Kill two birds with one stone...
On the road speaking on stages again?
Why not kill two birds with one stone?
It’s an exciting time as speakers are back on the road, delivering their magic from the stage again.
Recently, I flew to photograph one of my clients, Joe Mull, at a conference in Las Vegas. He was looking to update his speaker page because he’s had significant weight loss over the past year, and wanted the images to resemble how he looks today.
I love those types of situations :)
As we discussed logistics, the idea of also grabbing a series of promotional and lifestyle portraits also came up.
He felt that since I was on site with him, we could also knock out a fresh round of portraits he can use across his entire online presence, including the rest of his website, social channels, and the many other marketing and promotional needs he has.
So, we planned to shoot the portraits the night before his keynote, and the next morning, we would capture shots of him on stage, as well as his book signing afterwards.
The goal was straight-forward: new headshots and other portraits that can be used for promotional purposes, as well as candid lifestyle portraits that illustrated how he works - laptop, phone, and brainstorming notes with pen and paper.
While the coordination of the plan was straight-forward as we walked through the strategy call effortlessly, there was one variable in question:
How the hell am I supposed to make Las Vegas hotel decor work to compliment his brand?
The moment I got off the plane and checked-in, I immediately grabbed my camera and started hunting for locations in which to shoot his portraits.
The goal was to think in small, visual spaces and block out the ostentatiousness of the hotel and the hoards of people everywhere.
And the slot machines, too.
Despite the tall task, I was able to identify several nooks and crannies where Joe could stand, lean, sit and work while avoiding the many visual landmines present within the Mandalay Bay/Four Seasons property.
Here’s some of the magic we created together:
While it was challenging to laser focus on simple setups that took out the many distractions within the hotel, we were able to achieve the goal of capturing photos that helped share what Joe’s day-to-day life looks like while also illustrating various aspects of his personality.
He now has a library of lifestyle portraits that can visually punctuate the sentiment of every story he shares online and offline.
That was Day 1.
Day 2 was all about him doing his thing on stage.
The goal was simple: capture as much visual variety as possible as he delivers his 90-minute keynote.
As he walked through his tech rehearsal, I made my way around the space to find all of the juicy angles that will reap magical stage photos.
When it was game time, we were both ready:
Joe is a demonstrative speaker which makes for a variety of high-energy and expressive images - it really is a pleasure to capture this type of magic :)
In the span of 2 days, Joe has completely transformed his image content portfolio, capturing a wide variety of premium portraits and stage shots that position him not only as the authority in his space, but also reflects honest aspects of his personality and how he looks today.
It’s quite the killer combo.
Over to you…
Before your next gig, take a look at your image content portfolio and assess if the portraits and stage photos you’re leveraging online reflect both where you are with your business and how you look.
If not, I can help you fix that problem with a combo session that will cover all of your needs, whether on stage or with your portraits.
Set up a time to chat with me to learn more about what that would look like.