A decade ago, in my early 20s, a colleague of mine talked about her "personal brand." It wasn't as common of a consideration as it is now, so it seemed a little narcissistic, curt, and a seemingly futile concoction. It didn't feel authentic to me.

We've now arrived in the '20s with awareness, thoughtfulness, mindfulness, and discernment. Thanks to my friend and client, Brandi Lust, who is one of the most considerate, companionable, and amiable person I've ever met, I can appreciate what a "personal brand" means to the world. Her personal brand is intertwined with per professional brand. As a fantastic writer, speaker, and consultant, who she is is what she does. And like most professionals, she needed updated photos.

Rather than a typical, solid backdrop for new headshots and portraits, Brandi invited me to her seven-acre cabin an hour east of the city. And we were able to work together to provide the photos she needed.

While solid color backdrops certainly have their purpose in portrait photography, I'm a big fan of shooting headshots/portraits in folks' places of work...especially when the spaces are this beautiful.

The Athletic Club of Columbus has me come in every few months to capture new staff member portraits. And every few years, we'll do fresh photos of the whole team.

Not only do I get to shoot in their beautiful facilities, but I'm directed to photograph each person in the location of their respective specialties - event coordinators in event spaces, dining staff in the restaurant or cafe, athletic trainers in the gym, front desk staff at the entrance, among many others. Specific direction from my contact paired with my expertise ensure successful creative collaborations.

Moral of the story: I can't speak for all photographers, but I love when my clients tell me exactly what they're hoping to achieve when working with me. I'm hired to provide solutions, not to impose styles of photographs that don't align with the company's brand imagery.

Ulmer is a law firm representing companies of all sizes across a wide spectrum of industries. As they welcome new attorneys, paralegals, and administrative professionals to their Columbus team, they have a long onboarding checklist to follow. One of the items on the list: get new headshots!

We've done this for several years: 

• Client sends name and email of new hire
• New hire gets email with location info (inside their office!) and a link to my calendar to schedule a time that works best for them
• Shoot takes 5-10 minutes of their time
• Images and email invoice sent within 24 hours (and even better, autopay is available!)

Let's recap. Checking off this onboarding task took 30 seconds. That's it. I did everything else so that my client could get back to way more important work.

I say it all the time...I consider myself to be more of a business owner than an artist. I love the additional value my streamlined processes bring to my work - because being a commercial photographer is about more than providing nice photos. It's about the entire experience.