Carla Watkins Brand Photography - Visual Magic Maker

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Carla Watkins Brand Photography - Visual Magic Maker

✨Spellbinding branding photography for vibrant businesses and their colourful, unconventional owners.✨
Based in Essex, covering the whole of the UK.

Brand & commercial photography for colourful, magical weirdos! Visual magic to help your business stand out. Based in Wivenhoe, covering the whole of the UK.

09/06/2026

I’m a big believer that your outfit choice is actually about your nervous system, not just your style.

I’ve noticed that if a client feels restricted or off in their clothes, the camera picks up that tension immediately. I think your best photos happen when you’re comfortable enough to actually move, breathe and be yourself, rather than just trying to look like the shiny magazine-cover version of you.

02/06/2026

I've watched so many business owners tie themselves in knots trying to match a look or a vibe that was never theirs to begin with. Chasing something just because everyone else seemed to be doing it.

There's something quietly powerful about deciding that's not for you. About knowing yourself well enough to say no thanks, that's not mine.

Your brand doesn't have to look like everyone else's. Your work doesn't have to fit a mould someone else made.
You're allowed to opt out of trends that don't feel right for you.

26/05/2026

Camera confidence happens before you even pick up a prop!

40% is trusting your photographer and actually feeling at ease with them. 30% is in the planning, knowing what you're doing, where you're going, and what to expect. 20% is wearing clothes that feel like you at your most you. And the final 10%? Comfortable underwear (really. It makes a difference.)

The shoot itself is actually the easy bit when everything else is already sorted.

22/05/2026

You know it's been a good shoot when Stardust has made a surprise appearance for the final shots!

I love this ridiculous carousel pony more than is probably sensible given he's not a real horse and he is by far my favourite prop in my studio. (Though shhhh don't say that in front of him he gets very upset at being called a prop!)

Fabulous way to end a busy but brilliant week and very much fulfilling "whimsical" which is one of my 2026 words 💙

19/05/2026

Do you always put off doing your bookkeeping and end up with a massive pile of receipts and stress at tax return time?

Do you also work better when body doubling – with someone else working in the same room?

Me too – so I’m hosting coworking sessions once a month in my studio to make sure we do them regularly!

This is NOT a help session – I am about as far from an accountant as you could possibly get – but an accountability session for that pesky task so you can do it with lovely people, accompanied by tea & biscuits.

Last weekday of every month, 7.30 - 9.00pm, at my studio in the Wivenhoe Business Centre. Bring yourself, your laptop & charger, and I'll provide tea, coffee & biscuits.

It's free but you do need to book because while my studio is lovely, it's not that big!

https://carlawatkins.com/bookkeeping-bodydoubling/

15/04/2026

This week has been accidentally very camper van coded 😂

Kicked off with a trip in Lu's new van to help her collect stuff for a shoot, and it appears encouraging a friend's van dreams have reignited my own. Who knew?!

Spent my actual camper van savings on renovating my house 10 years ago, and don't want to change my car just yet... so have been quietly investigating micro campers, and I think my Serafina will actually do a brilliant job of being one for occasional trips for photography and joy.

Here's us grinning like loons on our Monday van expedition - and I am now very excited about more adventures with my own little car!

03/03/2026

I'm home from a surprise Disney trip to celebrate my 40th, still very much in Disney bounding mode, and frankly might dress like this all year for every studio office day, especially if it involves tech or website f**kery 👑

This is a hastily thrown together Cinderella bound for pure joy this morning, petticoat added when I got to the studio, and there's some more process and explanation going into my next couple of Offline Life Magic posts on Substack.

Back in the studio properly next week 💙 you'll be delighted and unsurprised to know my tiara collection has expanded... and if you pop in you can try them all on! Business meetings should come with more sparkly stuff as standard.

26/01/2026

January's usually quite a desk based month for me, but last Friday I hopped into Serafina (yes, my cars have always had names) and headed out to the other side of Essex for a little adventure!

First up was a shoot planning meeting with TechWyse, which was fabulous, and then I popped over to see Emma at Stort Valley Gifting, who is an alumni and a TEMPRD stockist.

It was a really lovely day, and a good reminder that although online meetings & email are very efficient, and life is very busy, there's nothing quite like connecting with people in real, actual life 💙

21/01/2026

22 years after I started blogging, I appear to have come full circle. I realised late last year that all the things that make me happiest are offline.

So my Substack finally has a regular post as well as my intermittent thoughts: introducing the Offline Life Magic project!

It's primarily for me to document these little snippets of joy and how I'm weaving moments into and around the chaos of real life & necessary commitments (and work, which I love but is still work, right?!).

But I'm hopeful it might also spark recognition in anyone who, like me, has been yearning for a life that isn't dominated by different sized light up screens, algorithms and digital first everything.

If you'd like to read, you can find the project posts here:
https://colourfulmagicalweirdo.substack.com/t/offline-life-magic

Or my whole Substack, which includes these posts too, here:
https://colourfulmagicalweirdo.substack.com/

Here I am reading Bella de Paulo's Single at Heart in the spa, caught on camera by the excellent Emily!

06/01/2026

The most exciting news to kick off a shiny new year - I've been named in the F:Entrepreneur 100 list for 2026!

The campaign celebrates female entrepreneurs who do many things - sometimes intertwined, sometimes separate, passionate about all of them, and juggling them all to create a multi-faceted life & business.

It's also on a mission towards significant growth of women starting their own businesses (yay!) and wants to see an increase from 15% to 30% of female-led businesses by 2030 (serious yay!).

As a lifelong multipod who mostly works with women entrepreneurs, this is obviously music to my ears, and I've followed the campaign since it started in 2018.

I didn't expect to make the list when I applied this year, there is an incredible lineup of women alongside me, and I am RIDICULOUSLY excited for the year ahead, and the connections & support & magic we can all make for each other.

The f:Entrepreneur campaign is run by Small Business Britain, and you already know how I feel about small businesses - obsessed!

Feeling very honoured to be on the list, and cannot wait to see what this year brings - squeeeeeee!

See the full list: https://f-entrepreneur.com/ialso-100-2026/

Address

Colchester

Website

https://carlawatkins.com/

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