A primal scream in front of a sunset backdrop in Costa Rica by a group of women attending the Reclaim Your Peace Retreat led by Heather Vickery of Chicago
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Brand Photography Can Happen Anywhere ~ Here’s What That Actually Looks Like

Two weeks ago I was in Costa Rica.

Not on vacation — though the palm trees and the hummingbirds and the tarantulas living quietly in the earth below the walking paths made it feel like I’d stepped into something larger than my regular life. I was there as the brand photographer for the Reclaim Your Peace Retreat, led by Heather Vickery of Vickery and Co.

And this trip is a good reminder of something I want to say clearly:

Brand photography is not a studio. It’s not a backdrop. It’s not even a specific location. It’s wherever your work actually lives — and whatever you love to do.

What Brand Photography at a Retreat Looks Like

When you bring a brand photographer to a retreat, you’re not just getting documentation. You’re getting someone whose entire job is to watch — to notice what’s happening in the room, between people, in the quiet moments between activities — and to make photos that carry that forward.

At the Reclaim Your Peace Retreat, that meant:

  • Portraits with context alongside more directed portraits. These are portraits of Heather in her element — doing the work she’s built her life around, in a place that reflects her values.
  • Details that Set the Scene. The animals, the jungle, the views. The candles set just so on top of palm branches and among crystals. These are the little details that show the peace.
  • Food and space. The meals, the gathering areas, the way morning light moved through the open-air pavilion. These aren’t “extras.” They’re part of the story of what it felt like to be there.
  • The stories of the moments as they unfold. As the week went on, retreat participants started coming to me. Not to “get their photo taken” — but because they wanted to hold onto something. A moment of joy. A conversation that meant something. The feeling of being somewhere that was shifting their soul. They trusted me with that. I don’t take that lightly.
  • Hands connecting together at the end of a blue clay ceremony in Costa Rica during a Reclaim Your Peace retreat by Chicago's Heather Vickery

Your Brand Lives in More Places Than You Think

Here’s what I want potential clients to understand: your brand is not just your headshot.

It’s the coffee you drink before a client call. It’s your workspace. It’s the workshop you facilitate, the stage you speak from, the team you’ve built, the food you make, the places you travel to do the work you love. It’s the behind-the-scenes that your clients never see — but would absolutely connect with if they did.

Brand photography can follow you:

  • To speaking engagements and workshops
  • On retreat and travel
  • Into your studio, your office, your kitchen, your favorite coffee shop
  • Behind the scenes of your process
  • Into the room where your clients experience transformation

The goal isn’t pretty photos. The goal is a visual library that tells your full story — so that when someone lands on your website or your Instagram or your email newsletter, they feel like they already know you. And they trust you before you’ve said a word.

Let’s Make Photos Together

If you’ve been thinking about brand photography — or if you’ve done it before and felt like it didn’t quite fit — I’d love to talk about what it could look like for you. Not a formula. Not a rigid shot list. A real collaboration, built around your work and where it actually happens.

Your story deserves more than a white backdrop.

get in touch