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Creative Portrait,

Commercial & Brand

Photography in Portland, Oregon

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Creative Portraits & Personal Branding

Learn More About Personal Brand Photography

A black box labeled "Mystic Kiss Apothecary Boutique The Essence Healing Face Moisturizer" is placed on a wooden zodiac wheel. Surrounding the box are polished amethyst stones and a cluster of raw amethyst. To the upper right, there is a black mortar and pestle with dried herbs and flowers. Dried lavender and flowers are laid across white fabric in the background.

Products, Businesses, Commercial

Learn More About Product & Commercial Photography

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Brand Story Photo/Video Days & Partnerships

Learn More About Brand Story Days & Partnerships

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For businesses and creatives, strong imagery shapes how your brand is understood before a single conversation happens.

It builds recognition, trust, and a sense of presence in a world where most first impressions are made on a screen.

When your visuals reflect the essence of who you are and what you do, your ideal customers feel drawn to you immediately.

A photo session is a chance to embody your truest self, highlight the beauty of your business or products, and create an authentic connection with the people you want to reach.

From the initial creative visioning, to planning and coordination, through day-of direction and post-processing, we love collaborating with businesses and creatives to create images that glow with your energy. Our goal is to create photographs that look beautiful and continue to work for you long after they are made.

Explore recent projects

What our clients are saying

A woman looking into a mirror held outdoors in a wooded area. She is wearing glasses and a dark headscarf, with her hand touching her face.
Kind Words Archive

“Working with Chelsea and Nick was an absolute game-changer for my Barrier+ skincare line. Their artistic vision and unparalleled skills transformed what could have been a regular photoshoot into a masterpiece. Chelsea's meticulous attention to detail elevated every shot, and Nick's ability to capture the soul of my products was nothing short of magical.

Their professionalism and passion for their craft were evident throughout the entire process, making the collaboration not only productive but genuinely enjoyable. It's not every day you find a team that not only understands your brand but enhances it with their creative prowess.

I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Chelsea and Nick. The end result exceeded my wildest expectations, and I am confident that their work will be a pivotal factor in the success of Barrier+. If you're searching for a dynamic duo that can turn your brand visuals into a work of art, look no further. Chelsea and Nick deserve more than 5 stars for the extraordinary experience they deliver.” - Razi Aesthetics

“NWSID hired Velvet Morning Creative to do videos for our professional design organization - they have been great to work with and we have enjoyed their professionalism, quality of video and edits. I look forward in working with them again in the future!” — Jennifer Myers, Northwest Society of Interior Design

“I recommend Velvet Morning Creative without reservation. Do yourself a favor and work with Chelsea and Nick! I recently partnered with Chelsea and Nick to do my very first photo shoot after 30 years of being a professional. I really had no idea what I was doing or how this was going to work out. Chelsea was incredibly helpful, supportive and kind in our consultation and preparation meetings. She listened to what I wanted to achieve and captured my intentions for the photos well before the date of our photoshoot. She was very attentive and engaging. On the day of the shoot, both Nick and Chelsea were professional, engaging and supportive. I was able to feel at ease and enjoy the photoshoot even though it was my first time. Nick helped me with my wardrobe and set me at ease, while Chelsea gently guided me through the shooting. We laughed and had in depth discussions; I honestly felt like I was making new friends. The results are beyond anything I expected and I have more than enough photos to use for my social media presence, website and professional headshot to meet my needs. They are professional, efficient, kind and affordable.” - Christopher

“Chelsea and Nick created the most beautiful brand photos for my business that I absolutely love! I was lucky to work with them twice and each experience was so amazing and fun! I felt so comfortable even though I’m a bit camera shy. The photos captured my essence and have helped my brand stand out!! Chelsea and Nick are the kindest, sweetest souls who genuinely care about creating a positive experience and one of a kind final product. I wholeheartedly recommend their work and am so grateful for the experience and photographs! ✨✨✨” - Daphna

“Velvet Morning Creative did a phenomenal job with my new website! Not only did they help me launch a professional presence, they trained me how to tweak the website myself in the future. Within one week of launch I already had website inquiries and new client leads. Highly recommend to any business looking to launch or relaunch their website and rebrand themselves.” - Andi

“I honestly can’t tell you how much I enjoyed and appreciated working with Velvet Morning Creative. If you’re like me and don’t love your “typical” photo session and run around trying to get your vision right, look no further. Chelsea and Nick are so much fun to shoot with! My boyfriend and I have used them for both our companies. The photography was exactly what we wanted to capture our vision of our companies. They were quick to produce and beautiful website for both of us. I highly recommend them in all aspects. Still a year after creating our site they are still quick to respond if we need changes to the site which is huge for us, when most companies won’t even remember who you are they keep it personal and unique with every thought. Check them out you won’t regret it and soooo worth the wait if they do travel to you.” — Kellie

“I have had the pleasure of working with Chelsea and Nick on multiple projects throughout the years and I always refer them when I can because these guys truly over-deliver! It's hard to convey a unique vision to a creator but they take all the guess work out of the process and manage to somehow read my mind and deliver exactly what I want (and more!) Can't recommend them enough.” - Anna

READ MORE KIND WORDS

Frequently Asked Questions about our Portland Photography Services

Whether you're looking for creative portraits, personal branding photography, commercial or documentary photography, or an ongoing photo/video content partnership, here are answers to some of the questions we hear most often.

