{Be Featured} Shay Cochrane
When I think of the word “brand,” I think of Shay Cochrane. From her website and blog to her gorgeous styling and photography, Shay is known for her clean, modern look with a hint of feminine charm. She is also an advocate for living LIFE to its fullest, and optimizing productivity to make that happen. Her heart for pouring into others and mentoring other business owners is truly inspiring, as is her success as a photographer and product stylist. We are so excited to introduce you to Shay today!
How did you get started in product styling? When did the styling side of your business really begin to take off?
Most people are surprised to hear that I have only been doing commercial product styling and photography for about two years now! I was actually a wedding and portrait photographer for 8 years before I took the leap and made the scary transition into the commercial photography industry – something I knew absolutely nothing about at the time. There was a time when I loved being a wedding photographer, but in all of those early years I never really felt like I was contributing anything truly authentic and creative to the world. I was only ever imitating what I saw others doing well. I started having children and found both my passion and my time for wedding and portrait work starting to wane. Even as recent as three years ago, I knew that I needed to be done with wedding and portrait work but I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. My transition into product styling and photography happened almost overnight. I was standing in Homegoods (cue the hallelujah chorus) and was looking at these gorgeous larger than life, colorful, styled flats (overhead images) of home decor and I said to myself, “I can do that”! I went home and within a few days reached out to a few designers and small business owners that I knew, asking them to take a chance on me and let me style and photograph their products. For some crazy reason (I had no commercial portfolio at the time) they said yes and that first shoot that I did absolutely lit a fire in me that was unstoppable. I knew that I had found what my heart was meant to do and for the first time ever I felt like I was creating something organic and authentic right from my heart. A very short time later on, one crazy night I disappeared from the couch and returned two hours later from my office having pulled eight years of images off of my site, almost erasing my entire career. I decided then to jump head first into the world of styling and product photography and I have never looked back!
What is your favorite part about what you do, styling or photography-wise?
I absolutely LOVE the challenge of getting to know a client’s brand, their short and long term goals, their aesthetic vision, their ideal client and their brand aesthetic. I get to do so much more then photograph products. I get to partner with them to communicate a larger story and to play a crucial part in helping them to achieve their financial goals. I love that there are so many more complex layers to good commercial photography than just your ability to lay out an image or properly light a shot.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Pinterest, along with my favorite retail catalogues, have been very instrumental in helping me not only to identify my personal style by paying attention to the images that I am drawn to, but also constantly provides fresh inspiration that challenges me to continue to get better and better at what I do. I still have a long way to go and so much to learn but every new project feels like my best work yet and that keeps me motivated to produce work that is on par with what I see in my favorite catalogues. I also draw a lot of inspiration from the clients and products that I work with. I am very selective about the people that I work with and the specific products that I shoot. If the client’s brand is well developed and their product really is beautiful, it gives me a lot to go off of for the styling!
Places you can connect with Shay:
