There are some projects that come along and fill me with excitement. This month’s In Focus is just one of those projects.
When Rachael from Little Flowers by Sligo approached me for a brand shoot to compliment her rebrand, I jumped at the chance to work with this fabulous business. We also took the opportunity to work with other local businesses too – something that Rachael is passionate about in her work.
About Little Flowers by Sligo
Rachael Sligo is a local artist specialising in artwork for babies and their nurseries. She also creates cards, prints and bespoke commissions and even illustrates children’s books. I learned about her business when she invited me to join one of her night markets on Instagram and Facebook back in June. The evening was fantastic, and I met loads of wonderful local businesses from here in the North East.
I was thrilled when Rachael got in touch to book her brand shoot as well as organise some new photographs for her website.
Before the shoot
The most important part of booking a brand shoot is for me to really understand my clients’ likes and dislikes, as well as their branding. Rachael’s new brand is absolutely beautiful and revolves around, unsurprisingly, floral designs as well as nods to artistry.
With brand colours of purple, pink and cream, my first instinct was to shoot her photographs in a garden where we could incorporate plants and flowers, alongside a selection of carefully selected props. However, once I got to know Rachael a little better, I found out that supporting local businesses is a huge part of her passion and her work.
That’s why I contacted family-run garden centre Cowell’s in Woolsington, just outside Newcastle to see if they’d be happy with us using the garden centre for the shoot. That way, we’d have access to all the floral backdrops and props we could possibly want and promote another local business into the bargain – it was a win win. 
Day of the shoot
The shoot took place on 8th July, when we were welcomed to Cowell’s by Sam and Martin. They gave us access to the entire centre before they opened to the public, later that morning.
If you haven’t visited Cowell’s – Wow! The whole centre is stunning. Beautifully presented with colour-coordinated displays of the most amazing blooms – perfect for our shoot.
The weather was kind to us too, starting out a little overcast but soon clearing up to be sunny and bright. This itself made the shoot much more interesting, creating a variety of natural lighting and shadow opportunities.
The garden furniture and stunning natural colours were the perfect backdrop for Rachael’s shoot and the beautifully painted sheds, ornaments and decorations really helped to make the brand shoot special.
In addition to the backdrops provided by Cowell’s I asked Rachael to bring along some props she uses for her business – in her case, paintbrushes, pens, colours, her cards and prints. These were used to break up the images and add variety to her collection.
Editing of the shoot
There was such fun to be had in the editing process. I played around with the lighting and colours to ensure consistency throughout the images so they could be used across Rachael’s social media and website while remaining recognisable as Little Flowers by Sligo.
Handover time
The final part of my process is the handover. I’m always both nervous and excited for this part, especially with a new client. I use Shootproof galleries to share my work with clients – it’s such a user-friendly platform and enables my clients to click through to a gallery of their new images to review. Rachael was able to choose her favourite images to download and start using immediately.
I loved this brand shoot and can’t wait to see the images pop up on Rachael’s social media and websites soon.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little snapshot of my brand shoot process. For information about booking your own branding package, visit my website.
Lauren