"I almost cried happy tears when I received my photos. As a woman, it's always tough to be happy with how you look in pictures, but Silke has portrayed me in such a beautiful light, with her talent for lighting and composition and detail, that these are possibly the best photos of myself I have ever seen.
Silke has been absolutely proactive and efficient throughout the process, from sending me a guide to posing at the start, to the detailed shoot script, to the extremely fast turnaround time. I was blown away by how she managed things not only as a talented photographer but also as a very competent business owner, and she made me feel at ease knowing that I was in the hands of a professional.
There are so many favourite parts of her process to choose from, but I think the one I was most impressed with was her attention to detail. She took into account my personality, style and branding needs, and she sent me multiple moodboards that captured what I wanted exactly. Throughout the shoot, she also tweaked and refined every single detail in the composition so everything turned out beautifully. And she did it so quickly and confidently, which I think can only come from pure talent and many years of experience.
For the indoor shoot itself, we did it at her gorgeous light-filled studio, and she came up with so many creative ways to style the setting and help me pose. She also made me laugh so much and I absolutely love the expressions she elicited and captured. If you're looking for a photographer who can bring out the best in you, Silke is the one and only."
As a former Calligraphy artist and now brand communications strategist, Melody literally breathes creativity. I realised this when she came to my studio with several bags full of well chosen props she would spread through out the entire shoot in different compositions. Needless to say that every single item was within her colour theme. To make sure that every story of her different facets of personality as well as professionalism is being told I create a detailed shoot script which I follow meticulously.
To warm my clients up I like to start with a working scene. Behind their laptop they feel safe, and seated position is grounding and therefore calming. As she brought a few branches of beautiful magnolias I created layers which give more depth to the picture and more dimensions for the eye to explore.
In the pre-shoot questionnaire she told me that she is a homebody and bookworm, so it was clear that we will have different compositions on and around the sofa, including piles of books and everything else that would surmise homebody. As she wanted most of the pictures to go on her website I needed to make sure we have enough different formats to fit the design. Preferably when creating a website you want to fit the picture every structure of the design and not build the design around the layout of the picture.
And last but not least - never underestimate the power of a dynamic portrait. By the end of the shoot we have already moved into advanced posing and Melody was so thoroughly enjoying herself that she didn't even realise my camera anymore. She just naturally walked towards me acting like a model on the cat walk. Up and down, up and down she went, smiling assuringly to her imaginary audience, with an occasional spin.
In case you are interested in how Melody put her new imagery into effect have a look at her beautiful website at freshpages.co
