Alexandra’s session felt more like play than work (actually, I get that feeling quite often on my shoots). She has an IT background and writes about slow travels, slow living and contemporary culture. A woman of my own heart.
Throughout the planning process, one word kept coming to mind:
CONTRAST
I just knew that this was going to be a creative session. I could picture the types of locations I wanted straight away. The trick was working together to work out where we could find these places with the right look and feel, and plan a day that flowed and didn’t mean that we were spending unnecessary time travelling.
Client:
Alexandra Mateus, writer (Visit her website / Follow her on Instagram)
Session type:
Brand Boost (plus styling and hair/makeup)
Season:
early autumn (I wanted to include the colours of nature, but more of a palette of greens and grey, rather than letting the bright reds and oranges of autumn to take over.
Stories & approach:
When we planned her photos, the stories Alexandra mentioned were:
- Slow travels
- Hiking
- Exploring
- Slow living
- Savvy culture
- Digital detox
- Tech
- Contemporary culture
“In a world full of digital overload, I need to share my highest potential to support and inspire people to achieve a better quality of life. I need to create a brand image aligned with my brand values so the audience can feel inspired to be proactive and improve their way of living and mindset. That would support me to stand out, create empathy and increase credibility and positive change in the community.”
In the images, we wanted to capture a sense of calm, mindfulness and slowing down, while also incorporating a playful, creative energy, combined with touches of the digital.
How we chose the photo shoot locations
When we chose the locations, I felt that I wanted to illustrate the contrast between:
- the hard and soft
- muted, neutral colours with the colourful
- modern and digital mixed with the analogue
We ended up choosing a range of locations in Stockholm from the soft, mossy forest of Judarskogen to the gorgeous concrete, bursts of colour and structural details at Urban Playground at Tranebergsbron. To include the water and the contrast between the clean lines of the timber walkways and the soft hanging branches of the willows, we went to Alvik Strand. We finished at a fabulous boutique hotel in the city.
Planning what to wear
Alexandra met Carolina Henning (Private Shopper Stockholm) for a style consultation and personal shopping. The outfits were completely aligned with our vision for the session and Carolina has such a talent for selecting colours, textures and styles that suit my clients’ own skin and hair colour, while keeping in mind their brand colours and our photo shoot locations. More than anything, I can really see that my clients walk away with outfits that suit their personality and needs.
Hair and makeup
I just love it when my clients get to start their day with Mia. She really sets the right tone for the day and I can see that she gives them the space to relax before we get started. For Alexandra it was important that her hair and makeup enhanced her natural look, without being too ‘put together’, and the results were just perfect.
Ready to book your own personal brand photo shoot?
March is already quite full, but I still have a few spots available in February. If you’re ready for a photo shoot of your own, get in touch.
