Photography has always been a therapeutic tool for me. I think hiding away from cameras definitely reveals an insecurity and I think many women (myself included) have felt that genuine fear of being in front of the camera. In fact I talk about it a lot in my About Me section where I discuss how I avoided being in front of the camera when my children were little.

After having my children I was left with your typical mum tum- thankfully people are talking about these bodily changes more frequently but when I had my first child these issues were still covered up and it’s very isolating feeling like you’re the only person to have been left with scars, marks and an overhang. Diastasis recti and two c-sections have meant the body I had pre-children isn’t coming back without surgery. So my options were to either love my body with its new squishy texture or to continue obsessing over it and feeling insecure for the rest of my life or until I went down the surgical route- something I’m not comfortable with. Kudos to anyone that is happy to get surgery but I’m the biggest wimp so I avoid medical procedures wherever possible. I’ve summarised my issues in a short paragraph but the reality is it’s taken me maybe 5 years to fully embrace my new body and it’s an ongoing journey.

Sometimes when I speak to clients I talk about insecurities and how they feel about their bodies. It’s important for me to know as a photographer how a person perceives themselves and whether they have a body issue that I can help them with. Because the reality is sometimes our own body hatred is deep within our minds and visually it’s never as bad as we make it out to be. Photography is the perfect tool to help you on your path to healing. I want to be able to enable you to look at yourself objectively- to take away the negative voices you have about yourself.

I frequently say to my clients that we’re going to confront their insecurity if they’re happy for me to guide them through it. The worst that’ll happen is that nothing changes- they never need to see the images again and no one will ever know. But the best that can happen is that I can help them see themselves in a different light- through kinder eyes and I can help them start their healing journey. There is beauty is our differences and it’s wrong to think we should all have to be the same. I will also happily get my mum tum out for any client that doesn’t believe I have my own insecurities.

I wanted to share some stories from a couple of clients that have been in recently. Some wonderful women that allowed me to help them photograph parts of themselves they’ve struggled with. I’ll let them tell you their stories in their own words.

“I'm Debbie, I'm 50 years old and have had body dysmorphia for a fair part of my life.

My story begins at just 11 years old when I was diagnosed with a spinal condition called Scoliosis meaning curvature of the spine. At the beginning it was only a small curve but as I continued to grow so did the curve. It then became life threatening and I needed to have some major spinal surgery to save my life. I needed metal rods and wiring inserted to help the stop of the curve becoming worse. Because I was different I was bullied at school.

By the time I was 20 I'd endured 4 major spinal ops and some other procedures to help with my deformity- primarily a rib hump which saw me have some of my ribs removed. I now have a 16" scar right down the middle of my back. It makes me feel self conscience and ugly.

But Donna captured my back beautifully and in a way to confront my imperfections (to me) and show me my body as art. We all have things we don't always like about ourselves but doing this with Donna has been a good and positive experience.

I'm not going to say I love my body or myself still because body dysmorphia doesn't disappear overnight but i's made me look at myself slightly differently.”

Debbie

“Lots of people describe their journey with their body confidence as a journey. But in reality, it's more like a dance.

The process of accepting and loving my body hasn't gone from hatred and then progressed to love. There are times I love my body and times it frustrates me. That's the dance. I’m in it, constantly. There is no beginning and end destination. But I'm definitely no longer hating my body and it is the most empowering feeling.

My dance with my back has been quite an intense one. It's the part of my body where the tempo of the music changes frequently. Sometimes it's like 90’s RnB, sometimes its like the death march, like I'm going into battle with it.

I 100% accept all of my body and absolutely adore nearly all of it. I've learnt to embrace who I am, drown out the societal expectations of me as a woman and focus on what feels right for me.”

Kayleigh Confidence and Empowerment Coach

If you want to try and see if I can help you with your body image or your mental health issues through my photography please don’t hesitate to get in touch. The worst that can happen is that you don’t change your mindset with me, but the best that can happen is that we start you off on your journey to accept and learn to love exactly who you are and to feel good about it.

