Tag: female entrepreneur

Mini headshot sessions – images with added Vitamin D ☀️

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December 2025

Putting some fun and lightness into your images 🌟

I’ve been offering headshots in my Ealing studio for over 17 years now but this year I introduced a more branding-style environment to complement the natural light that streams in. I still offer full studio lighting sessions but the natural daylight option is perfect for headshot & branding photoshoots 💫

There is lots of light, whites, plants and neutral colours but I work with you to bring in pretty much any colour to give your branding images the unique touch 🎨

My mini photoshoots involve a little 25-minute tour round the studio with or without props, having a chat and me capturing your personality with no effort on your part ☺️ If you’re super quick we can usually fit in one or even two outfit changes if that’s your priority. The time is yours…

One of my early adopters, Lisa Talbot (featured above), a brilliant Personal Stylist, did a great insta video post of her experience in the studio, have a watch HERE to see inside my natural daylight studio 🎥

Below is a mini gallery of just a few of my recent clients and the different images they were excited to download after their photoshoots. In no particular order although a certain Moss does appear first!

It’s always so lovely spotting my client’s new images on their LinkedIn pages, author profiles, website bios and social media posts. I love seeing how much they enjoy the positive reaction from their friends, colleagues, clients 😁

If you’re interested in booking a mini headshot and branding photoshoot have a look on my website HERE to see my next dates 😁 📷🎥 (and yes I can offer mini video clips too)

Melanie x

Team photoshoot with Aboria Capital 💫

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12 September 2025

What a great team to work with 🌟

Earlier in the summer I did a branding photoshoot for Aboria Capital, a real estate and investment manager and partner. They were just the friendliest of people.

I always visit a company before any branding photoshoot to ensure that we have the opportunity to talk through what they need in the context of the location we’ll be using. Most people hate having their photos taken so it’s a great time for them to meet me and be reassured that my approach will be one of fun rather than anxiety-inducing!

It also gives me the chance to do some sample shots so that on the day we can go straight to the set ups that perfectly fit their brand vision. That’s not to say that we don’t fit in some spontaneous shots if we discover something extra whilst walking around during the photoshoot ☺️

Aboria’s Rebecca is the most amazing organiser and had done a super efficient schedule for the photoshoot, which meant we could use every minute of the photography time. We did headshots in their beautiful offices, a series of team shots outside, duo shots of the founders Jessica and Bay, followed by some candid action images of the team. Capturing different angles of a company really brings out the human side to a business and leaves no doubt that Aboria are people you’d really like to work with.

Thank you for asking me to do your photos Aboria, it was a real pleasure working with you all and getting to know your ever-growing business.

If you’d like to learn more about Aboria Capital have a look at their website. I can guarantee you’ll want to work with them 😁

Mini Headshot Photoshoot with Virtual Executive Assistant, Kelsey Pienaar

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24 July 2025

A great time to chat ☺️

I love offering mini headshot photoshoots as they are brilliant at giving clients a real boost of creative images in a short time, as well as a taste of how branding photography might help grow their visibility and business. They are only 25 minute sessions but don’t underestimate how many backdrops and set ups we can pack in! There’s always time for plenty of chat and laughter too 💫

Creating Space for You to Lead is Kelsey Pienaar’s strapline. She is a Virtual Executive Assistant, founder of The VA House and offers a number of comprehensive administration packages which support senior leaders and allow them to focus on their priorities. It was such a pleasure to chat to her and understand more about the business she runs – we talked whilst making full use of all the gorgeously furnished areas that Mill House, Wooburn offers 😆

There are colours and types of set ups in Mill House that suit most brands which is why it’s one of my favourite places to do mini headshot photoshoots. The result is always a diverse portfolio of images that can be used across websites, social media and marketing materials. The natural light is fantastic so there’s no need for big lighting set ups which means we can move around the building and outside as much as we want.

