Personal Branding Portraits: Sioban
Sioban works in the apparel industry and was in the midst of a career shift, so she reached out to see if she could get some personal branding portraits she could use for business as well as personal use.
The Consultation
Since Sioban was coming up to the studio from the Boston area, it didn’t make sense to make a three hour drive just for the consultation. Normally I like to sit with a potential client face to face and talk through how they want to be photographed. In this case, Zoom made more sense. We could still meet face to face, get a feel for each other, and start building the vision for the shoot before she made the trip.
As we talked, it became clear she wasn’t looking for standard corporate headshots. She wanted something that reflected who she actually is, her personality, her sense of style, while still maintaining a professional feel. It was the right mix of personal branding and something a little more luxe.
The Shoot
On the day of the shoot, Sioban arrived with several outfits and plenty of ideas. After a few minutes of catching up, I introduced her to Kelly Glover, a local makeup artist, and got her settled into hair and makeup. That process typically runs about an hour, so we used the time well. Talking, laughing, having some coffee, and continuing to brainstorm what we wanted to create. I used that time to set up backdrops and prep the lighting so we could move straight into shooting when she was ready.
I always start with natural light. It’s the easiest way to get someone warmed up and give them a feel for how I direct posing before we move into more controlled setups. After that it was about four hours of non-stop shooting, outfit changes, makeup touchups, and a lot of laughter. By the end of the day we were both exhausted and completely energized at the same time.
The Reveal
About three weeks later, Sioban drove back up to the studio for her reveal. I had edited and printed around 25 images for her to choose from. When she arrived, she got to watch a behind the scenes video I had made from her shoot day. Then I walked her over to the reveal wall where she saw all the images side by side for the first time.
That’s when the happy tears started. A lot of happy tears.
She loved them all and went home with a folio box full of her favorite prints.
The Aftermath
Personal branding means something different to everyone. For some people it’s about updated business headshots. For others it’s a way to express something about themselves they haven’t been able to show yet. For Sioban, she wanted to feel empowered, beautiful, and professional all at once. I think we gave her exactly that. But don’t take my word for it.
