My Design Work - Letterheads

Here above are two letterhead / headed paper layouts that I had designed using the same layout, theme, fonts, logo and colours for.  They fit very well into my business package and also look very professional.  The thing I like most about keeping the similar theme throughout all of my design work and look very creative, not boring and actually eye-catching with the splash of purple.

Headed paper works perfect for statements, cover letters, any letters that I would be writing and sending to clients and customers and compliment slips.  The have been designed almost exactly the same way my business cards have been designed.  With the faded purple along the left hand side or the purple line then with the written text logo at the top next to the main logo.  The is a water mark of the logo on the bottom left which makes it look that little bit more professional and gives it a very nice touch. 

In the bottom right corner it has all of my details, phone number, e-mail, website, facebook and twitter so that anyone that receives any letter from me or looks at just my statement or cover letter within my practioners package will see my details and take a look if they haven’t done already. 

Letterheads are also a good way to get a professional reputation seen by others and could potentially give me better reputation and status.  People that see that someone has create a nice fancy letterhead might then notice that I have though about everything in terms of my design work and want it to be noticed.  I will use this letterhead for any paper that I will be using to do with my business and most certainly for my clients and customers and also any letters that I may send out to photography jobs. 

My Design Work - Logo

My Photography Business Logo

I have designed my whole business theme, personal, practioners package and social networking around this logo.  This is actually the fourth logo that I have had designed for me by my sister who is a graphic designer.  All other logos were trials and this one has worked out the best.  The ‘S’ is the main part of the logo because it is the part that resembles the ‘Suzi-Rae’ for my name; a letter that will never change therefore can always be the logo.  The ‘S’ fits well around the face of the logo and makes it almost seem as if it’s a headpiece.  I wouldn’t have had the face of the logo in any other colour but black but I would change the ‘S’ to purple which I have done for it to go onto my business cards and website.

I am really happy with this choice of logo and think that is the best one that I have had so far.  I will be keeping this logo for a while now and will make sure that I spread it round so that everyone I meet will see the logo and know that it is for my business in photography.  As for now it fits into the design and look of my website, books, and overall theme to my business work.  I can change this to many different sizes without it looking too big or too small.

The face suggests portraiture and slightly towards fashion which is what I will be aiming for a lot more of.  I think that this logo still fits in well with all ages of audience and will look good on everything that I will require a logo for.  I have already tested this logo on social networks on facebook and twitter and it has been a great success and I am a lot happier with this logo than the very first logo I had.

I think that this logo is great for my business because it looks young, modern, and trendy.  It is also eye-catching and is on a white background so works well for all different purposes.  As for my career in the future I may end up just using my name for a more professional approach to photography as after some research, most photographers just choose a certain font for their logo’s but for now, my whole business will be started up using this logo. 

Editing, Colouring & Finalising

In my briefing with my client we discussed the editing process of what she wanted after the shoot.  

The agreed pricing is at £30 per shoot with all photographs taken for both on a CD, to be delivered to her address.  We agreed at our meeting that I would edit the images that were here favourites, So after both shoots I had called my client back to sit and go through all images with me and decide what ones she would like to have edited and once I had a select few, told her that it would be a a couple of days for editing and finalising and I would send the CD to her address. 

The Editing

These top two images are the two favourite two images from the first shoot.  My client wanted them to be black and white and quite contrasty.  I managed to do this quite simply and these are the outcomes, two images with minimal light of her in the nude looks very elegant and a nice shine on the baby bump.  I do think that I would have liked to maybe used a coloured drape, that maybe I could have left in colour in editing, but is something I can consider for a next maternity shoot.   I am happy with my final two edits of these images and they are what the client has asked of me.  

The next two image's above and below are of similar positions and only slightly different.  This was the pose in which the Husband was in shot.  He stood behind and held the clients hands around the baby bump.  For editing of these two images, I smooth the skin of the bump out so there was a very smooth colouring to the belly, I also brightened the background and cropped the images down from the originals to a better position.  I changed the images into black and white just in case the client preferred them and included both colour and black and white on the CD.  I am happy with both of these images, the one of the husbands hand open on the baby bump was actually an accidental shot, but from the clients eye, she loved it and thought is was even more personal to them both, so I edited this image too. The small tigger toy looks great in that position and it is what really makes personal and cute.  

