Last year, Seattle-based photographer Brooke Fitts was transitioning away from shooting weddings and decided she wanted to grow the lifestyle and food aspects of her photography business. New to the Seattle area, she also wanted to connect with local Seattle-based businesses.
Brooke decided to reach out to local cold press juice and health food company Juicebox to see if she could make a few pictures to beef up her portfolio. As it turned out, the owner Kari was in the middle of a big brand overhaul and was in need of a quality photographer.
We negotiated a 2.5 day paid shoot right there on the spot. I shot all the imagery for Juicebox’s new site and created a library of images for social media that they could pull from and post throughout the year.
Prior to the actual shoot, Brooke and Kari sat down for a few meetings to discuss the shot list, props and the general concepts for the campaign.
Since Juicebox had to conduct business as usual during the shoot days, Brooke kept the shoot low profile, readily adapting to the space and the staff, as well as the flow of customers.
They even asked some of the Juicebox regulars to appear in the photos in exchange for free juice! Many of them happily obliged.
In the months following the shoot, Juicebox received a ton of press. The photos Brooke created appeared in publications such as Bon Appétit and Seattle Magazine. Even the branding agency HUM Creative that Kari was working with called Brooke in for a meeting resulting in a commercial job a few months later.
Kari has since hired Brooke to do website and press kit photos for her second business, Frankie and Jo’s, which has appeared in Martha Stewart Living, Zagat, and Sunset Magazine.
I love how one little idea and call organically transpired into several paid jobs and national publications… none of which would have happened if I’d never asked to shoot a few complimentary photos one afternoon.
So take a lesson from Brooke: If you want something, sometimes all you have to do is ask!
See more of Brooke’s work on her website.
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