The Branding Portrait Guide

Having an up-to-date portrait is a crucial part of your business. It not only represents you as a person. It adds a relatable human element to your business.

Whether you sell handmade soap or are a corporate lawyer, your headshots are equally as important.

However, how they should look will most likely be vastly different.

When booking a branding and portrait session with me, I start with the basics.

What are you looking for? Are you looking for a clean-cut image on a solid backdrop or are you looking for something warmer that might be leaning toward a lifestyle imagery?

If you are not sure, that’s okay! I am here to walk through the process with you and make sure you receive exactly what you envisioned.

Come the shoot day, it is totally normal to be nervous or even not looking forward to it at all.

It is safe to say that 90% of the people I photograph make statements such as “I hate having my photo taken,” “I always look so awkward in photos,” or “Alright let’s get this over with.”

This is where my style of shooting comes in. I talk more than I photograph.

I want to learn about you, what you love, where you want to travel, what your favorite meal is!

The moments I photograph are between those fun conversations. My goal is to have you leave the session having enjoyed yourself and with a portrait that you can proudly show off!

One way I ensure you leave the session smiling is through shooting tethered to my computer. This allows us to review what I have captured and make any tweaks needed as we go.

This guarantees that you will be confident we are capturing exactly what you are looking for! This process also helps cut down the turn around time for the final image.

Okay, so we have booked a date and time. We have decided on the space you want to be photographed in or what your backdrop is going to look like. Now what?

It’s time to choose your outfit of course!

Choosing what to wear on your portrait day should not be a stressful task. However, it is an important one.

What I suggest to all my clients is - wear an outfit that represents you and represents the purpose of your portrait.

This means wearing something that you are comfortable in and something that your clients are likely to see you wearing on a day to day basis.

For example, a lawyer should not be wearing a tank top in their headshot, even though this could be a completely acceptable look for someone that carves boutique surfboards. On the other hand, someone that hand carves surfboards, probably shouldn’t wear a suit in their portrait either, unless of course it somehow plays into their branding!

If you are a person that loves color, then wear color! If you are a person who typically wears monotones, then I would recommend not wearing your brightest outfit on headshot day.

While this next part is mostly for the ladies, men don’t shy away from this either - makeup.

Although it may be tempting to do your own hair and makeup, hiring a professional such as Jen from Dames and Dolls, can make a huge difference in how your images turn out.

Many makeup artists such as Jen are professionally trained in applying makeup that won’t reflect light. This means no shiny foreheads! Although I am able to edit those such things out, having the original photograph be as close to the finished product as possible is always ideal.

As far as hair goes, as I noted before having your headshot taken can be a stressful day for a lot of people. Having someone professionally do your hair the day of your session can do wonders when it comes to calming the nerves.

As the saying goes - look good, feel good, portrait good!