Boudoir; often mis spelt as buodoir, budoir, bodoir, boudior is a branch off of portrait photography but the image gives a more sensual and sexy feel than traditional portraiture. It doesn’t have to mean lingerie, high heels, stockings or full nudity. It can be whatever you need it to be and taken to a level of comfort that you have. If lingerie is your jam then I’m happy to photograph you in it. But if you just want to dip a toe into boudoir you might feel comfortable wearing our in studio white shirt instead which covers you up entirely, or using a white sheet to keep yourself more hidden. There are so many ways to incorporate boudoir into your photo sessions. So I thought I’d let you know what boudoir at Donna Duke-Llande Photography looks like:

1. It’s a way to feel empowered and to appreciate your feminine form. They did it in the Greek and Roman days, and it’s time to bring that appreciation back for all female body types.

2. It’s something that’s done just for you. It’s an incredible feeling knowing that you’ve done something out of your comfort zone, and while you might gift the image to a partner we all know it’s really something for you.

3. It’s about being a bit more sensual in the imagery than traditional portraits. It’s about looking classy and creating something artistic that you will love.

4. It’s about showing a bit of skin, but how much depends on you. The pose is just as important as the outfit and actually a jumper with the shoulder pulled down can be boudoir and just as sexy as being fully nude or in an incredible lace bodysuit.

5. Your comfort is paramount and that’s why I work with an all female team who will make you feel comfortable throughout. We can close the set down if you prefer to just you and myself but rest assured your comfort always comes first.

6. Boudoir can be part of your photoshoot if you want to try it. It doesn’t have to be the whole session.

Valentine’s Day is always an interesting date on the calendar isn’t it?

It’s the first proper event day as such on the calendar after Christmas, and it happens during the hardest few months of the year. Those months where we cling to any form of excitement because the dark days are long, cold and bitter. So even if we don’t actually intend to celebrate Valentine’s Day there’s no denying that it is a date that slowly creeps in.

The frustrating thing about Valentine’s Day is that it traditionally relies upon us being validated by someone else. And as lovely as that can be, it’s actually very damaging. Because what about those of us that don’t have partners? or those of us who feel forgotten on Valentine’s Day. Those of us that are going through difficult life issues and then feeling the pressure of this particular day looming?

Which is why for many years I’ve realised that Valentine’s Day should be about yourself. It should be about reconnecting with who you are and learning to love her and see her value. Nobody should validate who you are. Only you need to validate yourself.

A lot of how we feel about ourselves comes from the way we portray ourselves to the world. If we’re having a ‘good’ day we feel happier and more confident, but if we’re having a day where we feel less than comfortable it’s really hard to love ourselves during those moments. If those bad moments last a long time it really starts to affect us mentally.

As we get older and our bodies adjust and change it can be hard for many of us to love what looks back at us in the mirror. After all we’re bombarded daily by celebrities and models that have that ‘perfect’ body type. 

But let’s be honest, if you’re alive then your body is absolutely perfect in all senses of the word. It doesn’t matter if there’s a little wobbly bit here or there. Or you have a scar that runs along it. Or you have stretch marks. Or your boobs aren’t quite in the same place they were in your 20’s.  And yes while those celeb bodies might look amazing in magazines, we don't actually know what body hang ups they have themselves that we're unaware of.  

For those of you that have come in to see me, I've no doubt shared my post kids tummy with you- I like to show you that we all have parts of us we don't like.  Outwardly I look fairly petite and small but I have a body that will never wear a bikini ever again! But actually it doesn't matter and I've come to accept that part of me- although it took a long time.   

Your body will and does change, and it will continue to do so to keep you alive, well and healthy.

And you need to love it and yourself the entire time, not just on Valentine’s Day. But make this the Valentine’s Day where you step out of your comfort zone and really see yourself. Embrace just how wondrous and beautiful you truly are. Just like my gorgeous client did in this image which we took as part of the 40 over 40 project. She wanted to step out of her comfort zone and to see her body properly so she could learn to let go of the negative thoughts she has had over it for many years.

