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Personal branding photography

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They dynamically develop their communication channels because personal branding photographs are easy enough to get, and through them, they tell stories, gain the audience’s trust, and communicate with it.

An example of a marketing campaign that creates a brand is Nike's “Just do it”. Over the years, sports legends such as Michael Jordan, Andre Agassi, Ronaldinho, Serena Williams, and many others have participated in it. Personal branding photos, which could be seen in print or on billboards, have become a powerful channel for helping to convey the message and win new customers.

The ad campaign remains relevant 30 years after its launch. Evidence of this - 17 million user materials with the hashtag #JustDoIt. As a result of this ad campaign, Nike's sales grew by a record 31%.

KFC showed a successful promotional example in 2018 when it needed to save its reputation after closing hundreds of its restaurants. The brand posted an apology to customers, accompanying them with a snapshot of their signature empty chicken wing bucket with FCK written on it.

Perfect branding photography

Perfect branding photography

To make good branding photographs, you need to:

  1. Choose a conception

You should start branding and styling with a concept. Having identified your company's messages, mission, and goals you can think about the next stage - visualization.

Think about what services you want to provide to your audience and what is the main thing you can tell about yourself. This way you can find an original concept for the main photo to present your brand. You can go by choosing keywords that are most relevant to the concept. It can be customer focus, reliability, innovation, courage, openness, and anything that fits your mission.

    1. Collect inspirational photos 

 Collect inspirational photos

Start collecting inspirational images from other brands, magazines, websites, and any resource. While brands used to create real visual boards (or mood boards), today they are replaced by online platforms like Pinterest. You can use the Favorite bar on the Depositphotos website to show personal branding for the same purpose. Just trust your intuition and see if your mood board resonates with other people.

Choose only the best photos. They should be compatible with each other and characterize you and your type of activity. Many good photographers only publish a small percentage of what they shoot. Everything else is deleted or sent to the archive. Be like them.

  1. Create a set of rules, on the basis of which your specific project will be formed 

When you decide which branding photographs are suitable for you, try combining them into a style guide. Define your guiding principles by answering these questions:

  • what the photos will show: lifestyle, concepts, products, nature, people or something else;
  • what plan to shoot your product;
  • what emotions they will elicit in the audience;
  • how do you see photographs; 
  • what story the images should describe;
  • if there is a color that should dominate or, conversely, that should be avoided.

The ready-made guide will serve as a reference point, helping you and your team stay focused on your chosen ideas and be consistent.

  1. Edit your images

Edit your images

After taking photos, convert them to black and white. With the help of editing, you can also remove blemishes, add flattering filters, and so on. Use Lightroom and Photoshop for editing or any other free program. Picmonkey is free and very easy to use.

These are your images, so you can manipulate them if you want to create your brand.

  1. Earn customer respect with quality content 

You can attract customers with color palette, aesthetics, and image quality. Here are the main characteristics of photographs to consider:

  • composition: the correct placement of objects in the picture helps to create the right accents and draw viewers’ attention to key elements;
  • contrast: choose soft or hard contrast to match the mood of the scene and the effect you want to achieve;
  • colors: how attractive and harmonious they are, whether they are in dissonance with the rest of the visual content;
  • lighting: personal branding pictures should not be too dark and not too light, essential parts of the photo should be visible, and details should not be lost.

Personal qualities in making perfect branding photos

Personal qualities in making perfect branding photos

Your personality also matters when you create quality photos:

  1. Be curious 

As you look through personal branding photos, ask yourself if they evoke any feelings in you or if a story behind them can capture you. If the answer is yes, these are the images that will take your visual content to the next level.

When you share your brand story with your audience, the chances of being remembered, winning new customers, and simply motivating them to make a choice growing for you. Of course, it is very important to know your audience’s needs.

  1. Do not hurry

Don't think that you will just take a couple of pictures and be done with it. A professional photo session must be carried out responsibly. Do a tremendous amount of prep work before filming, and then spend at least 90 minutes.

Personal branding photos matter, so take your time. Be patient and give yourself the time you need to do a great job. Then you will not be ashamed to show these photos to others and admire them yourself for many years.

  1. Be consistent in creating your brand

The key to branding success is consistency. Companies should deliver messages to their audiences in the same style, using corporate identity elements like colors and logos. Over time, they will take root in customers’ minds and are more likely to be remembered. This is the first step towards building trust and loyalty with your audience.

Brands are not created overnight. That is why it is so important to be consistent. After taking photos and applying your style guide, tell regular stories related to your company or product, and use images that match it. And gradually, in the view of the audience, your brand is converted into a clear picture.

  1. Timer

Personal branding photography

Also, while taking photos use a timer. This allows you to position yourself before the photo is taken.

There is an application called Сamera shake. It takes multiple shots simultaneously, so you don't have to move back and forth a million times. And it shows a countdown as you shoot, which helps you get into position.

There are many such applications. Find one that you like and stick with it. Or, if you use a real camera, read its manual. It will probably have this feature.

  1. Be yourself

Relax and have fun taking photos. Don't be shy about your laugh or your looks. People want to communicate with you and value sincerity, so be yourself.

You could consider many other things when photographing yourself for your business, but these tips should get you started.And, if you find that you simply cannot convey exactly what you want for your brand, then be sure to hire someone to help you. A professional photographer can help build your brand and make it popular.

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