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Suzanne O'Brien Studio

organize and enjoy your memories

February 28, 2019

Stepping Up Your Brand

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com
Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

Just like the women “stepped up 🙄” at the Grammy’s earlier this month, this fun client was ready to do the same with her business. Daimler Partners, led by Melissa Daimler, is a consulting firm with a focus on helping leaders operationalize culture. Before striking out on her own, Melissa was an executive at high-growth companies such as Adobe and Twitter for over twenty years. During that time, I had the pleasure of working with her several times to create headshots for speaking engagements and other marketing purposes.

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

Melissa reached out last year when she was in the process of creating her new business website and we were able to take our collaboration to the next level. After multiple brand identity and planning conversations we met up for a fun day in San Francisco to create some images to tell her brand story.

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

In order to create a large library of images for Melissa to use across her different marketing platforms (blog, Instagram etc.) we shot at a variety of locations around the city that resonated with her brand. From the Mission to the Marina we captured Melissa’s personality, love of travel, the outdoors and urban environments.

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com
Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com
Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

We grabbed a quick lunch at one of my favorite favorite coffee shops and used our time there to highlight her writing program. This post is already way too long so stay tuned for more of those photos!

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com
Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

In the afternoon, we switched gears and moved to a corporate setting to showcase her client work. Her message to potential clients is one of experience and credibility – “I know what you are going through, and I will make it fun and easy to make positive changes”.

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

“I know what you are going through, and I will make it fun and easy to make positive changes.”

Brand Photography & Social Media Content Creation | San Francisco | suzanneobrienstudio.com

As always, I’m grateful for such fun clients and beautiful locations – be sure to  say hello if you are ready to take your brand to the next level!

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FILED UNDER: Business Photography
TAGGED WITH: Headshots

February 12, 2019

Messages to My Freshman

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photos + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

My favorite personal photo book completed last year? That is akin to asking me to pick a favorite kid! How about I share two? First up, an idea I’ve had on my mind for a long while. Years ago, I heard Stacy Julian talking about a memory keeping project she did when her son was a senior in high school. She called it the “180 Days: Senior Year Album”: a photo-a-day project with simple journaling prompts to capture the details of what life was like for her son his final year in high school. Yes. To. This.

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photos + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

When my daughter started at a new high school in 2017, I knew it would be a year of many firsts and changes. It felt like the perfect time to actively document her everyday life. Acting on inspiration from Cathy Zielske’s take on Stacy’s project, I embarked on a year-long journey to capture my freshman’s daily stories and share a few nuggets of wisdom along the way…

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

Keeping the formula simple and consistent was the key to success with this project. One photo per week + my commentary on what happened and, if possible, a few “mom” thoughts layered on top of the facts.

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

A reminder set for every Sunday night encouraged me to take a few minutes each week to stay on top of the project. This was a critical step – I don’t think it would be possible to sit down at the end of the year and truly capture the essence of a year – the thoughts, feelings and emotions – that I was able to document by writing in the moment each week.

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

With 40+ weeks in the school year, I pushed myself to get creative when shooting memorable moments. I was also not afraid to screenshot a Snapchat post and may have even snagged her phone to record a text exchange from when she was accepted into the school a capella group…

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

Of course I included some favorite moments in video form using my favorite QR code trick. A photo from the freshman retreat paired with bus footage of her playing the ukelele and singing along with new friends, this makes my mama heart pretty happy…

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

Photos by herself and more often, photos with friends, all combine to tell the story of this special year in her life…

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

From her first experience with activism to teaching a friend to ski for the first time, knowing that I had a place to document and ultimately print these memories motivated me to capture more photos than I normally would have throughout the year. I also know from my Week in the Life projects how much we will appreciate noting the little details of life now, from riding her bike to school to her favorite grab-n-go breakfasts…

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

Her August 2018 birthday was the perfect deadline to motivate me to complete this book and surprise her with a tangible keepsake of an awesome freshman year!

School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com
School Photo Book Project | 1 Photo + Words of Wisdom Each Week | suzanneobrienstudio.com

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FILED UNDER: Memory Keeping, Personal, Photo Books, Photo Books - Family

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