The image below this piece of text is the same image as above but is the version that my client wanted the most.  I have included both the black and white copy, and the colour copy on the CD, but this was the edit that she wanted to see. A black and white image but with the cuddly toy in colour.  I think it works perfectly for the shoot and is exactly what my client wanted so that make me very happy.  The tigger shows personality within this image, and looks great and professional. 

This next image below also shows more of the husband Martin that came along to the second shoot too.  My client wanted him to be in a few, holding a pair of the baby shoes in their hands, I had tried this shot with some of the other belongings but this one with these blue shoes seemed to work the best.  Again my client wanted to see black and white with the use of colour, so I have included the edit on the left of just black and white and the image on the right of the small coloured shoes. 

The two images below, are of a different pose and composition to the other images edited so far.  I like this one it shows her sitting down compared to the others laying down and standing up.  I think the thing I like about this images is the fact that I suggested she be topless for a more personal feel to it and I think it works well.  I do think her bottom arm and hand looks a bit to tight and tensioned, but the overall image makes up for it. I asked for both weddings rings to be shown in the image and I positioned their hands during the shoot. The beige coloured little boy's boots look lovely sitting on top on the baby bump and go really well in either black and white or colour.  The only thing I dislike it the two strands of hair that you see, if it is cropped, it crops it too low but they are quite difficult to edit out. But I really like this edit and its on the CD for my client Christine. 

The two images above and below I have also edited and added to the CD for my client Christine, they are two images that she liked and wanted as well as the others.  The tigger is he favourite toy and its brand new, fluffy and cute, so looks great sitting right next to the baby bump. I personally like the image a bit higher of the black and white image with tigger in colour, but I do like the whole image in colour because the bright orange stands out. As for below, Its always nice to use a baby scan images with a pregnancy shoot so I asked her to bring hers along.  The photo Christine is holding is a 3D scan which shows a clear view of the baby's face, so its lovely having the picture next to the bump as you know the little baby is inside. I like this image is black and white and colour, but both are edited for her. 

Christine messaged me after all the other images had been chosen, asking for this image to be edited too.  Christine was a lovely client so of course I said yes to one more image.  It is a funny image of christine's husband being funny on the floor behind the baby bump, I was positioning baby shoes on top of the bump and he bent down and I took this extra image.  I think Christine wants it edited because it is the only image that includes Martin's face. I just put it black and white and colour for her to have.  

This last image was taken on my phone as I uploaded it to Instagram. 

I really like how the bump is directly facing the camera with the writing on the baby bump. As I mentioned earlier, I drew on her belly with eyeliner and it just looked so effective and i love it.  It's probably one of my favourites. The way her arms and hands are holding the whole bump and the black top an bottoms she has on really make the belly pop out forward in the photo.  I think this was the best Idea that I had for the whole shoot, they look great, funny, and have great responses too.

Evaluation of My Commissioned Brief

I am over the moon with my commissioned live brief as it actually went a lot better than I thought it would.  My original idea's were wrong and then I started building up a business in something I had not had any images for, to only go and get a call from someone regarding maternity photography. I had always wanted to to do a Maternity shoot before but never really got round to it or had the facilities.  Now I have a home studio in which i have all lighting equipment and two backdrops.  From the moment that I received the call, I started planning out briefs and possible examples of maternity shoots so that I could prepare myself.  it was my first time shooting maternity but it is not too different to portrait photography, I was relaxed and found it very simple.  The phone calls and meeting were set up before shooting and in them we discussed, bringing props along, discussed pricing and exactly what she wants and it all went so well.  The shoots were lovely and fun, and Im sure she really likes the outcomes.  I think for my first shoot, they look very professional.  From this I can now start developing my business more as I would have more to use for flyers and promotion.  

A Great Future Ahead

My client has spoke to me recently and said that she would love for me to take the first photos of their Newborn baby Boy !!! This also made me very happy as I would love to work with newborns as this will also add and improve into my business into Personal Photography.  I now know that after I have finished all assignment work i can take some beautiful work of this newborn baby. 