The Mill House staff are amazingly friendly and offer a free hot desk for the day for any of my photoshoot clients, so incorporating your headshot session into a working day is even more efficient 🌟

If you’d like someone to take away some of the stress of running your business and seamlessly get stuff done, Kelsey is your person. Have a look at her website for information and the route to calmness & space in your life…

Pop up headshots with the Businettes ☺️

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9 June 2025

A room full of female founders 💡💡💡

One of the things that I offer, as a photographer is not just covering events but also providing a pop-up headshot studio at events. This can be a super easy way of giving your guests a new profile image for their business as part of their goody bag. It’s hassle free as they’re already looking fab for the event and only takes a couple of minutes away from their networking 🌟

Vaida Ska-McNeill set up Businettes UK, a brilliant community for female founders. She joins Victoria Arnhold and Claire Siegert who set up Businettes in France and Germany, the largest female founder communities in their countries 💫

Vaida ran a brilliant event recently in London and asked me to provide headshots as part of it. The whole evening was completely buzzing full of women talking all things business and social before some really inspiring talks by guest speakers, including cofounder of Olio, Tessa Clarke, featured here. Am so impressed that she managed to find the time for a quick headshot before she went on stage 😆

I usually set up in a corner of the main part of the event space, discreet enough not to get in the way or have everyone watching the headshots, but near enough to the crowds that it’s only a few steps to come for your micro headshot session. I’ll do a couple of different set ups in the same area so that there’s a nice variety of images to choose from afterwards in the online galleries.

Aside from creating fab new headshots for people, what is really great is that I get to speak to so many of them on a 1:1. What’s not to love!

Have a look at some of the exciting Businettes events coming up in London, I can really recommend them ☺️

Coppett Hill – a fun team to work with 🌟

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2 April 2025

A photoshoot full of character 😁

Coppett Hill got in touch with me as they were creating a new website and wanted it to truly represent their company style and ethos. They are a technology-enabled growth advisory business and have a really friendly, innovative approach. My brief was to capture their team at work and give them images to show off what they’re about.

First off we talked through lots of different location suggestions that would capture their vibe. We wanted somewhere that related to the more traditional style of institutions they often work with yet an environment which would lend itself to capturing animated images of the team working together. So we hired some meeting rooms at The Hoxton which worked really well for a variety of backdrops, for headshots and team images.

Quite often the best time to do a photoshoot can be when there’s an away day or team meeting and individuals can pop out of the room for their headshots before we do action team shots. Sometimes the action shots are staged if we want to incorporate specific scenarios that weren’t part of the team meeting, other times they are live shots. Whether staged or not, it makes for a fun session as everyone is involved and can also enjoy whichever fab location we’ve booked. I’ll always give photoshoot tips and tricks on how to prepare and what to wear, which takes away some of the fear of having photos taken and everyone knows they’re all in it together 😁

Coppett Hill are a really fast growing company so it was great to meet their new team members and now watch their business go from strength to strength. They’re such a fun lot, the photoshoot morning was full of chat and laughter. I can recommend them all as brilliant people to know. Have a look at how they might help you here 💫

A personal branding photoshoot from Mars!

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25 March 2025

A C-Suite branding photoshoot in a fab location 🌟

Emma Evison has been director of many segments of Mars Inc over her career and is currently Chief Digital & Transformation Strategy Officer 🌟

She wanted some personal branding images that had more of a lifestyle feel to them than a corporate one so we used an Airbnb to do the shoot. Airbnbs can be a great option for personal branding photoshoots that perfectly suit the client, have plenty of natural light and a great mix of backdrops. It’s always nice to use any outdoor space too if they’ve got it.

Personal branding photoshoots are designed to show a greater insight into the client’s personality and life beyond just work. Sometimes they might involve a few props to give some animation and help the viewer imagine what it would be like to work with the person, other times they may incorporate tools of their trade, products they make, hobbies and pets. The sessions are always very much tailored to what my client does, their brand message, and how much of their life they wish to share. All of my photoshoots, however, are as relaxed as possible and generally full of chat and laugher 😆

Emma had brought a great capsule wardrobe with her which worked brilliantly for a mixture of casual and more formal looks. Here are just a few examples.

Mini Headshot Photoshoot days – Graphic Designer Susie Richards

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4 March 2025

A photoshoot brimming with creativity 💡💡💡

One of the lovely things about a mini headshot photoshoot is that you can try out new spaces and lots of backdrops in a short amount of time. With a little bit of preparation, a half hour session, lots of chat and laughter, you’ve got a great set of images to get your website started or boost your socials 🌟

Susie Richards is Director of Colour Pop, a creative design studio. She came to one of my mini headshot photoshoot mornings at Mill House and we had a really fun session. Mill House is a boutique coworking space in Wooburn, near Marlow, beautifully refurbished by its owner Helen Bolton and was just perfect for Susie’s branding images as she is a super bubbly person and absolutely full of creative energy. Although my photoshoot plans are always filled with ideas for my client, it’s always a real gift to work with another professional creator 😆. Together we crafted lots of set ups and capture tonnes of animated images, along with plenty of chat 💫

