Lifestyle Brand Photography Shoot in Alton Hampshire

Charmian’s lifestyle brand photography shoot in Alton Hampshire was such a relaxing and fun experience for both of us and it was such a pleasure to work with her.

Charmian got in touch with me asking for a set of lifestyle portrait images for her new website build.

About Charmian and her business

Charmian is an established life coach and career coach and yoga teacher based in Alton, Hampshire; specialising in yoga practice for cancer patients as well as offering Vinyasa and Yoga Nidra for all.   Her business was created from her own journey as a cancer survivor. Through her recovery she discovered the life changing benefits of yoga and coaching, triggering a career change. She has gone on to combine both coaching and yoga to help others feel empowered and motivated to live life to the full.

The photoshoot brief

Charmian was very confident in her photography requirements which gave us a really good starting point from which to begin planning her shoot. She was asking for some nature shots, with her beloved dog Oscar, to personalise herself, showing her love of the outdoors and nature, to prospective clients.

This gave us a great starting point from which to begin planning her shoot. It also helped that she had found a photographer who specialised in outdoor photography, who also loves yoga and doggies (that’s me!) You can see more of my doggy photographs and info here: https://sarahangelphotography.co.uk/dog-photography-surrey/

Charmian’s brief fitted perfectly with my style of photography and the services I offer!

It’s also so important to feel a connection with your photographer. Charmian and I took the time to chat over an email and then on zoom, so she could be certain I was the right fit for her, before we got started. I really recommend this, when searching for the right photographer. You need to feel at ease and enjoy the company of your photographer, so they can get the best out of you. I could discuss this in more detail but feel it’s going to need a blog post of it’s own, so I’ll add that to my to do list to write about this topic in more detail soon! 

It’s also important to point out that not everyone knows exactly how they want to be portrayed or what type of brand photographs they want when they get in touch with me and that’s absolutely ok. A blank canvas is often a common starting point, especially if you are new to developing a personal brand identity. This is part of the process and it’s something I help you with throughout our pre-shoot chat and planning time.

Behind the scenes planning

With all of my personal branding sessions, a lot goes on behind the scenes, before the day of the shoot.

Refining your brief for a brand photoshoot is one of the first tasks we tackle together as part of our behind the scenes planning.

I spend time getting to know you and your businesses before we refine your brief and create a shoot plan. We work together over zoom, via emails and/or over a cup of coffee in person, to identify key attributes that can be included in each image to tell the story of you and your business.  This might include, wardrobe style and colours, specific locations, props and even family pets as in Charmian’s case!

One thing that became apparent, as I got to know Charmian and her business, was the need for distinctive types of images to represent the different facets of her business and website. She also needed to incorporate her love of nature as a restorative ingredient of her new lifestyle and business.

She needed some yoga shots in a quiet private outdoor setting and lifestyle portraits in the great outdoors. This meant sourcing two locations for her shoot as well as a varied wardrobe for each part of the shoot, so her images could be used over multiple pages in her website, on social platforms and over a lengthy period of time, without the images appearing too repetitive over time.

Value for money

Creating a set of images that will stand the test of time across a variety of media platforms is so important for small business owners and it’s something I always take care to consider when working with a client. Your shoot has to offer you value for money. A set of images with slight variations to clothing and location will extend their life overtime and offer a greater breadth of uses too.

Keeping it light and fun on the day of the shoot!

We definitely had a giggle together (all the way through our shoot infact!). I always find that’s a good way to let go of any nervous energy on the day.

I hope you can see from these images how beneficial a lifestyle brand photography shoot is to help elevate your brand and promote the lifestyle that you wish for your clients/customers too.

Keep scrolling to view what we created together.

We had a small travel bag and a few quick changes gave Charmian a variety of looks. We even used a change of clothing to create an Autumn/Winter look to use for seasonal social posts or blogging.

After a fun out door session we headed to the most beautiful retreat for more portraits, client interaction shots and yoga shots.

I hope you can see how beneficial this type of shoot is, to elevate your brand.

Charmian definitely enjoyed the experience too:

“It was such an enjoyable time and thank you for making it so easy and comfortable for me. You were so patient with bionic Oscar and so generous with your time and suggestions, thank you!”

I had such a great time producing these images with Charmian and it’s fantastic to see her already using them over on her brand new website here: https://www.cdabalance.life/

Interested in a lifestyle brand photography shoot for you and your business this year?

I offer just one brand shoot a month alongside my family, doggy and photography teaching services, so if you are interested in a brand shoot, get in touch a head of time. I also offer staggered payment plans especially designed to support new and fledgling business owners, so if this is something that you feel would help you on your journey into business I’d be delighted to help you!

Want to take advantage of my special offer for new clients?

If you want to find out more about how I can help you to promote yourself with a set of brand images, why not book a phone chat with me now to receive 20% off your first shoot if you book with me, within 7 days of our chat.

Book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/sarahangelphotography/photoshoot-enquiry

Offer valid until March 31st, 2024.

More about Sarah Angel

Sarah Angel is a professional family, doggy and business brand photographer based in Farnham, Surrey and photographs families across Greater London, North Hampshire and Surrey.

A UK Kiwi Mum, she is Fine Art trained and holds a 1st class honours award in Photography.

Prior to establishing her family photography business, she worked in education as a Secondary School Art and Photography teacher, for 20 years.

She continues to teach, running photography workshops for adult beginners, in the Farnham area.

You can read more about Sarah Angel here>