Special thank you to my gorgeous client Ksenia Ermakova for such a fabulous time at her personal branding and lifestyle shoot! She is an accomplished leadership and team coach who helps individuals and teams to co-create collaborative, meaningful work cultures that drive both personal and organisational growth. Since Ksenia has her own business that gives her the freedom to live the laptop lifestyle and work from a mobile office, we chose an outdoor environment to reflect this.
Cabanga Conference Centre in Johannesburg provided natural ambience, tranquil gardens and an inviting deck area where we created various settings for our shoot. It was a privilege and pleasure to photograph Ksenia, who brought along a lovely selection of outfits, accessories and props that she typically uses. Here she effortlessly demonstrates how to use vivid colour in clothing, add a matching colour pop with a journal, for example, and accessorise with a scarf for beautiful effect.
Ksenia is also a partner at Unleash Leadership, which is a global initiative that brings together diverse partners to design creative learning spaces, inspiring growth for individuals and impact for organizations. Her friend and fellow partner Colleen Leclercq came with her for the photo shoot, resulting in a wonderful morning that sparkled with sunshine and laughter. One of the requirements for their collaborative project was to include lifestyle photos of them relaxing, just as they would in their spare time.
With this in mind, we had lots of fun mixing things up with outfits, poses, props and settings. For most of her photos Ksenia is looking into the camera lens, connecting directly with her prospective audience, but a few of the photos in her portfolio feature her looking away from the camera, captured in a fun or contemplative moment, as you can see. This is particularly easy to achieve in an authentic way when you have someone else present to encourage spontaneous interaction.
What outfits, props and accessories do you imagine incorporating into your next photo or video shoot? And do you have a dream location in mind? Perhaps you fancy a studio shoot instead? I’d love to know in the comments below. Please share your thoughts and let’s connect 🙂