Mini headshot photoshoots last half an hour and can include a prop or two, maybe a quick change of jacket or top, and as many backdrops as we have time for. They are brilliant for creating a new set of images for refreshing profile photos, speaker shots, social posts… and a very affordable way of seeing how branding images can help your business. All the locations I choose have multiple background options and corners so that they fit a wide range of professions and brands: there is something for everyone 🌟

If you’re in need of a graphic designer don’t hesitate to look at Susie’s website, she’s done some brilliant work for me and I can thoroughly recommend her. And if you need somewhere in the Marlow area to work, do visit Mill House for an environment full of calmness and style 😆

Learning from the best with Adaptis

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4 November 2024

A great mix of highly skilled people persons 🌟

Earlier this year I did a branding photoshoot for Adaptis, a Learning & Development consultancy. Founded by Sara Burks (feature photo) they are made up of a brilliant team of consultants, coaches, learning designers and facilitators, with backgrounds in leadership positions or psychology practice. Together they develop bespoke learning programmes to help others grow, strengthen and make behavioural changes or all three. I met with them a few months before their photoshoot so we could get chatting on how to incorporate as many aspects of their work into their images as possible.

The planning parts of a branding photoshoot are surprisingly straight forward. We sit down and talk about your brand, what makes you all tick, your values, which aspects you want to show off – everything that will give me a strong understanding of your ethos and the nuts & bolts of your company. Then we look at the logistics and how to capture this in images in the most efficient way for you. Sometimes this might be over one morning or across a couple of dates depending how many team members are involved and which locations we’re using.

For Adaptis’s branding photoshoot we hired a big meeting room in the coworking offices where they are based and used a combination of spaces in the building for headshots.

Thank you for such a fun set of photoshoots Adaptis, it was a real pleasure meeting you all and getting to know your business.

If you’d like to learn more about Adaptis have a look at their website. I can guarantee that they’re great to work with 😁

The best type of wellbeing before work!

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10 July 2024

How to guarantee a great start to the day 🌟

Karishma Kaimal is a financial advisor and Katie Mantwa George is a meditation teacher and founder of Being Human Well. Together they have been running some brilliant early morning sessions combining financial advice with seated meditation (not simultaneously haha). Having full control on your finances is highly linked to your wellbeing, so combining it with Katie’s meditation session was a perfect injection of knowledge and calmness before work ☀️

I was already at the wellbeing morning as a participant but Karishma and Katie had asked me to run a headshot session afterwards for anyone needing new profile photos. It was a lovely thing to offer people as it turned out that pretty much everyone said they’d been putting off getting a headshot refresh for ages because of time or lack of opportunity. By booking their slots in advance I got the chance to give them a few tips and nuggets of advice on how to make the most of their 5 minute sessions 😁

I always love doing headshots at events but it’s also a real treat as it means I get to meet everyone individually 😆

Here are a few of the great people I got to meet.

Book in to the next wellbeing morning on 3 October, you never know I may see you there!

Katie also runs meditation workshops and retreats so click here for more calmness. Or get in touch with Karishma for sound financial advice. They are both absolutely lovely to work with 🩶🩶🩶

Brand strategist and writer with a huge heart

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28 June 2024

The perfect example of you are your brand 🌟

Brand Language with a Beating Heart. I love Becca Magnus’s strapline for her creative studio business, Magnus & Co – it absolutely captures her personality and vision that branding should speak to the heart, then the head. Becca is the bubbliest of people and she and her brand are part and parcel. As it should be.

I met Becca at the lovely Allbright Mayfair and she booked onto one of my mini branding photoshoot sessions last month. It was so nice to see her and catch up properly, whilst packing in lots of shots. She wore the most gorgeous pink suit and just looked fabulous and then swapped it for a more casual look cardi, so that her pool of images captured vibes of meeting clients plus creative writing in her studio. She’s now got some stunning images which give insight into different areas of her work and show off her personality, for every marketing need. We did some inside and then snuck outside in between the rain and had a real laugh. One of her favourite shots is doing the hair flick 😆

Becca has worked for all sorts of interesting clients across many sectors – Imperial War Museum, Toast, the NHS, Book Trust, Microsoft, Twinings and my favourite of all, Pip & Nut. You can’t get better than almond butter in my book…😋 If you’d like some inspiration, have a look at her work or follow her on insta @beccamagnus