Personal Branding Portraits with Prosper
I love Prosper’s story.
We came across each other in a wonderful Facebook Business networking group, called Business Business Business. It’s a great supportive community that constantly inspires me.
But Prosper’s story is a beautiful one and goes beyond me meeting him through a simple online networking group. Born in Zimbabwe, he came to Australia seven years ago in search of an Australian teacher who taught him as a child. Prosper wanted to start a new life for himself in Australia and sought to thank her in person. She had changed his life and inspired him as a child.
Isn’t it amazing what teachers can do? You never know the influence you may have on another person – especially a young person.
Prosper eventually found his teacher and had the extraordinary moment of meeting her, and the moment was filmed and featured as a part of Channel 9’s program This Time Next Year, in 2017.
Check out this beautiful clip on youtube of Prosper talking with host Karl Stefanovic:
Working with Prosper:
Prosper and I first worked together online, on my (this) website. He owns a business called Livelong Digital, which covers all things from marketing to SEO. He also has a second business, called Tweak My Website. Prosper and his team do an amazing job in all things SEO: from streamlining keywords, guest blogging and building directory referrals. There is a lot that goes into SEO and creating a user-friendly website, and Prosper and his team actively work on it. Prosper and Livelong Digital are the real deal, and he has plans to go global.
When I had the chance to work with Prosper on some new personal branding photography I was excited!
I had met Prosper over Zoom calls several times, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He is one of those people who lights up the room, and whose passion and support makes you really feel believed in. And it’s true. Prosper does believe in you. He believes in small businesses and entrepreneurs. Prosper is the guy who will go out of his way to help others. A person like that is beautiful to be around.
In the studio.
We worked together on a mix of imagery. First and foremost, we took corporate headshots in the studio. This included outfit changes, a mix of poses, and lots of laughter. You can see in these images that Prosper has such a beautiful natural smile, and a laugh that lights up the room. We had put on some of his favourite music – the music that he dances to at home with his daugher.
I loved that. I love it when people come into the studio and aren’t afraid to be themselves. To have a dance, to have a laugh. Occasionally pull faces and open up about themselves.
Mixing it up: From headshots to branding portraits.
While we were in the studio, we also took mid-length and full-length branding portraits, leaving lots of space for added words and graphics to be added in later. Prosper uses a lot of photography across his social media and marketing. So having these portraits of himself that can be used from Facebook to Instagram, LinkedIn and his website is really something.
We mixed up from white backgrounds to grey, and even indulged in some fun, bright orange backgrounds. After all, Livelong Digital has orange and purple as their branding colours.
The shot below shows some of the fun ideas that Prosper had. This makes me laugh, particularly because I bought came across a laptop that has a screen that swivels around, and back on itself. In the instruction manual, it had illustrations and names for all the different uses: tablet, laptop, and ‘tent‘. So this image makes me think of that strange ‘tent’ configuration of the laptop.
(Also, look at all those ports on the older MacBook Pros. Those were the days!)
Content, Content, Content.
Corporate headshot photography and personal branding photography is all about putting yourself out there. Showing the world who you are, why they should trust you, and a little look at your personality.
So while we were in the studio, Prosper and I did just that. We created so much content, and just had a lot of fun. Effectively, Prosper wanted his own stock library of images – with a range of poses and props that he can use across all aspects of his business, for an interactive and personal feel.
Prosper completed my pre-shoot survey to help analyse his personal brand, and evaluate how he wanted to showcase himself and his business. We looked into his goals for the future, and he considered how he was already using images as a part of his marketing.
This painted the picture for what poses and photographs that Prosper could realy utilise from the session. With his mixture of different outfits and various props, he also had a think about where text would sit within the frame. Have a look at some of the results below:
A quick look outdoors:
After our time spent in the studio, Prosper and I headed outside on a glorious sunny afternoon for some more relaxed images. These shots have a completely different feel to the indoor images that we took.
We took a couple of headshots, as well as some candid branding shots to pair with them.
I like how these turned out – the afternoon light, the bright colour, and soft natural light bringing it all together.
Livelong Digital:
Livelong Digital is a marketing agency, specialising in SEO, Social Media and websites. If you’re interested in following Prosper and his journey, you can view his website at: livelongdigital.com.au/ and also Tweak My Website at: tweakmywebsite.com.au/
You can also find Livelong digital on various social media, with the links below:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn