“Picture Perfect” & RBF | Winston-Salem Branding Photography Jasper & Fern
“Life is not pretty all the time.”
We each sat, gathering our words, mulling over the difference we knew was there. It was equally important to us both that what we shared was authentic. There’s a difference, you see, between realizing a concept and fabricating a reality. It’s a line that I walk often as a branding photographer; a line that’s important to walk carefully and intentionally for my clients because perception can be delicate.
Many of the small business owners I work with provide a service or product that doesn’t require them to have a brick and mortar storefront or physical office. Instead, they create space for themselves anywhere that lets them get their work done - in their spare bedroom, at their dining room table, around their pool, at coffee shops or co-working collectives. They pour themselves into the details of their business, working hard to have a brand with a personality, voice, aesthetic - all of it - that they build their client relationships through. This branding, however, isn’t always something that is communicated in the space they’ve created for themselves to do work. So, when it comes to bring their clients into their story through brand photography, sometimes we need to get a little creative.
Cultivating an authentic, branded space for a small business owner to step into and immediately feel at home is one of our favorite (and most rewarding) challenges. As many of our past branding clients can attest from the time we share together digging into every aspect of their business, we care about the littlest details. Curating a branded space is about more than pooling items that have your brand colors and putting them together in photographs. It’s about sharing parts of your lifestyle, helping your people get to know you through subtle personal touches; it’s incorporating your brand voice & personality while simultaneously creating a space you’d love to call your own.
Many times in this cultivating process we’re starting with a blank slate in the form of an empty room with a floor that matches the undertones of your brand personality and walls painted a color that will compliment your brand aesthetics while making sure it will look cohesive on your website and social media. Other times we are starting on location in a place you frequent or at an establishment that lends itself well to your brand messaging. From there, we build up the essentials of your story - what you’ll be sharing with your target audience, how you’ll be sharing, and what parts of your business you’ll be welcoming your clients into. As we create this space, it’s important to make it authentic to you and not cross the line into “contrived” territory. When you step into the space, we want it to feel like someplace you’ve always been. If you feel at home, your clients will feel that way too.
“I really appreciate all the personal touches you threw in and the hard work you put into my session.”
I sat with Natalie, a while back, thinking through the best way for her to show up authentically and realistically in her brand photography. (You may remember Natalie - the no-nonsense small business owner who was juggling newly wed life with two kids, teaching yoga classes and running her business Updog Wellness. - click here to see her session) She worked out of her home serving her clients virtually while also floating from studio to studio to host in person training sessions and classes. I remember this conversation with her specifically because we discussed her RBF (Resting B* Face) in addition to how we could show her at work without entering her windowless home office that she shared with her boys as a playroom. While brainstorming, Natalie made a comment that I thought perfectly captured the intentional balance of depicting her reality with integrity and realizing her brand through her photographs.
“I want my people to see that I’ve been there too; that life is not pretty all the time; that it takes hard work to get where we want to be,” she said with seriousness in her eyes.
It was important for her to show up in a way that was honest and authentic without coming off abrasive, unfocused or contrived. She embraced and appreciated the space in which she could work, the comftoribility of being at home and that she shared the same situation with many of her clients. Taking inspiration from her open-armed acceptance of her process, we even discussed leaving some unopened mail and a few stacks of projects in the workspace we were creating for her, showing a little personal insight into how she operates and maintaining the integrity of her life and brand. These simple elements helped make her curated space more personal, more authentic and provided her the platform to speak authentically in her brand voice.
Head photographer, Alyson, taking a moment to “live” in the space she created before filling it with her branding client’s personal items. | Winston-Salem Business and Brand Photography | Jasper & Fern
That, right there as Natalie said it, is the intentional balance of showing up authentically in your brand. It’s keeping your integrity, being vulnerable and bringing people into your world. It’s sharing your brand story transparently and honestly, even if you don’t have a storefront or office. It’s a challenge, perhaps, but it’s also the opportunity to bring the heart of your business into reality in the form of a branded space, down to the littlest details.