Personal Branding for a Harpist: Emily's Chicago Photoshoot

When Emily reached out about a personal branding session, they knew they wanted something that felt stripped back, natural, and not overdone.

As a harpist, Emily's work has two sides to it. They perform at weddings, events, and other special occasions, but they also teach harp. Rather than creating one set of images that tried to represent everything, we wanted the session to give both sides of their business their own space.

For the first two looks, Emily brought beautiful gowns. These images were designed with their event and wedding work in mind: elegant and timeless, without feeling overly formal.

I especially loved how the gowns worked with the harp itself. There's something naturally dramatic about photographing such a beautiful instrument, but we didn't want the images to feel overly staged. Keeping the posing simple and letting Emily interact naturally with the harp helped everything feel much more relaxed.

For the third look, we shifted gears and went with a trouser and blouse combination. This gave the images a more sophisticated, approachable teacher and educator feel while still feeling cohesive with the rest of the session.

The goal wasn't to create completely different versions of Emily. Instead, we wanted the wardrobe, posing, and overall feeling of each look to subtly communicate the different parts of their business.

Keeping the session natural

One of my favorite things about this shoot was Emily's description of how they wanted the images to feel.

Stripped back. Natural. Not overdone.

That gave us a really clear direction for the session. Rather than relying on complicated sets, excessive props, or overly posed images, we focused on clean compositions, natural expressions, and allowing the harp to be part of the story.

I think personal branding images work best when they still feel like the person behind the business. Especially for someone like Emily, where so much of their work is personal and connected to creating an experience for other people.

And then there was the harp...

This was also my first time ever seeing a harp in person, and I genuinely had no idea how big they were!

Seeing one in the studio completely changed how I thought about photographing the session. It is huge, so figuring out how to compose Emily and the harp together while still keeping the images clean and intentional became part of the creative process.

The harp adds such a beautiful visual element to the portraits while also immediately communicating what Emily does. It isn't just a prop. It's an important part of their story and their business.

I'm so happy with how this session came together. We were able to create imagery that feels elegant enough for Emily's wedding and event work, approachable enough for their teaching business, and most importantly, true to how they wanted their brand to feel.

Ready for photos that feel like you?

Whether you're building a brand from the ground up, refreshing your website, or simply ready for images that better represent the work you do, I'd love to create something intentional with you.

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Want to work with Emily?
You can learn more about their harp performances, teaching, and availability on their website: https://emilytheharpist.com/