Behind the Scenes
This was a new one for me.
My first time in front of the camera as a brand.
I’m not an inherently showy person, but I had to leave that outside the entrance of Studio Q in Northeast Minneapolis on a balmy July 8th, and walk into the photo shoot like I owned it.
Unsurprisingly, I crossed the threshold into the space and was immediately struck with overwhelming anxiety and awkwardness.
“How are you feeling,” asked Kristen Olson, the lovely owner of Studio Q. “Ready?”
My stomach rumbled nervously.
“Feeling good and ready. Just might have diarrhea, but other than that, great!”
So, yeah. Instantly owning it.
Thankfully, to combat my nerves, my tried and true defense mechanism swiftly kicked into gear by instructing me to act like a complete doofus in front of the camera. Anybody else turn to being absolutely ridiculous when you’re feeling out of your element? Well, it can be super entertaining for people to watch, but tends to negatively affect your face in the photos…See below…
Finally, a special shout-out to my adolescent self who decided to re-emerge smack dab in the middle of my forehead just to remind me who was boss. Thanks, hormones…
Luckily, I had the best photographer ever. Not only is she über talented, but she also knows how to make people feel comfortable, and in my case, managed to redirect my comedy-charged overacting into more natural poses and expressions. This really helped me (and the photos) out.
Natalie Jennings, whom I’ve used since my wedding, is known for her documentary-style work, but has recently branched into the world of branding photography, which can involve more curation. My ask in particular was fairly art directed. I had specific colors I looked to incorporate in outfits, sweeps, and propping, so there was plenty of planning to do to convey my vision to Natalie.
One of the most helpful exercises that came into play when creating both designed brand assets and art directing the photo shoot was mood boarding. For those of you unfamiliar, a mood board is a collection of different imagery that should be hinged together in style to aptly communicate a clear aesthetic vibe.
It’s an exercise you will be met with in the real-world time and time again. It helps direct your path, organize your thinking, and most importantly gets across those thoughts to both internal and external collaborators. Yes, I mean both co-workers AND clients. And because it’s such an important and prevalent process in the field, it should come as no surprise that mood boarding is incorporated into EVERY project you’ll work on through Greater>Than.
So, to get ready for the shoot, I created several photography-focused mood boards to get across the style of imagery I was after, which I’d decided was some kind of inspired merger of Nike, old school GAP, and United Colors of Benetton.
The first board was more focused on style of posed headshots. Things are bright, bold, and minimal, but also playful. (This playfulness, of course, is what led to my husband having to blow up 15+ balloons the night before the shoot. Thank you, Trent. And Natalie, Kristen, and I having to clean up a ton of confetti the day of. :)
Then I created a second one that showed how this vibe might translate to styling flat-lay imagery not involving me, or at least not my face.
Finally, a third board acted more as research, and technically doesn’t qualify as a mood board as the photography isn’t necessarily the exact aesthetic, but instead shows call-outs of the content needing to be accounted for.
Many creatives tend to rush through and struggle with mood boarding — and to no fault of their own. Most have never had its methodology explained in detail. And, it can take a lot of practice, but is nevertheless an essential skill to learn how to do and how to do well. In fact, be looking for an upcoming virtual presentation showing you just how targeted they can get in real, client-based scenarios along with tips on how to create them. It’s not as simple as throwing cool stuff on an artboard. It’s much more thoughtful, strategic and intentionally curated than that.
Anyway, I’m so glad I put the time in up front to do this organizational prep-work for the shoot so the only thing we had to worry about was getting my face to cooperate and preventing any urgent bathroom episodes! :)
All in all, it was a success, and I’m excited to share the final, edited photos along the way!
