There are some jobs which we just enjoyed doing, because we got to walk into a space, and create something beautiful based on a thought only. This shoot was just that.
We received a call from Gerneille Knights of Dynamic Academics to create photos which they could use to bring a personal touch to their marketing.
She wanted engaging and professional photos that were aesthetically pleasing. They needed to show a growing education business with a personal touch (notice we used these words again?).
Their name described it best for us. Dynamic Academics needed dynamic portraiture.
TL:DR? Here is the project outline.
Artistic Direction
We agreed to use her business space for the shoot, and a date was planned. Makeup was done by Melonie of Caramel Beauty. Due to the fact that Gerneille is a dark-skinned woman, it was important to avoid a particular challenge persons like her face in the beauty industry (including makeup and portraiture).
Many times, the makeup used doesn’t properly match the mocha (or darker) tones they possess, and so, their beauty is basically misinterpreted in photos. Most times, they’ve been lightened either by makeup or by post-image processing.
As was indicated earlier, this was not an issue for the makeup artiste only, lighting of the photos and editing also required cognizance of this.
Don’t think this is an issue that we are making up. See where PetaPixel and Buzzfeed tackled the topic.
Melonie did an excellent job of matching, and the final wardrobe selections made. While makeup was being taken care of however, we needed to complete our set design.
Set-Design
One of the enjoyable parts of this shoot was building the set. The goal was to create a set which was reflective of the educational nature of the business, without looking forced or dreary.
We chose one corner of a beautiful dining table and moved a book shelf to a corner where a burnt-red accent wall met the off-white wall colour of the room.
That red accent wall was such a beautiful addition to the room, there was no competition for a place to take a few headshots. Imagine the black and white conversions!
Final Portraits & Delivery
The final images gave a mixture of the business-like side, as well as showing some personality. We threw in some gorgeous images of the client with her daughter as well, but for obvious reasons, we won’t share those here.
We do online delivery for our photos. Our clients can select images for retouching and download final images in a single password-protected platform.
Project Outline
Client: Dynamic Academics 🇹🇹
Project Scope: Create dynamic, purpose-created photos for marketing collateral. Set design, artistic direction.
Makeup Artiste: Caramel Beauty
