For an in-depth look at the delivered image portfolio, see it here.

Who is the client?  

Liz Landry is a leadership expert and founder of KW Talent, where she specializes in developing leadership and team-building strategies for real estate professionals. I met Liz while photographing a speaker mastermind she attended. She noticed the level of attention and energy I put into capturing moments in the room, and after listening to the fireside chat I participated in at the end of the day, she reached out to learn more about my photography work. From there, we connected and started discussing a branding session for her.

Why did she need photos?  

Liz hadn't updated her professional branding photos for over a decade, and she was in need of a comprehensive rebranding to reflect her current role and expertise. She was building out a personal brand for her coaching business and needed a full suite of assets—new headshots, lifestyle photos, and promotional portraits for her website, speaker kit, media kit, and social media content. 

She wanted the photos to convey her high-level of expertise and straight-forward, yet consultative and receptive personality, while also providing variety to use across her marketing channels.

How did we prepare for the session?

The preparation process began with the decision on where to shoot. After debating between having her fly to NYC or me flying to her, we agreed that I would come to her in South Florida. We spent several days searching online for a suitable co-working space, eventually landing on Venture X in Doral, which offered a suitable amount of spots we can candidly photograph her sitting, standing, working and thinking.

Once we locked in the location, we spent 2 hours strategizing the session in detail. Liz answered a range of questions that helped me understand her personality and how she wanted to be perceived by her clients.

Based on this, we created a shot sheet that included a mix of headshots, wider direct address portraits, and various lifestyle scenarios, including a 1:1 coaching session, training with flip chart pages pasted to the wall, whiteboard and virtually, and candid, reflective moments. We also planned to capture some detail shots of the manuals and materials she uses in her coaching.

What camera gear did you use?

For Liz’s session, I worked with my Nikon Z9 and rotated between my “Big 4” lenses: 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 85mm, and 60mm Macro.

Most of the lighting was done using my Profoto B1X with a 2-foot Octa and a 40-degree grid to keep the light focused and controlled. For specific shots, like her whiteboard training photos, I used an on-camera Profoto A10, and I relied on natural ambient light for the virtual training photos to create a softer, more natural feel.

What challenges were faced?
How did you overcome them?

We faced a few challenges during the session, particularly regarding space and time.

The co-working space’s common area was empty when we arrived, which gave us a limited window to capture as much as possible before others arrived. I shifted our schedule to start with direct address portraits rather than headshots, while working with an intense sense of urgency to make use of the space before it filled up. This meant quickly moving her into different positions with outfit changes, ensuring that we captured enough variety while we still had the space.

Rather than losing the common area due to members in the area, we lost access to it because management got a complaint about the flash popping off, so we had to move and get resourceful. I continuously repurposed the conference room in different ways while it also doubled as our home base. I also found some quiet hallways and alcoves outside the common area to use for additional scenarios.

One specific challenge was creating a workspace setup for Liz using her laptop, which we initially couldn’t find space for. Eventually, I found a small nook near an emergency staircase, cleared out the pots of dead plants and a random, broken chair, closed a blind, and shot through the open door frame and other angles to capture a few candid moments of her working. What started as a last resort turned into some of the cleanest looking shots of the day.

That also happened to be the final scenario photographed, so we ended on a high note.

how was visual variety achieved?

Liz’s portfolio showcases a wide variety of visual storytelling, particularly in the range of emotions and settings we captured.

We used the common area to shoot her in several outfits and locations, leveraging different backgrounds for her direct address portraits, which added variety and a wealth of creative opportunities for her team to leverage. Additionally, one of the more unique setups was shooting her through the glass wall while she was working with flip chart paper (see photo above), which added a dynamic layer to the storytelling.

I also had her recreate a speech directly into the camera, creating engaging shots that could later be used with her brand’s visual elements, such as logos or quotes, as well as be used for online content.

This way, the photos serve multiple marketing purposes.

Describe the post-production process.

After backing up the photos at our home base, Liz drove me to the airport, where I started the culling, cropping, and coloring process in the airport lounge. I finished the first pass of edits on the flight back to NYC and uploaded the low-resolution versions before going to bed. The following morning, I completed the high-resolution versions and sent them over to Liz for download.

In total, the portfolio contains 517 photos, and was completed with 3 post-production passes.

At the end of the day…

Liz was thrilled with the quick turnaround and the quality of the images, and gifted me with a lovely testimonial. She immediately sent the portfolio to her team to implement across her website and other marketing materials.

The next day, she shared the photos with a colleague, which led to a referral and a new client for me.

While it’s always a challenge to shoot, edit, and deliver within a 24-hour window, the juice is, undoubtedly, worth the squeeze.