Janika White is an attorney and a candidate for Shelby County District Attorney with the vision of changing the culture of politics in local government. Through her work, Janika is leaning into the promise of adding people back into politics and restoring safe communities.
Find out more about Janika's platform and our work with her on her campaign branding at www.janikawhite.com
THE SHOOT
LOCATION
Janika's shoot was set in two locations to ensure we had shots that would reflect her brand. We started the day in Downtown Memphis near the courthouse. The architecture and buildings served as a great background for political brand shots. We captured several different angles and orientations.
Our second location was in one of my favorite spaces in Memphis-Crosstown Concourse. It is a reactivated old Sears Roebuck building that is now a vibrant mix use space. Janika invited family and friends to be in the photoshoot. Our goal was to create brand imagery that would be reflective of her mission as District Attorney to be actively engaged with the community.
OUTFIT & PROPS
One of the pieces that we were adamant about in regards to branding was ensuring that Janika always stood out amongst the other candidates. Our focus was on creating a brand that you could recognize visually with colors and imagery as the main focal point. We saw that through by making sure that we included her brand colors in her wardrobe for the photoshoot. Her look was polished yet still deliberate.
As far as props, we added in a legal binder that she takes along with her day to day in the court system as a trial lawyer. For the lifestyle shots, the people were our props. We wanted great energy, smiles, engagement, and a diverse group of people.
TOOLS + TECHNIQUES
We found a building in the downtown area to take a considerate amount of photos with web design in mind. These images are important for layout. I needed options for adding text, push card, yard designs and other campaign collateral. These images may not seem important but they are critical. Clean backgrounds mean that adding text for web pages and ads is super easy, your graphic designers will thank the photographer later! This shoot was my first real brand photoshoot so I was excited but quite nervous. It really helped that I looked at this shoot from the lens of a web designer. Often times, one of the greatest challenges in designing websites is lack of pictures or the options available from brand photos. We were able to get amazing photos and build a remarkable campaign site and brand.
I hope this Shoot Story provided more insight into why brand photography is so critical to your branding and how all of the pieces are related to each other. When it comes to this line of work, the small details are just as, if not more important, than the big picture, and each and every aspect should be taken into consideration!
Do you love this shoot? What’s your favourite scene? Let me know in the comments below, or if you have questions about a specific set up come drop me a DM on Instagram.
Andrea