Personal branding photography - what is it and where do you begin?
When you are starting up your business it can be hard to see the woods from the trees, but with a little guidance, the right people next to you and a focus on what you need right now to get you up and running you don’t need to shy away and procrastinate in the corner!
Personal branding photography isn’t just about a photo of you, it is about your whole story. It needs to show why you do what you do, your passion for it, how your clients can expect to feel working with you and how much you love doing it!
Even us photographers need images for our brands too! (See me below :-))
So, getting your website up and running and IG and FB accounts created are a great starting point but what about all the images you need images for all of those? What content do you actually need to get these platforms up and running?
Well, let me tell you. Here are the 3 types of images you need from your personal branding photos.
1. Photos of you!
Yes, it’s a must, must, must! You are your brand, everyone needs to see you so they feel like they know you.
Gone are the boring corporate photos that our mind conjures when we say headshots, instead they can be as fun or dramatic as you want them to be.
I prefer to use the word business portraits because let's face it, this is what they are and done well they will help get across your brand personality to your audience.
Great for - your website, about me page, promotions, social posts "introducing me", networking profile pics and everything in between!
2. Doing what you do.
In action shots are next up. If you are at place in your business where we can capture you while you work - brilliant! These shots help tell your audience what to expect when they book/ hire you. Like a behind the scenes peek… who doesn’t love a good nosey!
They also make for great talking points on social media and blog posts because then you can really describe your process, how to greet a client, what you can do for them, how you set up for them. All of this information is gold for your client, who wants to know they are in good hands.
Perfect for - all those social posts you will be doing, client info packs, complimentary downloads, brochures or leaflets, website.
3. Ambience
This one is a little less obvious but, can be so important even if it is subtly done.
If you think about the essence of your business, your core values and how you want your clients to feel, we need to get all those feelings across via the photographic medium.
So, we do this by using:
ITEMS (e.g plants, water running, stone splashing, clouds, notebooks and pens, cups of hot coffee steaming)
PLACES (e.g where your business can be represented, a river track, a stairwell, an office view, a field, a wood)
PEOPLE (clients or friends can help to capture hands holding, clapping, smiles, hugs, feet in water, running legs, hands typing) to help us achieve it.
Personal branding photography is as the label suggests, personal!
So, if you are a fitness coach for example, perhaps we want images of running feet in nature, trainers after a muddy run, yoga mat curled up or maybe you are a cake maker so capturing images of your whisk dripping with icing, a dusty apron a happy face eating a delicious cake. All of these images go towards completing your own personal brand story and it really does work!
Excellent for - website and information backdrops and IG feed fillers with quotes or a story that tenuously links to the image.
Remember, all of these personal branding images need to tell your story, your brand and your uniqueness. No one is you and your brand photos should say that!
One final word, there are a lot of amazing stock images out there they you can access for a relatively low price that you may think will do the job and they may well do, especially at the beginning.
But, because they are stock images they aren’t personal and again thats what personal branding photography is all about! They show the real you and they don’t have the same energy because a lot of them are set up for general use and what we want is anything but general.
The joy about personal branding is that we can take inspiration from them and create beautiful content that is perfectly matched to you.
Just ensure, that before you commit to either option make sure it's the right fit for you and your business.
Top Tip - Make sure you find a great photographer who you connect with, so you can be sure you will capture relaxed portraits that are packed with personality!
Do let me know if you think we could be the perfect fit and to help you and your brand in photography and branding! I love working with fellow entrepreneurs who are following their passions and building super successful businesses!
I always like to chat to my potential clients to ensure we click, that way we will know our shoot will be a success, you can jump straight in now and book a pre-shoot chat with me and we can get the ball rolling for you and your brand photography!
You can see all my personal branding photography packages here.
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