen and author of The Busy Parent’s Guide to Food Allergies

We spent time making images that Zoe will be able to use on her instagram and social media pages and it was interesting for me to hear her story and how she is helping other parents to understand how and why allergies occur and what actions can be taken to alleviate symptoms.

You can find Zoe on social media here

P.S. You might like to take a look at some of her recipes:

These were particularly delicious … coconut energy balls

Amazon Influencer Natalie Shirlaw {in front of the lens}

Posted on August 7, 2019February 11, 2021 by Sam in Personal branding photography

Natalie is a great friend of mine, I’ve known her for a good few years now and I was delighted to see that all of her hard work on Does It Work by Natalie is growing a huge following and has resulted in Natalie becoming an Amazon Influencer. She tests products and gives her honest opinion. And she is honest. Natalie says on her site that she is:

“dedicated to sharing my quest to live a healthier, less toxic and more natural way of life”

Natalie posts often on her blog, her website and other social media channels, such as Instagram and, as a result, she needs a set of images that she can use to illustrate new products and to showcase her skills as an influencer and social blogger.

Natalie also wanted images showing her fitness routine for future blog posts.

And she has been trialling these beautiful candles from Cocochi. They smell absolutely divine and have a beautiful story behind them. You can find out more information on their journey here.

Products featured:

Cocochi candles

www.ohmat.nl

Les Mills fitness videos

And, of course, I had to take photographs of Natalie’s “behind-the-scenes” team!

I loved working with Natalie on this project and hope to have the chance to set up a regular set of sessions so that she has a great set of images, readily available for use on social media channels.

No Nonsense Nutrition from Julie Clark

Posted on August 2, 2019July 31, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

I was delighted when Julie from Julie Clark Nutrition stepped up to take the opportunity to have a session in front of my lens. I’ve known Julie for a few years now and her husband, Iain, possibly longer (he’s a DJ www.iainbakerweddingdj.co.ukand we met around 10 years ago on a wedding photoshoot). It’s strange where fate takes you sometimes!

Julie has an extremely open approach in telling her journey to this point. She struggled with health issues and sought the help of a nutritionist in her early 20’s. It was a pivotal moment and, as Julie says:

“The advice the Nutritionist gave me was life changing for me, so much so nutrition became my vocation.”

We started in the kitchen, the focal point of their home, and took some headshots of Julie looking relaxed and friendly.

We chatted about the images that Julie felt were missing from her set of “stock” photography and so worked out a plan to fill those gaps. Having an allotment in their back garden and keeping chickens was a great place for us to start.

As you can see from the small hands in the images above, help was on hand from Julie and Iain’s two children who were so excited at being part of the photoshoot. They chatted away, picking fruit, shooing away the hens and then indulged in a health snack of home made raspberry ice lollies.

I was delighted to see that Julie has used this image to illustrate her most recent blog post, Snack Your Kids Happy.

Julie’s site is full of helpful hints and tips and she writes from the heart and draws from her own experiences. One of the images that she wanted to get was of her meditating … we got there in the end but with two children jumping around the garden, it rather put Julie off!

Julie also mentioned that she has never managed to get an image of her and her husband cooking together. So this seemed like the perfect time.

You might like to take a look at her blog post about giving up sugar which you can find here and there’s also a link on that post to a fabulous feedback video from her children. You should watch it!

If you are looking for ways to educate both yourself and your children about healthy alternatives and cooking from scratch, please do pop over to Julie’s website and take a look. There are lots of recipes and despite not being a great cook myself, I really fancy the roasted pepper and tomato soup although if you know me, I’d have to leave out the beans.

If you have a business which is crying out for high quality images to tell your story, please do feel free to get in touch. We can discuss the best way to “fill the gaps” and provide you with a great personalised stock library for use on Instagram, Facebook and your website.

Thanks to Julie and her family for making me feel so very welcome and the loganberries were delicious!

Lorraine from House of Colour … adding the magic touch!

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

I first met Lorraine at a networking event and was lucky enough to hear her present about her role at House of Colour. Lorraine was introduced to the concept by a colleague and joined the company just over seven years ago. At her presentation, Lorraine basically started off fully “dressed” and then proceeded to strip back, by taking off jewellery, lipstick, scarf, jacket, belt (although she didn’t take off her make-up) to reveal the difference. It was quite amazing – I’ve always seen Lorraine as very stylish and when she enters a room, she just looks “right”. And I was amazed to see just how much difference the right colour lipstick can make.

So we hatched a plan to strip it right back to basics, so that I could take images that showed the building up of the look. Lorraine wasn’t too happy about being photographed with no make-up on at all … indeed, that morning on the school run, she told me that she hid behind big sunglasses!

But she wanted to “take one for the team” and to really show how the expertise and knowledge of a great stylist can really take you from … well, top left to bottom right!

There are four seasons at House of Colour, spring, summer, autumn and winter. Once your season has been established, you then know your colours and also the colour and style of jewellery that best suits you. You can see the difference in the top right image below of silver and gold jewellery against differing colour swatches.

Walking into Lorraine’s studio, it’s a riot of colour … and her skills will work out just which colour suits you!

I really enjoyed capturing the progression and getting some great images which Lorraine can use in promoting her style sessions. In Lorraine’s words:

“As a consultant I have the opportunity to combine my love of fashion with helping others on their own personal journeys into the world of colour and watch first hand their transformations. I get to see their confidence grow and hear about all the positive changes they have experienced along the way.”

