Essential tips for a successful personal brand photoshoot
Personal Brand Photography
Your Brand Values
Understanding your personal brand and its core values is crucial to guiding the visual direction of your session.
Whether you choose to have a session by yourself or choose to work with models, include a hair and make-up artist, art director or prop stylist, one of the key elements to making your session work for you is to incorporate your brand colours and aesthetic.
Is your brand fun and lively, peaceful and harmonious, playful and alternative?
When you have that nailed down, we can incorporate elements reflecting your brand story into your session through props, decor or the activities you choose to undertake during your shoot.
And of course, when you’re putting this together, have your ideal client in mind
Below is an example of a personal brand session with a deliberately autumnal feel (photographed in early Summer for use later in the year - always plan ahead).
A personal brand session
for Autumn/Winter social
media.
Think carefully about the mood of your photos. What time of year will you use them on your social media? What else will they be used for? What do you want your photos to say about you and your brand?
Feel free to share your Pinterest or mood boards with me.
Planning
Planning the shoot carefully is essential to ensure we capture everything you need, as well as making sure everyone has lunch, breaks and you have time for set and wardrobe changes.
We’ll decide on the location, props, and clothing, in advance to ensure everything runs smoothly.
If you have any particular props relevant to your trade - laptop, industry magazine or ‘bible’ or any other favourite props, please bring them along. I will do my utmost to get them in the frame where time allows.
I can give you a little guidance on wardrobe but if you need expert help, I can recommend hair and make-up, prop, and wardrobe stylists to you.
Wear clothes that you feel comfortable and confident in. And start with your favourite outfits.
You can choose clothes that fit your brand aesthetic but stay away from colours that mimic skin tones. They can make it difficult to differentiate your face from your clothing. It is also best to avoid patterns as these can be distracting in a photo. Solid colours are better here!
And accessories are great too - hats, shoes, bags, necklaces etc can all add a little pop of colour and interest.
As a rough guideline, you can expect to change your outfit every 30-45 minutes.
If you have a location you already want to shoot in, that’s great. Make sure though that it fits your brand and has plenty of scope for variety in your photographs.
If you need help with location scouting, let me know.
Also consider journey times, parking and any other time restrictions that might apply at your location.
If you want a natural light shoot, we will need to be very specific about the time of day that your session takes place so that the light will lend itself well in the location you choose.
We will work on a timeline together to help plan and organise your shoot to make sure everything runs on time.
Your Brand Story
Capturing the essence of your brand, including its values, personality, and tone, is a top priority.
And that’s where the storytelling comes in.
Highlighting your brand story and the people behind it.
We will work together to construct a narrative. Taking your audience on a journey that will see them wanting to know more about you and what you do.
Whether it's showcasing your products in action or featuring your customers enjoying your services, I specialise in capturing candid moments that convey authenticity and evoke genuine emotions.
The result?
A collection of images for you to be proud of, photos that truly show off why you do, what you do, and how you do it - strengthening your brand identity and telling a story that connects you with your audience.
And that’s a wrap!
“…a wonderful person to work with, the result has always been beyond expectations”
— HENRIETTE DE VRIJER - PRO-AM STRINGS VIOLIN SCHOOL
Let’s talk!
Tell me how I can help!