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jdw construction | small business brand session

OK y’all, I am SO excited to share this session!!!  You may (or may not) know that I started offering brand sessions (aka personality-infused sessions for fellow small business owners!) over the past couple of years, and if you’ve been around these parts for any length of time, you miiiight even remember that I did a session for my mom last year, specific to her real estate business!  (And we had so. much. fun in the process!)

Well, my mama wears many hats.  Not only has she been a realtor for close to twenty years (!!!), but she and her hubby also have a business building absolutely beautiful new homes that are brimming with character and quality craftsmanship.  (Y’all, seriously, my dream is to have a home like the ones they build one day!)

They have worked so hard over the last few years, building beautiful homes (and a reputation for themselves!) and they decided this year that it was time to invest in some professional photos (and soon, a brand new sparkly website!) for JDW Construction.

Was shooting a brand session for a construction company a little outside my comfort zone?  Yep.  Was I a little nervous to take on something so different from weddings + portraits + my previous brand sessions?  Absolutely.  Am I glad I didn’t back away from the challenge?  HECK YES!

From shopping for outfits with Mom, to brainstorming how we could capture all the different facets of what they do and what their company offers, to getting to play with tile samples, paint swatches, and construction tools, I had SO much fun shooting this brand session for JDW Construction and I am SO STINKIN’ EXCITED to share what we captured!

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We started at their house (above) because (a) it’s where most of the administrative work for the company gets done, and (b) it’s the most custom home they’ve built so far and we wanted to be able to capture some of the gorgeous, custom elements that they incorporated in their own build!  Liiiiiiike this front door package.  #goals

One of the signature touches they include in all of their houses is arched openings and doorways, so they decided to also include a barrel ceiling in their house to accentuate the arch in their foyer!

They found antique windows at an antique shop and *made* barn doors out of them (below) for Mom’s home office!  Aren’t they so gorgeous???

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They also custom-designed this range hood for the kitchen!

Aaaaaaand potentially my very favorite thing about their house?  The crystal door knobs.  OH EM GEE.  heart eyes for days, y’all.

A big part of what they do revolves around the house plans – so we decided to do a plan review during their session, which may have been one of my favorite parts!  (Aaaand we also used a spare bedroom with gorgeous window light to take some casual head shots … which I am OBSESSED with!)

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I love, love, love this next shot of Doug!  Guys don’t always feel super natural flashing a big smile or laughing for the camera (although I love the more lighthearted shots we got of Doug, too!), but I think this more serious shot of him really captures the part of his personality that can be very focused, determined to get the job done, and determined to do it right.  (And I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want in the guy building my house, am I right??)

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One of the things Mom does is make a lot of the finish selections (aka paint, flooring, etc.) if they are building a spec home, and helping their clients make those selections if they’re building a home that’s already been spoken for by a buyer.  So we got to play with a bunch of the samples she had on hand, and I love how these shots turned out!

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I’m fairly certain I’m going to *have* to incorporate this marble-look ceramic tile (below, on the left) and probably also that gray hex tile in my next house.  Anyone else as obsessed with this combo as I am?!

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I love, love, love this next shot of Mom (aka Joyce) and Doug!

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I loved the texture of the house plans that have been rolled and unrolled a million times!

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After we finished up at their house, we spent some time at a couple of projects that are still in progress, and y’all, I never knew I’d have so much fun styling lay-flats with house plans and construction tools!  Hahaha!

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These gorgeous stone fireplace + mantle combos (below) are another signature characteristic of a JDW home (although this one had a custom mantle that the buyers had made!)!

I know I’m biased, but isn’t my mama just the cutest in her little work boots?!

Another signature characteristic of a JDW home is these adorable “Laundry” frosted glass doors!  (And they also have matching “Pantry” ones!)

Mom, Doug, thanks for trusting me so fully with this shoot!  It was so much fun that it didn’t even feel like work, and I’m so, so proud of what we created for JDW’s new website + social media!!!

  1. Joyce Wilson says:

    All the heart eyes from us!! You knocked it out of the park sweetie!! Thanks so much for all your hard work and creativity to bring to life what we do everyday! You’re the best!!

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