Every time she starts to think badly about herself this image is there for her to remind herself how incredible, brave, resilient and beautiful she truly is.

A personal branding session here is a fully customised process, so getting to know you is the most important part of a branding session for me. Mainly because you are the key ingredient to your business. You are the unique selling point. Clients are specifically buying from you.

Whether the images you need are for your website, social media, your LinkedIn profile, branding materials, your email signature and so on… a personal branding session will help your prospective clients connect to you and therefore your business.

So what kind of information am I looking for?

Well firstly I need to know what the images will be used for, that way we can make sure you have images to suit the various marketing materials. For example in blog posts you may want your images to be more down to earth and friendly. Whereas your website home page you may want to appear more professional and experienced within your field. Knowing how you will use your photos allows us the scope to really build your personality into various areas of your marketing.

I also need to know what your brand colours are so we can keep within your brand palette and make sure we aren’t creating images that’ll look completely out of context on your website or socials. It allows us to choose clothes and backdrops more appropriately or if you haven’t built your brand or know what brand colours you want to use, this may be the time we build that concept together.

Building a brand is all about understanding how your client will connect emotionally with that brand, so that is an important part to building your personal branding photoshoot. We want to make sure we communicate your brands personality. After all a picture is worth a thousand words. So finding out how you want people to feel when they interact with your brand is essential.

It’s common knowledge that we need to show up in our brands- we need to be the faces and help to build the likability factor which leads to trust. But it can be hard to know how personal to get. So I thought I’d give three ways on how to get more personal in your business.

Choose your content pillars

You might think the only thing you can talk about is your business and indirectly or directly selling what you offer. But actually that kind of content gets really boring even if you are offering something great. So you need to mix it up a little and choose a variety of content topics that work with your brand to showcase what you do and your personality. I am a photographer, and I predominately work with women. Either female entrepreneurs or women looking to regain their confidence and learning to love themselves. I know how important it is for potential clients to see me as Donna and not just a generic photographer. They need to get an idea over my personality. I can be funny and light hearted and so I do like posts that show that side of me. Silly mistakes that I make and having the ability to laugh at myself. I think it helps them to see that I don’t look at myself through rose tinted glasses even though I’m an advocate for self love. We all have insecurities and that’s ok. I like to empower women too, and a lot of content I share is about female empowerment or how I like to empower myself and about learning how to do that. Or calling out the injustices that women face. It’s about starting those conversations. I’m a big fan of the local area as well, and will often share places and other businesses in the area that I like to use because it helps build a picture over who I am, where I hang out, my lifestyle and my hobbies. I’m a mum and I know many of my clients can relate, so I will post up bits about my children and my home life. Your content pillars really will depend upon your brand. My aim is always to make people feel comfortable and to feel like I’m a friend because that way if they come in for a photoshoot they know enough about me to be relaxed in my presence because being in front of my camera can be a vulnerable position for many. At the end of the day if your personality shines through, people will want to work with you because you ignite excitement, laughter and joy in them.

Blogs

Your website should include a blog. It’s such an important part of how you can be found online. Don’t underestimate the importance of blogging. Being personal on blogs is a way to connect to your audience. Using your platform to speak your truth and get personal in a professional way is a great chance to capture an audience that want to learn more about you and more about what you’re skilled at. I love photography but my clients want to learn about business and building their brands or about how to learn to love themselves and take better care of their mental wellbeing (coincidentally my some of my content pillars). I find that you can cross promote information from socials into blogs or vice versa. With a blog though you have more room to get deeper with your clients and form stronger connections.

