It is my pleasure to introduce you to Photographer Extraordinaire, Light Summer Natalie Sinisgalli, founder of NSP Studio in Rochester, NY. In recent years, I have noticed incredible photos of my clients in their colors and wondered about the photographer who captured them. Natalie and I finally connected last year and we exchanged services. Since then, she has embraced her light colors and even had to courage to wear a light green suit to a recent Rochester Chamber of Commerce award ceremony. What a delight to see her accepting the prestigious Athena Award in that suit! The Athena Award recognizes women who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession and actively assist women in realizing their full leadership potential. I am certain that everyone who attended will long remember how she sparkled and shined in that color.
Last fall, Natalie did a photo shoot for me. I was surprised at how nervous I was going into the session. Would she be able to capture my colors accurately? Would I look overall harmonious? Most importantly, would I look like me? I knew her work and how skilled she was but I worried that it just wouldn’t happen for me. I loved the session. The NSP studio is gorgeous and welcoming, she was relaxed and made me feel the same, her staff is friendly and helpful. The experience was easy and the I was so pleased with the results. I even took a couple of “Boudoir” shots (I’ll save those to share another time!)
She has a wide range of clients (including a few big celebrities!) and specialtizes in many types of shoots from branding to weddings and family portraits to Boudoir shots. Natalie’s passion for helping women find their inner strength and beauty is a perfect compliment to the my goals as an Image Consultant. We want people to feel good about themselves by being who they are. Natalie’s photos capture the essence of her clients and show what is unique about them. When combined with the perfect colors, the result is a personal color harmony masterpiece!
Read more about Natalie’s journey with her Light Summer colors this past year in this month’s colorful lives blog:
What prompted you to have a color analysis?
As a portrait photographer, I have photographed thousands of portraits. I would always notice when a certain color would just POP on someone. They looked alive, vibrant, and like they shined from within. It seemed like magic. Occasionally when I would mention how good a color looked on someone, they would say "oh, I had my colors done!!". I finally got around to checking it out for myself. I now see what all the buzz is about!!! It provides you with that je ne sais quoi that is undeniably magnetic.
Bright Winter, Erin Leigh Waller: "Having Kerry complete my color analysis has been life changing. I feel confident and look vibrant when I use my Bright Winter colors. It was great to see these colors brought to life when I had photos taken at NSP Studio. Wearing a shimmery red dress, I felt like a model in front of Natalie’s camera. I am so fortunate to have both of these incredible woman share their talents with me and make a positive impact on my life!"
How has it changed your life?
Shopping is much easier! I can cruise through a store and immediately zero in on the few pieces that will look best on me without fail. I have never loved a slow meandering shopping experience, so this perfectly suits my speed-shopping desires. I'm slowly migrating my wardrobe into my palette in that all the new pieces I purchase are from my swatches. Dressing in the morning also feels easier because I ultimately have less choice / variety, and I know I look good in the pieces I have. It's more efficient, which is my love language.
In what ways has it changed the way you approach your business?
I now can always tell if someone has had a color analysis done (it's always with Kerry!) when I'm photographing them - it's rare people naturally land on an entire palette of colors that are in harmony with them. It's something we recommend to people struggling with the dreaded question of "what do I wear for my photo shoot!!".
I've also started shifting some of my business colors towards my palette, just from a branding standpoint - it's nice when you're consistent throughout. I would highly recommend to someone that they have their color analysis done before they choose their brand colors if possible, as all the portrait photography on their website should be done in colors they look and feel great in!
What has been the biggest challenge?
I didn't immediately love my colors. I've always been drawn to really warm yellows, golds, oranges, purples, and my absolute favorite color has always been coral. I have a dramatic personality and aesthetic, so when Kerry told me not only that I looked best in cool, light colors - but that I should also not wear contrasting and patterns, I was less than thrilled. It actually took me a few months to really embrace my palette and accept that I really did look my best in those colors. I'm still not off my gold jewelry :)
Any interesting things happen while you were wearing your colors?
I get TONS of compliments when I wear my colors. Strangers off the street, people at work, and even my family. My eyes pop, my skin looks brighter and clearer, and I feel really good about myself. It's particularly interesting when I'm out of town, and people are constantly confused as to the fact that I'm from Rochester. We live in a conservative (somewhat gray-skied) city, and when I'm travelling people literally ask me if I'm headed to the beach. My colors are "summery" and because most people wear black, I really stand out (in a good way!).
What was the biggest surprise?
My neutrals surprised me - the taupe, and the gray were colors I've never worn and I'm still trying to find the perfect ones in stores. I have never worn taupe before, but I cannot disagree that I look good in it! I'm excited to experiment with that more this Fall.
Tell me about your favorite color in your palette
Pink, and green :) I love wearing them together (even though I do look better without too much color contrast, sometimes I can't help myself!). Hot pink has been one of my branding colors since I was 22, so that one is a natural fit, but now that I know which green is my green (it's not the ubiquitous hunter or kelly green!) it's one of my favorite colors. I'm grateful it's finally in style too so I'm able to find it in stores.
