Christina Brandon - Roam Around Pottery
SESSION BOOKED:
Essential Brand Session
SESSION GOAL:
Create a library of images that reflect Christina’s skills and personality to capture the attention of her target customers on her website and social media.
BRAND WORDS:
SKILLED│PLAYFUL│COLORFUL│BEAUTIFUL│COOL
About the session:
Christina was just on the cusp of launching Roam Around Pottery when she reached out to me. Like a lot of creatives and solopreneurs, Christina was doing everything for her business - from copywriting to creating her website to every step of the pottery process itself. She knew professional brand photos would help make a good first impression and build trust with consumers, so she reached out to me for guidance.
I was beyond thrilled about the opportunity to photograph a potter at her wheel. (I loved my pottery classes in high school so much and would love to revisit it again someday.) During our collaborative planning process, I learned that a big part of Christina’s Instagram content will focus on her process, artistic approach and the tools she uses. So we identified the following four concepts to photograph in Christina’s home studio spaces.
Concept one: Basement studio process - Christina’s pottery wheel is in her basement, along with her drying racks and storage shelves. We wanted to capture the full behind the scenes process of throwing two types of her signature pieces - a vase and a dish - in photo and video format. I also photographed her shelves full of pottery in various stages and colors.
Concept two: Sunroom studio process - This is where I documented Christina’s creative process prior to firing the pottery, such as glazes and transfers and the tools used for each. When I document processes like this, I like to first ask my client to walk me through what they will be doing (without actually doing it) so I can prepare for what I want to capture. Then I tell them to actually do it while I shoot away. If there is a particular part of the process I want a better view of, or that would make a cool shot, I will ask my client to pause or slow down so I can capture it. Otherwise, my client is really just focused on their craft, while I’m focused on mine.
Concept three: Headshots - Knowing that Christina didn’t have a neutral-colored blank wall in her home, I set up my backdrop stand with a painter’s drop cloth I already had as I thought it would compliment the artistic studio setting and provide a clean backdrop for headshots. While we had focused primarily on lifestyle photos of Christina during the photoshoot since she has a greater need for the “artist in action” shots, a few classic headshots are always good to have for bios and profile images and will be captured at every brand session.
Concept four: Product photos - Each piece of pottery Christina creates is unique, so instead of photographing multiple individual pieces, we grouped some together to show the range of different shapes and colors she creates. I love incorporating a human element to otherwise still life photos, so I will often ask clients to reach into the photo to adjust a piece as I capture them in action.
Our three hour photoshoot resulted in a library of over 130 images + multiple b-roll videos which Christina immediately started using for her website and social media content, creating a consistent brand image of Roam Around Pottery wherever consumers find her.
In her words:
I asked: “What is your motivation behind getting brand photos?”
Christina said: “I understand the value of professional photographs. I want to launch this business and give it a fighting chance of getting customers -- and giving them the confidence to make a purchase. Gorgeous visuals are a key to doing that. Photos will be the first impression of online customers. I don't know what I'm doing with photography and branding especially so I wanted a partner to lean on and guide me through this process.”
WHERE TO CONNECT WITH CHRISTINA AND ROAM AROUND POTTERY:
PERSONAL BRANDING + HEADSHOTS
Are you ready to elevate your brand and your marketing with a library of strategic, custom images?
Let’s work together to create the photos your business deserves.