The Second Photo Shoot - Personal

The Second Shoot - 11th April

I think that this shoot went a lot better than the first if I'm honest but I do think that the first shoot was very effective.  I tried quite a lot different positions and poses within this shoot.  Also one big difference to the shoot today was that she actually wanted her Husband Martin, to be in some of the images, but he wasnt too fussed about getting his whole face and body in the image.  She had shown me an example photo that had the husbands hand in too and she wanted to recreate it.  So her husband was there in the background which made everything much more relaxed. Christine could then say what she was comfortable with and we we creatine some images together, from our briefing we agreed to use her example images as a print out and work from them, this is what I was doing and my client was perfectly happy with this.  The beginning of the shoot was great, using the small toys and shoes.  

There is one thing I notice from the shoot that I would have liked to change, which is the brightness of the background, I would prefer it if it was a bright white colour, So for my next Maternity Photo Shoot I should focus on getting my Lighting perfect before the Client turns up.  I was really happy with the next set of Images and the small shoes looked really cute and gave a really nice touch.  I shot the baby bump from each angle to get a different light and shine to it.  Once I laid Christine down on some beanbag cushions and focused in on some baby shoes on top of her baby bump, this looked very nice but as I mentioned, the background would need more focus on next time to get it very bright white.  

I get fascinated by pregnancy and think that it is a wonderful thing, talking to my client and asking questions throughout the shoot made her feel relaxed and easier to work with. 

Other poses consisted of using her baby scans in shot, having a bit of fun and a laugh at the same time as getting the brief completed and using each of the different toys and shoes in different images to see which she would like best. I arranged the small shoes and advised her where to place her arms and hands.  I was also great for keeping her refreshed at all times with drinks too.  On a shoot with clients, the meeting up before hand is to break the ice and get to know them a little bit, so that when it comes to the shoot I feel like we are friends, this is the attitude that I would like to keep with all of my customers are clients.  Having a set behaviour and attitude towards every customer means that if they recommend me to other people then they can see that the other person who recommended me was telling the truth.  

One of my Favourite parts of the shoot was at the end I asked if she wouldn't mind having writing on to her baby bump and she said she didn't mind and that she saw ideas like this while she was looking before, and I wrote in a soft eyeliner so that it was easy to clean straight off, "Loading 98%". 

This was for a last personal and quite funny image, for my clients personal work, but this idea of mine she absolutely loved and said that it was her favourite's too.  I would definitely do this again with other clients as she liked me coming up with my ideas and getting creative throughout the shoot. 

So overall, this shoot has done me huge favours to getting started into my business!  I will aim to do some more shoots like this and maybe some more from the other categories such as couples and engagements and add them all into a portfolio for each one, only with enough I can then create all my promotional materials for a business in personal Photography. 

The First Photo Shoot - Nude

The First Shoot - 29th March

This first shoot was originally going to be the White background shoot but we were running quite late in the day so therefore went for the black because it is easiest to do.  We managed to fir quite a lot into the hour session and range from standing up an lots of different positions to holding different materials and even to laying down on the floor.  I am really happy with how this first shoot went.  It took me a while to get the lighting right and on a couple of these I am not happy with the lighting, but for my first time I think they went really well, I kept taking images, turning them black and white and showing my client so she could get a feel of what they were looking like, to make sure she was happy with the way it was working.  At first she had under wear on but then went to Nude which looks very elegant. 

I personally like the images when there is no cloth or drape and she is posing nude with one leg bent in front, I think where the light is give s nice shine to the baby bump.  But once we tried using the drape, it looked great so we took quite a few with it. I tried pulling back the drape to different positions and changing the light source placement throughout the shoot.  Right at the end we tried some laying down images but I couldn't seem to get the lighting right, with more practice shoots, next time I should get it right. I am very happy with the first shoot and have already shown my client and will get her to send me her favourites from this shoot so that I can edit them for her.  I now look forward to the second shoot because it will involve the small shoes and toys.

