boca raton Branding photoshoot for rabbi rayzel raphael
planning before a branding photoshoot
Branding photoshoot is a great way to create tons of content for your business, or to promote an upcoming launch or offering. Rabbi Rayzel Raphael reached out to me to have her branding photos done because she created a beautiful oracle deck and she needed photos to promote it.
I was recommended to her by someone else (always love a great referral!) and after we spoke on the phone, we knew we were a good fit for working together. The only piece of the puzzle that needed figuring out was WHEN to photograph, since I was based in Florida, and Rayzel in Pennsylvania. We were determined, and her Personal Branding Photoshoot was scheduled for one of the days Rayzel was in South Florida.
Rayzel is a woman of many talents and I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. In addition to having created an oracle card deck, she is a singer, songwriter, she is a rabbi, and she officiates weddings. She looks like the rainbow exploded and every color landed on her: from bright color hair with strands of iridescent fairy hair, to bright colored tie-dye outfits, to bright color sandals and a matching fanny pack, everything that this woman owns is an explosion of color and happiness.
choosing a Branding Photoshoot location
Rayzel is very much so an outdoorsy girl and doing her photoshoot in nature made a lot of sense. After our initial phone consultation I thought that the lush greenery of the Magic Forest would work great for her. By the way, Magic Forest is my own name for a park in South Florida. If you google it, you won’t find it. But if you want me to photograph you there, I will introduce you to it ;)
An unexpected prop for the Branding Photoshoot
The main prop for Rayzel’s photoshoot was her oracle card deck, of course. In addition to that, I asked her to bring a scarf and a few other things that resonated with her. She brought a crystal, a shell and a few other things. On the way to the park I picked up some flowers. You could always use a pop of color in photos, I thought. When I saw Rayzel in person, I realized that this woman was an EXPLOSION OF COLOR, and the flowers enhanced that even more.
Another interesting thing about this photoshoot was that I brought an unexpected prop. A huge, bulky, unexpected, but such necessary prop. A few weeks prior, I was in my aesthetician’s office, and I saw this gorgeous purple velvet armchair. First of all, I love everything velvet. Second, the color was so beautiful and it looked so regal. And third, I immediately envisioned what that purple armchair would look like in the lush green ferns of the Magic Forest.
I asked to borrow it for the photoshoot, and the girl who does my facials said yes. I was stoked! The only thing I was not stoked about was carrying the thing from the parking lot to to the forest and then back. The thing was so heavy and so awkward to hold! By the end of the photoshoot I started calling it “the couch”. Because it was so heavy and I’d reached the point of delirium in my creative process (it happens every time, when I’m in creative flow for a while).
The purple arm chair was a perfect prop for Rayzel. It gave her a place to sit and helped us create a variety of photos (standing, sitting on the ground, dancing). It also allowed her to express her playful side as she was sitting like a queen on her purple throne in the lush fern. My muscles were sore for a few days after, but I never for a second regretted lugging the couch into the forest.
Outfits and Accessories for a Branding Photoshoot
As you can tell, Rayzel is an explosion of color. Her outfits reflected that and we photographed her in several of them to create a variety of photos. In addition to that, Rayzel brought A LOT of jewelry - earrings and necklaces - to compliment her looks. It was so funny when she was showing me the different options for earrings that she brought, and as I was looking at the 7th pair (all of which were gorgeous, by the way), I thought that we might be there for a while, just picking jewelry.
Later, when she was choosing necklaces, instead of having to choose, she just layered several of them. And guess what? It looked amazing!
There was a deeply profound insight that I got from Rayzel when we were about to photograph under the Mystical Tree. She lay out her scarves, and put down the oracle cards, and I added the flowers. And then I asked out loud, “Is it too much?”
“Nooo! There is no such thing as too much.” she replied.
Obviously, I was asking the wrong person.
Or was I asking the wrong question?
Growing up, I was such a stickler to rules, and was afraid to go overboard. When she made that comment, I thought to myself, how often in life we think, this is too much to ask for, this is too dressy to wear, this is too much to be lest I offend others. And the simple answer is, there is no such thing as too much.
See if you can count how many necklaces she is wearing in this photo ♥
BEHIND THE SCENES MAGIC
You HAVE to watch the story about the “couch”!
We had such a fun and productive photoshoot with this beautiful goddess! I asked her to dance, she sang for me, we played like little kids do, and I think you can accurately read her energy through these portraits of her.
If I had to choose my favorite photo from this branding photoshoot, it would be this one. I love the texture of the royal poinciana leaves and Rayzel’s pose and expression. Her energy feels a little tamed here because I really had to work hard to get her to stand still and stop playing with the camera (she wanted to make all sorts of faces when I was photographing her :)) Also, this photo was taken at the very end of the photoshoot, and it feels like a beautiful culmination to that day’s work.
I hope you enjoyed reading this story. I love my clients, and it is always an honor to create with people who are committed to their path, and are ready to invest into themselves, their business, their dream. If you need to have personal branding photos created for yourself, please contact me. There is some planning that goes into a branding photoshoot, but once that is out of the way, it is a fun and rewarding experience. Your future self will thank you for taking this step!
