Rachael Leigh Photography

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Cincinnati, OH
Rachael Leigh Photography

Genuine & Timeless images for the joyful & adventurous! It’s my honor to serve Couples & HS Senior Do you love life and love? Then you are my kind of people!

My name is Rachael and I am in love with beautiful things, especially people! I am a Franklin, OH based photographer who loves to find new places and a good story! It would make my heart so happy to hear from you and to capture your special moments, whether its senior year, your wedding day, an anniversary, or just your family as you are growing together! This life we live only comes once, so why not remember it forever?

03/20/2026

Not my lights being double my size.

Round two for called for the similar, moody light vibe we created for their first set of images two years ago.

And it was a good challenge to mimic that same look in a totally different space on a cloudy day.

Cohesion in the little things (like light) as you build out your brand image library is a must.

It’s the way you are able to use images from multiple shoots in various locations across multiple years—and still tell they’re for the same brand.

But I think we aced it.

Comment below if you want to see some previews from this one.

Cause I can bet you’ll never guess what the light setup looks like in the final images.

We only used the natural light you see in the photos for 2 scenes.

11/18/2024

Would you guess this is a medical brand?

Their goal with their brand → break the mold of traditional medical education

So, we settled on “The art and science of medicine” as our overarching banner for Nico Misleh’s shoot.

This manifested in vintage professor, old hand-drawn anatomy sketches, textbooks, and a studio space called the auditorium that used to be an old school schoolhouse.

We stepped on set with a brief anchored by a handful of storylines and starters under each that I’d drummed up from their goals, content plan, and brand itself.

- Nico and The Team: thought leadership, team lead, headshots
- Education: podcaster, teacher, course material, student interaction
- Lifestyle: manifests the holistic lifestyle that’s aligned with his practice/methods

My goal as a brand photographer is to become a student of my client’s brands. This looks like diving real deep into their questionnaire and then just about everything they’ve put out online.

I’m on the hunt for repetition and patterns we can harness in their storylines. Gaps to fill in their image libraries. And the small phrases in their brand that they say a lot that often become perspectives I shape the entire shoot around → thus the art and science of medicine.

Thus, a sub benefit of the brand photo process is renewed clarity in your brand and even the way you approach content.

I’ve actually had a few repeat clients that came back mostly for that.

The dive back into your brand to communicate it to a vendor AND getting their perspective on it from their own dive unlocks understanding you wouldn’t have had before.

It also results in some pretty vibey photos like these.

All around a win-win.

If you’re on the hunt for more clarity in your brand’s storylines that create natural narratives in your content–stay tuned.

There’s something rolling out on Monday that you’ll be thrilled with.

10/22/2024

The stories you repeat in your brand become what your people remember about you.

That’s really what marketing is all about.

First, of course, you have to be seen.
Then you want to make sure they remember you.

And the biggest part of remembrance is repetition.

One of the easiest ways to rehearse those stories so that they stick is having brand photos that sprinkle them throughout your visual brand.

For — story is we’ve harnessed the process and heart of her biz.

“I now have images that show the parts of my business that have been so hard to document!”

As a florist l, and now a garden designer, much of her work has her hands tied up holding stems to arrange bouquets or sunk wrist deep in the dirt planting seeds — making mid process photos a bit hard to get.

So, her one request at round one back in 2021 (and both rounds of brand photos we took this year) was those process photos she can’t ever manage to get herself.

The other was the story of the old farmhouse and gardens they’re working to make into a space they adore where beautiful memories naturally happen for their little fam.

With every photo posted of her in process, she rehearses stories that further cement not just what she does but why she does it in the minds of her people:

- planting seeds with her daughters
- piecing together a bouquet
- sipping a coffee as she puts final touches on a garden sketch
- a breakfast picnic in the backyard in view their 1880s farmhouse

They take the concept of being a florist and garden designer and bring it to life.

They’re more than just pretty photos.

