With 2020 shaping up to be an unconventional twelve months, it was no surprise that I found myself styling and creating a Christmas photoshoot in the middle of the summer!
This was my second shoot for husband and wife team, Paul and Tamar Mayne of their home fragrance business ‘Cosy Aromas’in Suffolk.
Much of their stock catalogue is manufactured on site at their Ipswich H/O manufacturing plant and the first shoot with them focused on documenting the process, capturing the team at work all whilst they worked pouring and finishing their tinned candles and wax melts; this was a great opportunity for me to create some behind the scenes, ‘action’ shots and really bring their processes and teamwork to life for the audience with strong lifestyle images.
As an added bonus the images from the day were then featured in the local newspaper EADT in the business section as a double page spread.
For the second shoot I set up in my studio on a beautiful August day (the hottest of the year) to capture both ‘white background’ images of their aromatic products for use on their e-commerce site as well as Christmas themed lifestyle shots ready for their seasonal promotions which I styled and created, all they had to do was bring the products for me to creatively capture using commercially focused images.
Surrounded by scents including ‘Candy Cane, ‘Mulled Pear’, ‘Festive Spice’ Christmas had definitely come early to Suffolk!
Between these two shoots I have created a complete portfolio of the company, their products and brand and images they can use for their Xmas campaign– a great example of how photography provides such a fantastic medium for representing your products and services. It can help you tell the whole story, of who you are, how you work and why people simply should buy from you as well as showcasing your products and the way your customers can use them.
But my business isn’t photogenic!
People often think that their business is not worth photographing and that simply is not true! Every business is worth capturing – and that is where using a professional photographer is key. The scent of Cosy Aromas products is what attracts customers, but this selling point cannot be captured on film, so styling the environment was key. As a visitor I was able to take a step back and suggest some fresh ideas and new ways of using the space.
Products or people?
No matter the size of your team headshots are an important part of a commercial shoot – even when your business is product focused. Cosy Aromas have a core team of 5 staff, with each person having an important role to play. So, their headshots really completed the portfolio of images to show customers the real people behind their purchases.
