Brand Portraits | Toronto Interior, Lifestyle and Brand Photographer
Brand Portraits for Small Business Owners
While we all know we need a current portrait, it’s not always everyone’s favourite activity. But, the benefits really are immeasurable and are likely some of your most used images! People like to connect to the face behind the brand and having consistent professional imagery across the board helps instill confidence in you and your expertise.
Where you can use brand portraits:
- Your Website ‘About’ page.
- Across social media profiles including LinkedIn, Instagram, Houzz, and Pinterest.
- Social media posts - share about your business, what inspires you, your process, and even a few personal details. Followers love to get to know the person behind the brand!
- As you become an expert and leader in your field, you’ll likely need one for speaking engagements, podcasts, and contributor profiles.
- In your email signature, newsletter, presentations or other branded content.
How to prepare and what to wear!
While there are no set rules, I encourage you to consider the following when planning ahead for a portrait:
- Wear something that you feel fits you well, you feel comfortable and confident in.
- Wear something that reflects your personal style, brand and will suit the colours and style of the space.
- Solid colour clothing tends to be better than patterns.
- Tops with sleeves tend to be more flattering than sleeveless. If you are wearing sleeveless I suggest bringing a jacket or sweater to try both options.
- Bring a couple of clothing options as an alternate or if you want some help deciding.
- If you wear make-up, you can wear it heavier than normal. Bring some with you to do touchups if necessary.
- Or consider getting professional hair and make-up on-site or ahead. It helps take the pressure off and it’s a nice excuse to get pampered!
- Get a good night’s sleep the night before… if possible ;)
Types of shots
There are a variety of different types and styles of portraits you we can achieve depending on the circumstances. If you are planning a full brand session, aim to get all of them. If you are on a project shoot and just want a refresh, there’s an opportunity to get a bit of variety as well.
Posed portraits - You can’t go wrong with a standard posed shot. These work across most platforms and are very versatile.
Headshot - Tighter shots, just shoulders and up can be great for small profile needs or when you need to send along a portrait for a speaking engagement. These are usually best on a simpler background or where the background is blurred out so the focus is just on you!
Candid or action shots - These are great for social media and websites. Getting you in action tends to help relax in a pose and can give you something to talk about in your post.
Shots in motion - While you will become a bit of a blur, if your potential client has an idea of what you look like, it’s likely they’ll still recognize you. This is a great way to add life to images and can be an easy way to get more content without having to be fully photo-ready.
Portrait Poses
For posing, I like to keep it simple and walk you through a few different angles, actions and facial expressions. From there we can review and decide what suits you best and tweak your body and hand positions to get you looking your natural in front of the camera.
Regularly updating your portrait keeps your content current and ensures your potential new clients will be greeted by a familiar face!
If you’re a small business owner looking to update your portrait, let’s connect!