My Clients Photo Ideas - After Meeting

I have now had a face to face meeting with my Client about our Maternity Shoot which is too be shot in the next few weeks.  We discussed lots of things at our meeting, like what her photo ideas were and how we were going to shoot.  I will do a short bullet point list of the things mentioned at our meeting. 

• Do TWO seperate shoots at 1 hour session each - One Black Backdrop One White Backdrop
• Have her ideas printed out on Paper so I can look and see what images she would like to have.
• Changing colour of the photos to black and white is what she wants to see on some images.
• A use of black and white and colour on the edits of her favourite images after shoots.
• She wants Nudes shot on the Black Backdrop. 
• She wants the Personal shots on the White Backdrop. 
• Props wanted for the shoots include, a robe, scarfs, stool, drapes, and soft cushions. 
• Client is bringing small first size shoes, toys and baby scans to be used in the shoot. 

• Set Dates for the first shoot - 29th March - black nude shoot. 
• Set Dates for the second shoot - 11th April - white personal shoot. 

Pricing

My client, Christine, informed me that the reason she scanning through Facebook trying to fins photographers that want to shoot Maternity shoots is because she didn't want to be paying out a lot of money for the shoot, so therefore didn't want to go to a professional Maternity photographer but was looking for someone starting out in the business.  This is why I am so happy that she called me, because I need this shoot to build up my portfolio for Maternity photography.  Due to this being my first ever maternity shoot and not knowing what it was going to turn out like I mentioned a price of £30 per shoot which includes all photos taken from each shoot on a CD.  She was happy with these prices and and agreed to them. I said that it was cheaper than most because I'm new in the business and its a first time trying. We agreed to these prices and were prepared for the shoots, when they come around. 

Here are the ideas that my client gave me, ideas that she likes and would want to re create in my own way. I like all of the images she sent and will try my best when it comes to shoot day. I think that the black and white images at the top look stunning so would love to try out them.  She has sent me examples of shows on top of belly which would be really cute, and simple one's as well.
I added her on What's App, to send images through quickly by message and i have included thee images where she has place more examples too.

A Briefing with My Client - Phone Call

My idea and my Commissioned project is underway now.  I just need to get briefing sorted before organising a date for the shoot.  Today I messaged my client Christine Bright with a time so that we could have a briefing session over the phone.

A phone call Briefing Session is important because I need to find out exactly what my client wants from the shoot and discuss how the shoot will plan out.  I need to talk through any Ideas she has and wants for herself and whether she wants me to guide her and come up with poses together etc.

I asked her some questions and she had quite creative ideas to give which made things a lot easier for me, I am going to write out some of her responses to my questions for the live brief.

__________________________________________________________

Hi Christine, first of all I would like to ask you what date along your pregnancy would you like the photoshoot to be held, sooner or later on?

"Hi Suzi, I would preferably like to have the photoshoot during my 9th month of my pregnancy, this is because I would like to have the images of when my baby is close to the due date, and when the tummy is at its biggest.  I think it looks nicer to show the biggest tummy time so that the images are strikingly pregnant photographs."

Ok that's perfect, that gives us a few weeks to come up with any possible ideas of what kind of images you would like to be taken, have you got any ideas right now of what you would like from the shoot?

" I have a few ideas, but I would like to have almost two sets of pregnancy images.  I would like to have some Nude creative images that look professional and elegant of my pregnant body, but I would also like few personal images of my baby bump and some of the tiny shoes and toys that I have ready for after birth." 

Ok that's great, I love the idea of the Nude images, they would be great for my Portfolio and of course we can have some fun with the personal Items of yours and try out as many ideas as we can. Are you able to drive so we could have a face to face meeting and so I can show you the studio? 

Yes I can drive, it would be great to see the studio as well thank you."

 Ok, well at the meeting I can discuss pricing to you and the exact poses and positions that we might try and we can arrange the full written Brief, Look forward to seeing you.

"Yes, I look forward to the meeting and the Photo shoots, thanks again."

__________________________________________________________

Now that I have spoke to my Client, I will call her in for a face to face meeting where we will share our ideas with each other and discuss the pricing for the shoot and the shoot session, or if there will be two shoots.  I am so happy this came up and am looking forward to my first Maternity Shoot.