Try seeds of remembrance to be planted and watered in the minds of your target audience.

So, when the time comes and they need with you have - the stories you’ve consistently and repeatedly told are the things that remind them that they must to work with you.

Okay, go. What’s one of the stories you repeat in your brand?

03/05/2024

Overwhelmed? Should I do this? Should I do that? But will it work for my people?

The mental chatter that goes along with deciding how to market your business in a digital age - well it stinks.

We live in the tension of a ton of people who are trying to help us by sharing their experiences and tactics, but they left out half the equation.

How to discern.

See, discernment is the ability to understand and judge if something is the right decision.

It isn’t the flashiest skill to sharpen as a business owner - but it’s the one you’ll be needing to build something that lasts for the long haul.

These slides are chapter one of this chat that we’ll be finishing on Thursday in a LIVE Masterclass!

and I are opening a Zoom room on Thursday at 11am EST to let you in on the 6 marketing goals that make up a traditional marketing plan and how those play out in the ways you’re already marketing - like on Instagram.

The goal?

To give a framework for the specific things you can reach for in your marketing that make a direct impact on your business so that you can track the return on investment in your efforts and ensure that what you’re doing is worth your time and money.

Click to RSVP → https://rachaelleigh.com/marketing-masterclass

And there will be a replay! So, if you can’t join us live - no worries. The recording will land in your inbox soon after we’re finished!

09/26/2023

Friends, The Brand Plan is finally back open for Round Two!

Applications are OPEN - https://rachaelleigh.com/the-brand-plan

To ditch the sales pitch and get right to the heart - I created The Brand Plan for every creative that’s ever said “I just feel like I can’t get it right” when stepping up to define their brand.

You know those big questions like - why do you do what you do? How are you different from everyone else? What’s the greater purpose behind your biz? Can you tell me about your values?

The ones you've attempted to get answers to questionnaires or mini-courses, but they never see any light other than that printed stack of half-filled-out workbook sheets in your desk drawer.

There’s got to be a better way
- and that’s the exact thing I set out to create in The Brand Plan!

Defining a brand is much more a work of excavation than invention - meaning you have to dig deep inside of yourself first before looking in any other direction.

In TBP, I'll walk you through a series of tough questions to unearth the understanding about yourself that you'll need to establish the foundational elements of your own brand identity.

Understanding is the first step to marketing [and a business] built to outlast the fads and becomes the sustainable ground for you to grow from both now and years down the road.

“Take The Brand Plan. Don’t pass go. Don’t collect $200. You will thank yourself after. It’s gonna be a wild ride if you fully commit, but it’s necessary work. And I love that it’s a guide for the whole journey.” - Amber W.

Join me - and a whole cohort of like-minded Creatives!

Apply today or book one of those discovery calls righhhht here
https://rachaelleigh.com/the-brand-plan

09/07/2023

I recently made some pretty big shifts in what my business offers and along with that, launched a new iteration of my website! I'm excited for you to see! - https://rachaelleigh.com/

And to spoil a bit of what you'll find there, you'll quickly notice that I no longer offer photography for weddings. This was a hard, but big decision that I've worked toward in the last three years as I've adored serving my brand photography clients and it became clear that the wisest thing would be to retire my wedding photography to make room to serve small businesses and creatives exclusively.

I want to thank all my couples and everyone else who hired me for portraiture for supporting Rachael Leigh Photography for all these years! Y'all are why I'm here today!

And if you're in the market for brand photography or coaching for a creative-driven small business - I'm your girl!

Template: Tonic Site Shop
Website: Showit
Copy Editing: Rekindle Communications

06/27/2023

Relational Coffee is a brand statement that has coined to represent not only their sourcing philosophy, but the importance of relationships to them at each stage of the coffee journey.

From knowing the people who farm it by name, to suppliers, to shops who serve it and then the people who drink it.

Which meant that for this shoot - we needed lots of human interaction and elements to really emphasize the relational in addition to the coffee.

