Tips for Scheduling a Brand Photography Session

Brand photography and headshots for bloggers and small business owners are must! These tops tips will help make your branding session easy.

As a blogger (or small business owner), you are not typically the focus of your everyday business happenings. However, you are the face behind your brand! The more you can get your face in front of your customers, the more they are able to get to know you. This is the main reason that branding sessions are so important for your business.

As a food blogger, you are constantly taking photos of the food that you are creating, but not photos of yourself. And if you are anything like me, I don’t particularly love the photos that I do take of myself. That is where a branding session comes into play! Besides getting new photos to share as content, it is a huge confidence booster to have someone come and take photos of you in your element.

This is my second branding session that I have done and I have learned a ton of tips during those processes. While I am not a professional at branding sessions like many photographers are, I do have a few things that have helped make the process from start to finish easier. Check out the tips below and let me know in the comments if you have any other questions!

Planning your Session

Head to Pinterest and start a board for your branding session. Browse through images and start pinning anything that pulls your attention. This could include outfits, props, poses, etc. I also suggest pinning some of your favorite food photos you have taken, this helps to ensure everything across your brand is cohesive. For example, if you typically shoot bright and airy photos dark and moody photos will feel out of place.

Now, head to your board and see if you can find themes. Is there a certain look and feel to the images? Are you drawn to a certain outfit style? Any poses you keep seeing? All of these will help make sure you are happy with the end result.

Choosing a Photographer

The main thing to keep in mind when it comes to choosing a photographer is their editing style. If your theme/inspirations from your Pinterest board are all dark and moody, you will be disappointed hiring a photographer that edits in a very bright and airy style. Browse through photographer portfolios and find choose a few that fit your editing style that you prefer. Next you can start to consider other factors such as price, turn around time, and personality.

Once you have chosen a photographer send them your Pinterest board so they know what style of images you are looking for. This keeps both of you on the same page, but also trust your photographer! If they give you a pose to try, go with it! If they say the lighting is better in a different location, trust them. Honestly, the photographer will make or break your session.

Which brings me to my next point. Can a brand session be done DIY? Absolutely! If you have someone willing to take photos of you and you have a good feel of lighting and composition it can be done DIY.

Side note: if you are local to Lewiston, ID and love this style of my images my photographer Dusty with 5R Photography is absolutely amazing! I love working with her.

Choosing a Location

There are plenty of things to consider when it comes to choosing a location. I highly suggest consulting with your photographer before solidifying your location. If your photographer only shoots with natural light and your location is lacking in that area, you will not be happy with the end results. I chose to do this branding session at my home where I shoot all my personal content. However, I have also done a branding sessions at a rented out Air BnB. Each place has their pros and cons.

Outfits

Choose an outfit that feels personal to you. Think about what kind of image you want to portray to your audience. Are you more of a laid back jeans and a t-shirt feel or a flowy linen dress? Consider what kind of outfits will match with your brand personality. If you typically shoot dark and moody, then your clothing should match that tone.

Refer back to your Pinterest board for inspiration. Do you like the style or color of the outfits on the board? Also, utilize your photographer, do they have a client closet you can pull from? Try to plan out 2-3 outfits for your session.

Props

This is really where you can have fun with your branding session! Choose a few of your stand out recipes on your blog, your favorite kitchen utensils, cookbooks, etc. Recipes I chose to include in this session were my Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta and my Buttercream Decorated Cakes with my Vanilla Cake and cupcakes. Choose recipes that photograph well. In addition, I added in showcased sourdough bread, my homegrown chicken eggs, and ingredients that went with the recipes I featured in pictures.

Taking Action

After you have completed your brand session and received your pictures back, now is the time to do something with them! Share them to socials, update your headshot on your blog, update your media kit, etc. My favorite is to do a reintroduction post on my socials with a new headshot! Don’t let these photos just sit in the folder. I also make sure to save my favorites to my phone so that I can use them as reel covers on socials as it feels right to do.