Every word, graphic, and photo on your website tells the story of your brand. As a brand strategist and designer, it’s my job to ensure you’re painting the best picture to represent your company—and brand photography plays an important role in that.
What is Branding Photography? A Brief Introduction
If boring, awkward stock images and static headshots come to mind when asking, “What is branding photography?”, get ready to have your mind expended because brand photos go so much deeper than that.
Branding photography works best when it captures your personality, essence, expertise, and brand story in the form of photos. When done strategically, it seamlessly complements your brand design, including your brand colors and overall vibe. Brand photography is an additional way to create a unique client experience and build trust with prospects landing on your website or social media accounts.
Branding Design vs. Branding Photos
Brand design and branding photos are very different forms of art. As a brand strategist, I specialize in the design side of the coin. Your branding includes brand strategy (who you serve, what transformation you provide, and how you communicate your value) and your visual identity, such as colors, logos, imagery direction, and typography.
On the other side of the coin, branding photos involve working with a skilled photographer to bring your business to life through images. This is when you capture headshots, team photos, candids, custom flatlays, and more in a way that connects back to your overall brand strategy and design.
How to Prepare for a Brand Photoshoot
Brand photography is an important investment, so you want to make the most of the experience by being prepared.
Partner With a Brand Strategist or Designer for Creative Direction
Not all brand photographers include creative direction for their clients. This involves developing the general feel of the photos, creating a moodboard, and choosing poses, locations, and props.
When requested, we facilitate this process for our clients by doing the following:
- Sourcing: We’ll seek out high-quality brand photographers all over the city who we think match your needs and our design aesthetic. We can then either reach out and facilitate the conversation for you or hand you their information to coordinate on your own.
- Guiding photoshoot: We will work together with your brand photographer by providing a shotlist and moodboard to help direct the shoot content.
- Choosing images: After you’ve received your photos and you need to narrow down the ones you want to purchase, we can help you pick out the best ones in terms of how they will look on the website and throughout your social media content.
Having your designer lead the creative direction for brand photos guarantees they’ll be consistent with your firm’s visual branding and seamlessly flow on your website.
Margin Note: The best time to work with your brand designer to source a brand photographer is near the beginning of the branding process, ideally after you have chosen brand colors but before the website is built.
Choosing a Brand Photographer
The first step is to book a brand photographer–and sometimes their schedules are busy! Finding someone who specializes in brand photography (rather than family photography, senior photos, or maternity photography) is crucial, as they’re familiar with the variety of images you need, as well as the story your images convey.
At Growth Story, we also assist clients with finding an experienced brand photographer in their area. If you’re researching on your own, make sure you find someone knowledgeable in brand photography and browse their portfolio to confirm you like their work.
Picking Location(s)
All of the decisions you make for your photos contribute to how a prospect will feel seeing them on your website, including their location. Do you have a physical office space? Perhaps consider taking them there. Is your brand casual and approachable? Photos outside in nature or at a coffee shop may be a good fit. You can also rent a time slot at a local studio and customize the space using props.
What to Wear for Branding Photoshoots
Your outfits help communicate the overall feel of your brand. For many law and financial firms, professional attire makes sense. If your firm is a bit more casual, consider how team members dress around the office. For coaches or consultants, jeans and a nice sweater or sundress work great.
You’ll often get to take photos with 2-3 outfits. We suggest:
- Something neutral (e.g., white button down, jeans or light brown slacks)
- Something with a pop of color (your new brand accent color, of course!)
You can also create variety in your photos by swapping out jewelry, jackets, glasses, etc.
Selecting On-brand Props
Props are an easy way to add some personality and pops of brand colors to your photos. Here are some ideas and guidance for selecting props for your photoshoot.
Books
You can select books that are relevant to your story and business, like how I have photos with the Mother/Founder book in mine. Consider if there are specific titles relevant to your industry or values, or if you come across covers that match your visual branding. Coffee table books and business books are always good places to start!
Throw Pillows
If you take any photos on a neutral couch (which is fairly common for studio shoots), adding on-brand throw pillows creates a pop of brand color in an otherwise neutral shot.
Plants or Flowers
Potted plants or fresh blooms can add some texture and additional color to your photos. This is another way to spruce up plain and neutral spaces.
Work Tools
Of course, it makes sense to include your essential work tools in some shots! If you’re a podcaster or speaker, you may take some photos with a professional microphone. Otherwise, you may pose with your laptop, phone, notebook, etc.
How Professional Branding Photography Impacts Your Business’s Website
Now that you’re prepared for your branding photoshoot, let’s explore the benefits of incorporating professional photography onto your website.
Builds Trust
Having professional brand photography of you and your team is one of the easiest, fastest ways to build trust with prospects. Consider this: your prospects are coming to you with often personal, sensitive matters. They must trust you not only with their private information, but also trust that you will solve their problems. Trust comes before they even book you, and seeing the faces behind the business leads to that trust.
“Your website has only a few seconds to earn someone’s trust before they decide to stay or leave—and in that window, your photos and your design are working together to do all the talking. A stunning website design deserves imagery that shows it off at its absolute best. Professional brand photography isn’t a finishing touch, it’s what makes everything your designer created land the way it’s supposed to.”
— Rebecca McCoy, Brand & Commercial Photographer
Signals Credibility
When you take the time and money to invest with a professional brand photographer, that’s another (even subconscious) signal to prospects that you’re credible. These aren’t iPhone photos captured by fellow team members; they are professionally done, representing the high-level of expertise you bring to all of your clients.
Looks Cohesive with Brand Design
When your branding photography is strategically mapped out with proper creative direction, it should compliment the brand design on your website. Colors should flow, not clash, and the general feel of your photos matches the feel of your visual branding.
Helps You Stand Out
Professional brand photos on your website is yet another way to stand out from your competitors. Instead of using plain stock images with little personality, your website showcases images that are unique to you, your firm, and your brand.
Work With a Brand Strategist First
Are you excited to have professional brand photos taken for your practice? The best piece of advice before you get started is to work with a brand strategist first. This will ensure that your messaging is clear, brand visuals are set, and both of those will help guide your brand photos so they can seamlessly do their job well.
To learn more about building a brand that communicates your expertise for you, click here to schedule a free consultation.
FAQs about Branding Photography
The role of a brand photographer is to bring your brand’s personality and professionalism to life through images. They often capture various types of photos to use across all your marketing materials, such as headshots, candids, flatlays, etc.
When selecting outfits for your brand shoot, go with simple neutrals or outfits incorporating brand photos over very busy patterns. Choose casual clothes if your practice is more laid-back and professional clothes if that feels like a better fit for your brand.
We recommend working with a brand strategist first to solidify your messaging, brand voice, colors, logos, etc. That way, you know the general vibe of your brand to bring into images and which colors to incorporate.
Prior to the photoshoot, choose a photographer in your area who specializes in brand photography. Select location(s) that make sense for your practice. Compile outfit(s) that represent your brand’s personality and level of professionalism, and gather props to compliment your brand colors.
Having brand photos taken before launching your website ensures that your site has the best chance of standing out and building trust quickly. It also will flow well, when your messaging, visual branding, website design, and brand photography all connect and are completed together.
However, it’s better to have a strategic website than none at all. You can still convert prospects to paying clients without brand photography on your website, and at Growth Story, we often add placeholder stock images to sites that don’t have brand photography yet.