Wearing green to the awards ceremony at which I ended up winning felt incredible. I had always worn dresses to every professional event of that nature I'd ever participated in, and for some reason I knew I wanted to wear a suit. I had a lot going on leading up to the ceremony, and found myself shopping at the mall for something to wear the day before the event. Knowing my colors was an immediate shortcut - it narrowed my shopping options which was a good thing, and I had confidence in knowing I'd look good if I selected from my palette. After striking out just about every store in the mall, I went into Express. To my surprise, they had not one - but two suits in my colors and my size - hot pink, and green. I ended up buying both, but when deciding what to wear, I went with the green because while the pink looked incredible on me - I had seen it before. I knew that the green suit would stand out, and make me look my best. I got SO many compliments on my outfit that night, and people still mention it months later. My mission has always been to do whatever I can to support women in achieving their fullest potential and feeling empowered and confident. Wearing that suit gave me that feeling of empowerment and confidence that I strive to create for women daily at my studio.
Tell me about your closet
My closet is currently evolving. I have a few pieces I've always loved that are outside my palette (those black dresses are hard to drop!), but every new piece of clothing I purchase is from my swatches. I keep them in my purse so I've always got them ready. My accessories are catching up too - purses, jewelry, lipstick and eyeshadow are all in my pinks and greens now. Now when I look in my closet it's bright and becoming more harmonious within itself. I'm loving the transformation.
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It’s a treat to introduce you to this month's colorful lives feature, Soft Autumn Tim Stich who is also my son!! Tim’s experience with shopping for clothing and wearing color is unique as I become a color analyst when he was quite young. When he and his sister Clare were little, I tried dressing them in bright colors with strong patterns as was the style then.....but even before learning about personal color harmony, I started to sense that the clothes overwhelmed them and began dressing them in softer colors and solids. I was even shocked the other day to discover when I pulled out his school photos that every single photo (even before I learned of his color palette) was taken in a Soft Autumn color. You can see how his life has evolved wearing the soft, earthy colors that suit his ruddy hair, freckles and soft blue/green eyes.
Over the years, he has mostly been very eager to wear what suits him and looked to me to help him distinguish soft autumn colors from the two seasons nearby - warm autumn and soft summer. We enjoy shopping together, especially now that he lives in Manhattan and the shopping is abundant. It can be a challenge to find his colors in sizes and style that fit but when its perfect, it feels great and he knows it. Read on to learn more about what it’s like to be a guy whose mom is a color consultant!
I am so excited to introduce you the “entertainingly irreverent” (Associated Press) Soft Summer, Valerie Peterson. Valerie is an extraordinary storyteller in a variety of media including scriptwriting, screenplays, fiction, non-fiction and book publishing/consulting. I analyzed her colors years ago in Rhode Island at a girls weekend hosted by a mutual friend (color analysis and girls weekends make a great combo!). In the years since, Valerie has embraced her Soft Summer colors in spite of living and working in New York City where black is a standard and practical.
It was a thrill when her publisher chose a photo of my family for her wonderfully spirited book, Peterson’s Happy Hour. On page 46, you can find me with my family - brothers, Mike and Tim and my parents Marcia and J. Michael Jones circa 1970. The book features many more photographic gems and recipes for a fabulous social gathering!
In this month’s colorful lives blog, Valerie shares her journey with her color palette. As with all her writing projects, she is humorous, colorful and entertaining! She has kept in great condition and still uses the Sci Art swatch book that I provided back in those days!! Be sure to check out her large body of work on valeriepeterson.net and read more in the blog:
While doing color analysis in Boston in June, I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle Burton and giving her a 12-Season Color Analysis. Danielle had recently experienced a 4-Season Color Analysis with a House of Colour consultant and was told she was a Winter. I was skeptical that she was any type of Winter (in the 12 season system, there are actually 3 Winters - Dark Winter, Cool Winter and Bright Winter). Her light eyes, natural lighter and soft brownish hair and skin tone were much more consistent with my clients who fall into the lighter seasons, especially Summer.
Since her hair had been highlighted, we covered it with a neutral gray cap to do the testing portion of the analysis, ensuring that the lighter color did not sway the results of the analysis. It was clear from the beginning that Danielle was responding more harmoniously to the cool tones even some of the lighter cool winter drapes which was consistent with her 4 season color analysis.
But, while she contrasted with any drapes that were dark and bright, she was softened and balanced by the lighter cool tones, particularly Summer. The dark colors brought out shadows under her eyes and the brighter colors overwhelmed her and brought attention to themselves. In the end, she looked lovely and perfectly balanced and harmonious in the Cool Summer colors!
"While I had a great experience at House of Colour, I do think they are missing out on a ton of research and color science by not including the 12 seasons and variants. The added layer of cool vs bright vs dark was a huge difference for me and really solidified which category I best fit”.
Enjoy reading more about Danielle’s experience with both systems and her reaction to her diagnosis as a Cool Summer:
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