Dominique standing with arms crossed against a coral backdrop, wearing a mustard sweater and pink pants. — *Dominique Atherton, Coral Isle Consulting*

For about ten seconds, Dominique stood on one foot…

holding books and sunglasses in one hand, her laptop in the other hand and balancing three more books on top of her head. It was a pose from one of her own inspiration pins, and we had roughly one shot before everything toppled. I gently stacked the last few books while she found her balance, then ran back to grab the frame before the whole tower came down and we both erupted in a fit of laughter. It worked. Somehow, it completely worked!

Dominique in a rainbow striped cardigan, leaning on a white block and, beside it, a full-length pose in jeans. — *The rainbow cardigan, two ways: leaning in, then standing tall in denim.*

Dominique spent twelve-plus years in operations

before she started Coral Isle Legacy Consulting, helping book brands and literacy nonprofits build the kind of behind-the-scenes systems that let founders stop firefighting and start leading. It's not a random pivot. She's the daughter of Belizean immigrants and a lifelong reader, the kid who was always in the library instead of out playing, and she still believes books do something that matters: build empathy, expand what feels possible, and give readers who rarely see themselves as the hero, especially in kids' and YA lit, someone to root for who looks like them. Her mission with Coral Isle is almost administrative by comparison: use twelve years of operational know-how so book brands and literacy nonprofits can spend less time untangling their own workflows and more time doing that work. She's still at her day job, for now. The way she frames it is that her day job is the current investor in the business she's building, and I love that.

Four close-up working shots: stacked books, colorful office supplies, hands typing on a laptop, and a water bottle. — *The working side of the day: stacked books, colorful supplies, hands on the keyboard, water bottle within reach.*

Dominique standing at a white "desk" with her laptop open, wearing a rainbow striped cardigan, books stacked beside her. — *At her “desk” in the rainbow cardigan, laptop open and ready to work.*

Fun fact:

Dominique found me on Instagram! I loved her branding & vibes and a few DMs turned into a consultation call. That's genuinely how a lot of my favorite client relationships start!

Four portraits of Dominique across a pink backdrop, a sticky-note mirror wall, an orange circular doorway holding books, and a purple wall. — *The full color story in one frame: coral, sticky notes, orange, and purple.*

None of what followed happened by chance,

but thoughtful planning and structure left room for spontaneous moments to occur! We started with a consultation, then I pulled together a handful of studio options for her to choose from; she picked Creative Playground Studio for its saturated, color-drenched walls. From there I built a full shoot plan around her brand: colors, wardrobe direction, a shot list built for headshots, working shots, and book-lover lifestyle images, and I brought in Karla Vallejo for makeup and hair touch-ups so Dominique could just show up and be present for her shoot.

Three portraits of Dominique in a cream suit against a white backdrop: adjusting her blazer, seated with books, and standing. — *Cream on cream, three ways: adjusting her blazer, seated with her stack of books, and standing tall.*

This was one of the most purely joyful sessions I've shot this year.

Creative Playground Studio already had the saturated teal, coral, and amber walls we needed, close enough to Dominique's actual brand palette that we didn't have to force anything on set. In editing, I nudged those colors, and the mosaic mural wall, the rest of the way to match her exact brand colors. It's a small thing, but it's part of why every image reads like it belongs to her. We built the day around contrast: confident, put-together portraits against a green archway, unguarded joy against a round orange cutout wall and a purple wall with a mirror covered in sticky notes just as she envisioned, and fun working shots in front of a coral/pink wall with her laptop, surrounded by stacks of books. Seven looks in total by the time we wrapped, every one of them earned!

Three portraits of Dominique in a black ruffled dress, framed inside a round orange cutout backdrop. — *The black dress, framed inside the orange cutout, three ways. Pure joy!*

We ended at Lost Books in Montrose,

where we photographed Dominique in her seventh and final look of the day, at a bookstore so covered in leafy plants it feels more like a greenhouse that happens to sell novels. Dominique was a reader long before she was an operations strategist, and that part of the day slowed all the way down, less "shoot," more like hanging out with a friend who loves books as much as she does.

Dominique leaning on a table with flowers in front of a plant-filled bookstore, a green neon sign glowing behind her. — *Leaning into the flowers at Lost Books, right where the day was always going to end.*

Dominique reaching up to a bookshelf inside a bookstore, wearing a dark green dress. — *Reaching for a shelves at Lost Books, right at home among the books.*

"I had the best time on Friday,"

Dominique wrote afterward. "Thank you so much for all your direction and for making the whole experience fun!" When she received her final retouched images… "OMG I love them. I'm so happy with everything! I'm OBSESSED."

Dominique seated and standing against a colorful mosaic mural wall, holding a round pin, wearing jeans and a mint top. — *In front of the mosaic mural wall, pin in hand and fully herself.*

Dominique walked away with a real image library to work from

not just a couple of usable headshots. As she builds out her new website and leans further into marketing and social, she has actual images to build around instead of stitching something together from whatever's on her phone. That's the difference a planned session makes: it isn't just how the photos look, it's what they let you actually do next.

Four portraits of Dominique against colorful backdrops — green, pink, and an orange circular doorway — holding books and a tablet. — *Beige suit against green, pink, and that orange circular doorway, books and a tablet in hand like they're part of the outfit. So much fun.*

When it came time to leave a review, she didn't hold back:

"Keturah is absolutely AMAZING! She was able to bring my brand to life with my colorful aesthetic and creative poses. She made the entire experience so much fun! We had snacks, we had music...we were vibing!! It made the entire shoot a truly encompassing experience. I would absolutely recommend Keturah for anyone wanting to work with a photographer who is going to embrace and celebrate your colorful brand!"

If your last set of photos doesn't feel like this, like actual joy instead of a performance of it, let's talk about what a session built around you could look like.

Dominique reading an open book next to a stack of blue books inside a bookstore. — *Settled in with a book and a stack of blues, exactly how the day was supposed to end. <3*

Dominique's Second Act: Building Coral Isle Legacy Consulting