Branding sessions for creative professionals:  

With so many creative professionals working for themselves these days, it is hard to stand out and separate yourself from the crowd.  The question is, how do you get noticed by potential clients and how do you create an online presence that helps you stand out in a crowded market?

fun personal branding images in the studio

Online marketing leader puts it this way,

“Branding on a business-level is common, but today branding is becoming just as important on a personal level. After all, you might work for a business that works with other businesses, but it’s people working with people and that’s what makes business relationships valuable.” Neil Patel

executive coach juggling lemons for branding

There are definitely advantages to being a freelance creative building a personal brand.  You can attract potential clients with a lot more personality than a large corporate is capable of doing.

Your personal brand should speak directly to your ideal client and there is no better way to do this than through images that highlight YOU!

Advantages of a personal brand over a corporation:

  1.  Knowing the person behind the brand will put your potential clients immediately at ease.  Especially if you share common interests.
  2. A personal brand can emphasize your unique strengths in the marketplace.  
  3. You can connect your passion with your profession- For example, you love rescue dogs, eating clean and taking care of the environment.  Your images can reflect these passions and help others with similar passions be attracted to working with you.
  4. Publish content to reinforce your credibility
  5. Makes you more approachable, which helps foster trust with clients
  6. Develop your personality on social
  7. You can easily provide support to other like minded individuals by connecting with them on your social channels.  

candid lifestyle image at the beach

At Blue Sky’s we offer several different ways for you to remain in front of your ideal client.

Blue Sky’s Branding collections:

  • Half Day Branding sessions– For your half day session you can include 2-3 different locations that best showcase your brand and your brand aesthetic.  A typical half day session will include 6-8 outfit changes and 50 fully retouched files for you to use across all of your digital marketing assets.
  • Fully Day Session- The full day session is perfect for the entrepreneur that has a clear vision of how they want their brand to be showcased online, who their ideal client is and how to connect with them through compelling images.
  • Annual Membership Session- Our annual membership has been designed for the entrepreneur that is serious about growing their business!  The membership includes a quarterly strategic planning sessions, both photography and some small promotion video clips and up to 365 images edits to use throughout the calendar year.  We will partner with your business and work hand in hand with you to identify and market to your ideal client.
  • Laguna Beach branding portraits on the beach

To enquire about booking a personal branding session with Blue Sky’s Studio click here!

 

I hope during this high school portrait season you are staying warm and dry. I have a confession to make, I love the rain… well at least sometimes (when it doesn’t interfere with shooting) . During the cold winter days, I love to put on a big, warm sweater and some snuggly socks and cuddle up with my laptop.

2019 Senior Styled Session Giveaway

This year I am planning something epic! The high school senior portrait styled session will be at Salvation Mountain in Joshua Tree. We are randomly selecting 2 high school senior girls and 1 guy to spend the day with my team including, a professional stylist (yes we will provide most of the clothes), a makeup artist, a videographer and me taking amazing portraits. Blue Sky’s Studio will provide transportation, lunch and snacks.

Click to Enter to Win

High school senior portrait at Salvation Mountain

What is included with the High School Senior Session giveaway?

  • Professional makeup for the gals
  • Hair styling
  • Clothing Consultation
  • Shooting wardrobe and props
  • The full day photo session
  • (2) Fine art matted prints
  • A personalize reveal session 7 days after the shoot
  • The chance to order more product from the session at the review

Value of the session is $999.00

We will be shoot Sunday, March 17 and we will leave really early in the morning to make the most of the day.

The winners will be announced on March 7. Make sure you tell your friends! (maybe you and your bestie will win!). To see more of our work, visit our website by clicking here.

I love the freedom of these styled sessions and I really feel this location will result in some of my best high school senior portraits to date. I have visions of boho dresses in turquoise with lots of fun jewelry and accessories. For the guys, I love the idea of keeping it kind of Indie with worn jeans, t-shirts and maybe even a leather jacket. I can’t wait to create the style boards with my team.

When I help plan an Orange County Senior portrait session, I always consider color! I love a high school senior portrait that includes a fun prop or a bright color. I focus on 1 or 2 colors and use clothing, props and backgrounds that make these colors come to life. Adding color works both for shoots in studio or in an outdoor location!

Color can accentuate an already great image and can help tell the story of the session. For example colored smoke is a great prop that adds whimsy and personality to the images. Creative props, such as flowers or balloons, can add both color and texture to an image. Check out some of my recent shoots using props and color.

A graduate of any age can participate in these photoshoots to have as a memory to commemorate your special day! Whether you are a middle school graduate, a high school graduate or even a college graduate, there is no better way to freeze this special moment in time! Visit Blue Sky’s Studio‘s website to book a session now.

If you are interested in booking your own personalize session click on the button!


I love people photography!  In fact, if I won the lottery, I would be one of those people who continued to do my job, because it is really what I love to do (oh and I would travel all over the world between shoots).  But uncovering how my clients want to be photographed, and always being focused on providing the most amazing portraits that fulfill my clients requirements, can sometimes leave me wanting to do a “just because” photo session.  

That is where styled commercial photography sessions come into play and why they are so important for me to continue to stretch my creativity and develop my photography skills. It also allows me to take a different perspective during the photography session.

For example, last year we decided to do a fun, collaboration styled session with Breathe Autumn Rain jewelry (click on her link to see her amazing jewelry), with makeup by Brittany Norton (brittanynortonartistry) and myself all contributing to a photography session.

We were extremely lucky to get several beautiful girls to volunteer their time to model for us in exchange for providing professional headshots for them.  We all consulted together on wardrobe, overall style and also how to best give everyone involved an opportunity to do something a little different and creative.

For the location we decided to photograph around Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.  The results were that everyone had an opportunity to play, be creative and produce gorgeous images that everyone would be able to use in their portfolio.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

I am an avid reader.  I mean, I absolutely love books.  Each morning I start the day walking my dog and listening to a business book on audible.com.  Each night, before I go to sleep, I get lost in a good novel on my Kindle.  And really, I have been this way since I was a small child.  My favorite thing to do growing up with my Dad was go to Crown Book Store (remember than discount books store?).  I would go through the books for literally hours.  He would always give me a limit, like, you can buy three books and that is it.  Somehow, I always talked him into five.  I would take those home and dive in.  My punishment if I didn’t finish a task, was to take my books away…..

One of my very favorite books when I was a child was “Where the Wild Things are”.  I probably read it at least 100 times.  So when Brittany asked me to do a styled session with her boys inspired by the book, I was all in.  I think these type of sessions are perfect for kids of any age, because it help tell their story and define who they were at that period in their history.  Also, looking back on those sessions, it helps your child know that you wanted to capture images that defined who they were in their development.  It opens up dialog and great memories.

So here is our Where the Wild Things Are” session with these two gorgeous boys and seriously the red hair kills me! Enjoy!