The reminder that coffee is a craft that is meant to be shared.

Juxtaposing that idea alongside their signature monochromatic brand colors with the tendency to play with bold lighting, we had a lot of fun using direct sunlight and strobes to make these photos feel alive and as relational as the coffee itself claims to be.

Plus, smack dab in the middle of this carousel is one of the promo images from the current spring seasonal blend campaign that I got to do creative direction, fstyling and photography for. Bringing those dancing, blossom shadows to life on the white backdrop is probably the element I’m most proud of.

03/23/2023

Batching and blogging usually leads to realizing there are whole hosts of photos from archived shoots that never saw the light of day - Exhibit A

The goal while pulling together my creative directive for was to fill the shot list with the least amount of typical “I’m a realtor” photos as possible.

But instead focus on the on-the-go and working from anywhere lifestyle that often accompanies her work.

Well, that plus allowing potential clients to get a glimpse of what it would be like to buy or sell a home with her on their team.

These were composed for her to use throughout various social media platforms to fill gaps between listing photos and for creating content and to stay top of mind.

I think we accomplished that goal, what do you think?

11/22/2022

What sets great brand portraits apart from good ones is often found in the smallest details.

It’s the difference between having a plain white background vs staged sheets of notebook paper for a set of stock imagery designed for a copywriter.

It’s light that conveys morning or dawn in a set of photos because the client’s most focused, impactful work tends to happen in the mornings.

It’s a wardrobe that conveys the subtle temperature changes from summer to fall because the brand wants their own clients to slow down, remember what matters and feel that sort of nostalgia that comes when the leaves fall and cold temps set in, yet they live in Orlando - so a roaring fire and chunky cable knit sweaters would never actually make sense.

The power of great brand photos lies in the unspoken stories nestled in the details, playing behind the scenes and showing rather than telling.

They hold the same power as those first few minutes of the movie UP where we fell in love with, felt joy for, walked through life with, mourned with and grieved for Carl and Ellie - all without a word being spoken.

Some of the most powerful stories your brand will ever tell don’t come in the form of words, but of feelings.

The genuine smile in your headshot with warm colors that almost says, “hello you can kick your shoes off and feel at home here.”

Or the photo of you closing a laptop rather than opening it that says “around here, we run a business to have a better life offline than we do online”.

Each photo you use and the things within the photo, subtly tell the stories of your brand without saying a word.

And in turn are influencing what your audience believes to be true about you.

So next time you set out to have brand photos crafted for your business or select a suite of stock imagery to fill your social templates —

First ask yourself, how do I want my client to feel when they interact with my brand?

And then plan or select those photos accordingly.

08/08/2022

Pulling this collection for from the archives of last fall to officially chronicle here on the feed.

Meghan is a stellar photographer who celebrates her clients in all seasons!

When she calls herself a hype girl who loves real loud, she’s not joking. And I love how her entire client experience echoes that same sentiment.

It was so fun to learn the ins and outs of her experience for families and newborns, and to see all the little tools she equips herself with at sessions to pull out all the giggles and smiles no matter how the littles may be feeling that day.

I love how this collection of images clearly tells that story of Megh behind the camera.

The intentionality.
The fun.
The enthusiasm.

It gives potential clients an idea of what it would be like to work with her before they’ve even officially said hello with real words.

And isn’t that a huge part of effective marketing?

Showing potential clients not just what they get as a result of working with you, but also all that they gain along the way. What we call the benefits, not just the features.

Brand photography is one of the best ways to show those benefits, especially for service providers.

It’s a literal picture that controls their perception by taking the intention behind your experience and making it literal.

Thus teaching them to trust you and the process right from the start.

Do brand photos sound like something you need in your marketing toolkit?

Shoot me a message & let’s dream up what a shoot like this could look like for your business!

Address

Cincinnati, OH

Website

http://www.rachaelleighphotos.com/

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