Ginger Bee snaps to it as brand photography shows personalities behind the name
Getting your brand out there is key for a publisher to make their mark and long-time greeting card industry stalwart Bev Cunningham has found a way to use her creativity and photography skills to help.
And one of the first customers posing up a storm for a Ginger Bee Studios’ personal brand photography session was Kali Stileman Publishing, where Kali and Jemima had a whale of a time letting Bev capture who they are, what they do and where they work.
“It’s all about having strong brand visuals that consistently portray your company’s personality and communicates your brand values,” Bev told PG Buzz, “we all know consumers and customers want to do business with people they know, like and trust.”
And for Jemima and her mum Kali, the three-hour shoot at their Dorset base was so relaxed they “loved every minute of it” and “totally forgot we were even in front of the camera, and just had fun”!
Bev set up Ginger Bee after leaving Abacus Cards almost six years ago, where she’d been creative director for over 25 years, and has been working mainly as a product development consultant as well as licensing her own images to card publishers.
With photography a major passion, she’s focusing on it full time and added: “With licensing and branding I feel I’ve found my forte. These two different aspects of my photography business are surprisingly not too dissimilar – a greeting card image tells a story, just the way branding photography does.
“Colour is also a big constituent of both, as is the sentiment they convey and how they make you feel. I just love how photography connects and engages us.
“I particularly love the branding side of my business as I get to meet lots of interesting, creative business owners. I love making people feel good in front of the camera and empowering them with authentic images to make them feel confident about being more visible.”
For Kali’s fun and colourful card and wrap designs, she takes a lot of inspiration from the menagerie of animals including pigs, geese, and guinea fowl, and they were determined not to be left out of the action.
“The guinea fowl literally photobombed the shoot in the kitchen at one hilarious moment,” Bev laughed, “it’s safe to say that the shoot was a hoot!
“It’s all part of what makes Kali tick and where she gets her inspiration, so very much part of her branding story, as is the wonderful mother and daughter working relationship she and Jemima have. I really wanted to capture the synergy between them and how their different personalities complement one another.”
Bev ensures she thoroughly plans each shoot, talking through every aspect, from the poses to the colours and the locations, and Kali said: “As for the shoot itself, Bev was brilliant at making us feel so at ease, The images will be so useful for our brochure, social media and website that we can’t imagine reverting back to iPhone photos!”