Create your social media presence

Being on social media really does rely upon being social. It’s not about posting something and waiting for clients to come in and just watching your like count go up. The reality is it makes no difference if you have 6000 views on a reel if you’re not connecting with the people reaching out to you. In fact big numbers on socials doesn’t necessarily equate to a busy business. You need to really look deeper into the connections that can be made on socials in an organic way with the people that follow you and the individuals that could be your ideal client. You need to be replying professionally and as your brand dictates to comments left on your posts. You need to be getting your name out there by connecting with other local brands or individuals. You really just need to have that presence without being spam like. If you consistently show up and you’re of service and value to your followers, your hard work will pay off.

Personal branding is a relatively new concept in terms of what it can do for business. A headshot is simply that, a corporate headshot typically just of a persons face, but personal branding brings in personality and your unique self. For entrepreneurs being part of your own marketing has never been more important. It’s the part of your business that’s unique and will be what captures your clientele to you and your brand specifically.

I incorporate headshots into my personal branding sessions, but I also want to be able to tell your unique story through lifestyle images, photographs of you in action, photographs or you and your products. We can capture fine details and so much more. All of my sessions are customised to my clients so once we have an idea over your brand we can build a vision that works with you and your needs.

The end goal of a personal branding session is to make you more profitable in business so it’s an area you’ll want to invest in.

You should consider a personal branding session if you:

• Are an entrepreneur

• Want to level up in business with your visuals

• If you are the face of your brand and you want to confidently put yourself out there to connect with your clients

• You want your marketing to look polished and professional

When you first start out as an entrepreneur it can be really overwhelming. There’s so much you need to do to be able to successfully launch. And being able to start on the right footing will enable you make and build decisions around your brand that keep your brand message clear and prevent you from overspending in areas that don’t require it.

There are 3 key investment areas that I believe all entrepreneurs should make when it comes to their personal brand, whether that’s starting up a brand or rebranding. These are the areas that should be focussed on.

Website

A good, clear website speaks volumes for your personal brand. If you aren’t tech savvy this is an area you may want to outsource. But with programmes such as Wix or Squarespace, it’s never been easier to create and develop a website on your own. This website is a Squarespace website and having used a variety of platforms over the years I have to say Squarespace is particularly user friendly. It’s just a matter of selecting a website template and then putting in your own images and copy to make it personal.

Logo

Your logo needs to help you stand out. It’s design is symbolic of what your provide and aesthetically it gives out a clear, concise message. There are cheap logo designers online, or logo programmes that churn out affordable logos. But this is an area you’ll want to invest in I believe, I’ve done it both ways and from experience hiring a designer is going to provide you with a bespoke logo.

Personal brand photography

The photos you show of your brand will be what brings your brand to life. It shows what you do, how you do it and the expertise and professionalism you have. You want your clients to meet the best version of you. A great brand photographer will help to create pictures that speak to your clients and build that trust with them. Your photographs will be used in all areas of your marketing, so you have to love the images of yourself so you can confidently put yourself out there in the various ways- on blog posts, in social media, on your website, on your business cards, on your LinkedIn profile etc.

There 3 areas will help to bring your brand message to your clients and achieve higher sales in your business. Investing in a great website, a bespoke logo and brand photography will always be worth it.

During Lockdown, Historic England asked people to submit images that represented their experience. I submitted an image that I felt represented many people during this period- those that had to miss out on their weddings altogether.

While there are still restrictions in place on weddings currently, back in March the official Lockdown meant all planned weddings were cancelled. That included our own plans to get married in Crete.

The picture I took was taken on the day we would have been getting married. Although we were confined to our home, we celebrated in the best way we could. We got out of our pyjamas, we dressed up for the occasion and we drunk champagne while enjoying the beautiful heatwave that the UK was experiencing. In fact on the day, the weather in the UK was warmer than it would have been in Crete!

This was the first time the public had been called upon since World War II to submit photographs to represent a certain time period and it was a proud moment to know that my image was one of the 100 public submissions that made it into the archives at Historic England out of 3000.

The image made it into a lot of British media as well and it was lovely to see the picture being enjoyed by so many.