You can find Lorraine here: Lorraine at House of Colour. She covers Rainham (Kent), Sittingbourne, Faversham and local towns.

If you are considering booking a personal branding session and if you haven’t had your “colours done”, I’d highly recommend it. You will feel confident that you look your absolute best and also, by having the wallet with your season colours, shopping will be so much easier and also more cost effective.

Do let me know how you get on!

Silvertongue Creative – a mother/daughter partnership who have a way with words

Posted on July 12, 2019July 10, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

Engagement is so important when we make our decisions to purchase a product or invest in a person. The online world is a daunting place, so many options, who to trust, who to spend money with?

And a strong online presence, using the correct words to catch the spiderbots which crawl through the interweb is increasingly necessary to stand out from the crowd.

And that’s where the team at Silvertongue Creative come in. A mother/daughter team with bold personalities and a brilliant way with words – they use their creative writing skills and business savvy to compose engaging and thought provoking content.

From their Facebook page:

“Silvertongue Creative is a mother, daughter partnership combining Karina’s thirty years’ experience running successful businesses with Hannah’s eleven years creative and professional writing experience.”

So it was my job to capture that relationship, that dynamism, and to create a set of images for use on social media, website, presentations and other media.

And it was fun …

Before the session, we chatted through ideas and scenarios, including props and how to style the session. Working to a brief is great as it focuses the mind and when we’ve got a great series of shots, then we can be more candid and fluid as the session progresses. Not everyone enjoys being in front of a camera but it’s my job to “see” an image and also to gently guide and orchestrate the session.

Silvertongue Creative’s USP is their wealth of experience and knowledge in the written and business worlds. Their writing is creative and dynamic and draws the reader in … less swiping, perhaps? It’s about writing content which stills the reader’s need to move on to the next article and draws them in to create that initial engagement.

Are you launching a new business? Need a refresh of your online images? Running out of things to share on social media?

I can help you with that. Do get in touch and we can discuss more in depth about your requirements.

branding photography for Mad Creative in Faversham

Madcreative – a personal branding session in Faversham

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

I have known Lucy for a good few years now and both being based in Faversham, and both owning dogs, means that we bump into each other quite frequently.

Lucy is the brains behind Mad Creative who provide the following services. They can:

Provide your business with a new bespoke designed website that reflects your aims and ambitions.
Write a marketing strategy for your business that can support social media providing focus to help you better promote your services and products. We can help you implement the new ideas and also manage your social media for your business, if you don’t have the time or inclination.
Improve your visibility and reach with Search Engine Optimisation solutions. We can even teach you and guide you.
Write blogs to support your business and keep customers up-to-date with your news. Sharing your business news and expertise will help others know how amazing you are.
Create beautifully designed presentations, brochures, logos and graphics to further support your business.

Lucy (logically) is a regular user and poster on social media. After all, it’s part of her business knowing the up-to-date algorithms and vagaries of Facebook and Instagram. You might like to follow her here: Mad Creative’s instagram link. The company’s Facebook page can be found here.

We arranged to meet up at the creek in Faversham which is steeped in history and has a great variety of backgrounds against which we could work.

I’m delighted to see that Lucy has used a great selection of the images that we made that day on her social media pages. It’s great to be visible, especially when you are working in a market where people need to see who you are and what you offer. You are the face of your business.

If you are looking to be more visible on social media, please do get in touch via the contact form on my site. Or, if you are feeling brave, pick up the phone (my number is on the site).

Thanks Lucy for choosing such a great location and I look forward to working with you again in the future.

Personal branding photography for bookkeeper, Kate at Crystal Books Limited

Posted on May 10, 2019May 10, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

I have known Kate for a long time. We used to work in London together and have stayed friends ever since. In fact, one of her sons is my godson so we have a wonderful connection and every good reason to stay in touch.

Kate has recently trained and qualified as a bookkeeper and has launched her business www.crystalbooks.co.uk. She is based in Rayleigh, Essex and is looking to work with local companies who she can meet up with in person and to help them through the often confusing financial maze.

Kate has worked hard on her website but wanted to get some new images so that she can use them on LinkedIn and other social media sites. And I was more than happy to oblige …

This is only a few of the images that we managed to achieve. Despite having to dodge the deluges of rain, we were also able to get outside so that Kate has a good selection of images to use going forward.

If I can help you tell your business story, using excellent quality, professional images, why not get in touch. You could also give me a call and my number is listed on my site.

Good luck in your new business Kate and I look forward to seeing you again in the future xxx

Personal branding photography for Lisa Honiball of Honey Interior Designs

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Sam in Personal branding photography

I have known Lisa for many years now, we met at a networking group and have kept in touch. You can see Lisa’s site here: www.honeyinteriordesign.co.uk. She has an amazing eye, especially with the use of colours, and it has been wonderful to work with her over the years. Slightly fearful of being behind the camera herself, I was delighted that she also asked me to do some headshots and “behind the scene” images for her at her studio in Hythe.

Personal branding photography is about telling the story behind the person. Their inspiration, their ethos, their skill, their creativity. I’m so pleased that Lisa’s website is full of amazing images that we created together. Lisa wrote out a plan, we worked to a schedule and produced some excellent, high quality images that really speak to her future clients.