5th June, 2025
Last week, my dear friend Bonnie and I got together for a fun, overdue headshot shoot. She needed some updated professional photos to be used in promotion for an upcoming conference she will be a part of. Today, I am excited to share the story of our shoot, and a sneak peek at our colourful and collaborative work.
Bonnie and I went to university together – and have worked together on various assignments throughout our Bachelor of Communication and Media degree (BCM). BCM is a degree that welcomes an enormous variation of skill and professional interests across the cohort, and Bonnie in particular shines as a graphic designer. Her work is colourful, interesting, visually satisfying and often involves a level of playful humour.
One of my personal favourites among her past projects is a series of posters she created. These posters are unique because they are inspired by silly things our friends said in conversation while we were at university together. These aren’t just random quotes; they capture the specific, often humorous, personalities of our friends. Examples include lines such as “I don’t feel pretty unless my eyelashes are curled,” and the wonderfully dramatic, “If I’m wearing shoes, it’s a call for help.” For my 23rd birthday, she gave me printed copies of those two quotes, and I now display them in my room.
There are other brilliant designs too, featuring memorable sayings such as ‘I’m a reasonable person with good values’ (a line I remember coming from our friend Ash) and relatable observations like ‘I don’t have room in my lift for an umbrella’ or ‘Why is everyone walking like they haven’t a minute to spare?’–something I said in defence of my walking pace.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj-fZG-yfmH
In my 3rd year at uni, Bonnie kindly made a logo for my Journalism project ‘Colours of Wollongong’, and we agreed on a trade: 1 logo for 1 branding headshot session. For years, we’ve had a grander vision for a big, colourful, fun shoot tucked away, just waiting for the right moment–and while this wasn’t that particular shoot. I’m thrilled to say it was equally fun, and I’m looking forward to future projects.
Honestly, since finishing university and starting our working lives, we haven’t always had the same opportunities to be silly and have fun making things together. Because of this, the feeling of collaboration and playful creativity during this headshot shoot truly felt like a welcome return to that era.
Our Shoot
Bonnie has a clear idea of which colours and aesthetics play into her personal marketing as someone working in a visual space. This clear direction didn’t limit us; in fact, the structure and baseline it provided meant we could experiment and workshop different ideas for shots together seamlessly.
The shoot itself didn’t feel like a typical job; it felt more like a hang-out. I was incredibly excited and felt inspired and creative throughout the session as we worked through our shot list. Bonnie makes a brilliant Pinterest board – something I recommend for all of my portrait sessions. We incorporated different ideas directly from Bonnie’s Pinterest board as we went, trying to bring her visual concepts to life. While not every single shot came out looking exactly like a Pinterest perfect image, we had a lot of fun altering different poses and concepts for photos to suit Bonnie’s personality, and struck gold along the way.
We also had to get a little creative with the technical aspects, specifically managing the natural light and composition, as we were shooting entirely in my living room. My living room has windows all around, and in the mid-afternoon, the light was shining directly into the lounge area. This created a challenge with uneven lighting. While sometimes uneven light can be used to dramatic effect and can be fun or distracting, for these headshots, I preferred to make the lighting fairly even. We tackled this by using the resources we had available. Our key tool in this instance was a simple throw blanket, which we used to soften the light coming in through the windows. This helped to diffuse that direct sun and create the more balanced, even light I was aiming for. Later on, we played with using the blanket as an interesting backdrop, but those photos are still in the vault.
All in all, by combining collaborative energy, Bonnie’s clear vision for her brand, and creatively managing the natural light, we were able to achieve a really friendly and bright vibe for the photos, and I think Bonnie looks great!
The photos aren’t all finished and ready for Bonnie yet, but I was so excited about how they were shaping up that I edited a few pictures right away for a little sneak peek!
A huge thank you to Bonnie for such a fun afternoon full of fun and great ideas!