  • We offer photography for businesses, organizations, artists, and individuals throughout Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest.

    Our services include:

    Whether you need a content library of brand images for your business, creative portraits that reflect your personality, commercial photography for a website or marketing campaign, or on-the-ground documentary photography, we'll create beautiful imagery that's tailored to your goals.

  • If you're an entrepreneur, artist, or individual looking for beautiful images for personal use or marketing content, our Creative Portraits & Personal Branding sessions are a great place to start.

    If you need photography for your business, products, team, website, or marketing materials, our Commercial & Brand Photography services are designed for businesses and organizations of every size.

    If you're needing fresh social media and marketing content throughout the year, our Photo & Video Partnerships provide regularly scheduled sessions that keep your website, social media, and marketing materials current, while tailoring your content strategy through time, and building an evergreen content library.

    We also offer Documentary and Event photography for businesses and organizations.

    We’d love to talk with you more about the project you have in mind, send us a message to setup a consult call!

  • Definitely! We love combining photography and video in the same session.

    Combining the two allows you to build a cohesive visual library while making the most of your time. This allows you to have a gallery of on-brand photos for your website, publications, and marketing, along with video content for your homepage, social media, email campaigns, and more.

  • Yes. We're based in Portland, Oregon, and regularly photograph throughout the Pacific Northwest & beyond.

    We also travel for documentary projects, commercial productions, and destination assignments across the United States.

  • Every project is different. Pricing depends on the type of photography, the amount of coverage needed, the number of final images, and whether photography is combined with video production.

    We offer everything from individual portrait sessions to full commercial productions and ongoing content partnerships.

    If you're not sure what you need, we'd be happy to recommend an approach that fits your goals and budget —send us a message to start the conversation!

  • Most of our photo sessions are on location — the environment is an important part of the story told through photos. We regularly photograph people immersed in nature, or in their businesses, studios, offices, workshops, homes, rented styled spaces, neighborhoods or other outdoor spaces throughout Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

    For projects that require an in-studio look, we're also happy to find the perfect studio location for the session!

    If you’re not sure what your options are for locations, send us a message -we’re happy to provide guidance!

  • There are so many AMAZING locations for a photoshoot in the Portland area. The whole PNW is full of gorgeous photo spots.

    If you’re having trouble deciding, we have a ton of suggestions we can share with you, including gorgeous natural locations, styled spaces, studios, iconic Portland-specific locations, and more!

    We can share our top photo spots in the Portland area, and we’ll be able to recommend options that fit your aesthetic.

  • We can photoshoot in as many locations as you’d like! Make sure to book an adequate amount of time for your session, and we’ll help you plan it so everything flows smoothly.

  • You’ll want to take into consideration how many outfits, locations, and final images you’d like to have. This also depends on other people that might be in the photos, and the timing of everything. We can help talk through all of this if you’re not sure what to do.

  • To have fun!!! That’s really the most important part. When you’re enjoying yourself, it’s going to shine through in the images. We’ll walk around our location, and shoot where we’re inspired, in beautiful spots & great lighting. Chelsea lightly directs the session, and Nick often comes along to assist. Definitely bring something to drink and your basics like lip gloss, lotion, hairspray, etc.

  • We suggest doing what makes you feel most empowered! We want to see the happiest version of your authentic self. For some, that includes working with a hairstylist, makeup artist, wardrobe stylist, etc. For others, that doesn’t resonate at all. Both ways are perfect, whatever makes you feel most confident and comfortable is what you should do.

  • We love moodboards for this reason!! (Read our post on making an effective one here.) Feel free to send us any screenshots, Pinterest boards, Google docs, however you gather your inspiration. We can analyze these to determine what specifically you love about the photos, and how we can infuse a similar style into our photo session. We don’t recommend trying to exactly recreate photos that you’ve seen — we can take inspiration and run with it, making imagery that fits the vibe you like, and is totally unique to you.

  • Absolutely!!

    Very often our clients will share that they are nervous and don’t know how to be on camera or pose.

    Don’t worry about posing or not knowing what to do, at all! We’ll make the shoot feel easy and natural, and have a lot of fun!

    We’ll lightly direct you into poses that feel natural and authentic, incorporating movement and the inspirations of the moment.

    We like to keep things laid back. As we wander our location(s) we’ll talk and probably laugh a lot, working with our surroundings and the lighting to make images that are flattering and full of life.

    We want you to feel totally comfortable, confident, and to have a great time.

  • Absolutely! Feel free to bring along any human or animal companions you’d like, all are welcome. They can always jump in for some photos of you two together too.

  • Our work blends a documentary and artistic approach.

    We are super not into overly-posed, awkward and sterile feeling imagery. During photoshoots, we’re fully immersed in the moment, tapping into creative flow and really seeing the subject we’re photographing. Our goal is to create images that feel natural, expressive, and reflective of that energy.

    Whether we're photographing a founder, an artist, documenting a nonprofit, or creating commercial imagery for a business, we create images that feel authentic, and express the unique beauty and spirit of the people and places we’re photographing.

  • I would LOVE to! I shoot on both 35mm film and Polaroid/Instax film. An extra rate will apply for the film and processing.

  • Every project begins with a conversation. We'll learn about your goals, audience, timeline, and how you plan to use the final images.

    From there, we'll recommend the right photography service, develop a plan, and guide you through every step of the process, from creative planning to the final delivery of your photographs.