How to Choose the Best Personal Branding Photographer for You and Your Business

Simmi Woodwal - CEO, Honeypot Charity

So you’ve researched the concept of Personal Brand Photography, you are now convinced of its benefits, and you’re extremely tempted to use its power to shine a new light on your business.

You are totally ready for a visual makeover and want an elevated digital presence that will totally WOW the world. Now what?

Whether you are a London founder, freelancer or solopreneur, a UK based business owner, an international expert or consultant, you most likely are the face of your own business.

And a professional Branding Photoshoot is a brilliant way to give your audience a chance to get to know you better; to get a feel of who you are, how you work, how you can help them solve a problem; and to build an emotional connection with you from the very first point of online contact.

Lorraine Avanessian - Skin Therapist London

A Brand Photo Session is also an investment in your own business, as it shows your ideal clients that you’re 100% committed, dedicated to your craft and totally professional. It’s a big deal, really. So you should definitely make the most of your session by planning and preparing ahead of the much anticipated photography day.

But before anything else, you should start by choosing ‘your person’ i.e. the best brand photographer for you. And there are quite a few aspects to consider when making that decision. Where do you start, and what should you look for in your search? Keep reading, I have some helpful suggestions for you!

Finding your Ideal Personal Brand Photographer is Essential

A brand photographer’s experience can make or break the success of a professional photoshoot. And it’s not just about one thing! Everything matters - from technical knowledge to visual know-how, from people skills to a general understanding of business and marketing principles etc. all aspects contribute to getting the right result.

If the person you choose to work with is not very good, you might never want to be in front of anyone’s professional lens any time soon. However if they are the awesome professional you need them to be, they can make a world of a difference!

Here are just a few examples of how an amazing personal brand photographer can help:

- Providing plenty of creative ideas in the brainstorming and planning process

- Giving tips and advice so that you feel prepared on the day of your session

- Provide a gorgeous experience on the day and make you forget you are in front of the camera

- Delivering lots of beautiful images for your website, social media, PR and marketing collateral

- Helping you feel more confident in the future, and sometimes even fall in love with being photographed again!

So whether your process starts with a Google search like ‘Best Personal Brand Photographer West London’ or a call for recommendations from your trusted circle of connections on LinkedIn or other social media, you’ll most likely end up with a couple of different choices to consider, so how do you pick THE ONE for you?

Top 7 Criteria for Booking the Best Brand Photographer for You

Here are my top seven points of reference on how to choose your ideal Personal Branding Photographer (or business brand photographer, according to case) in London, UK, or anywhere else you may be in the world:

Susannah Ross - Editorial Consultant

1. Solid Brand Photography Experience

When comparing your top choices start by finding out how long they’ve have been in business for, who they've worked with so far, what do clients have to say about them etc.

An established branding photographer will have plenty of examples of work from different photoshoots, showcasing different businesses and professionals they've photographed in the past, strong testimonials, case studies and examples of how they helped customers achieve a goal, look more professional, elevate their brands and so on.

2. A Brilliant Client Portfolio

Have a look at the images in your candidates’ galleries and see how you feel about their style and artistic vision.

Do their branding photos look appealing? Does the editing manner resonate with you? How strong is their visual ability, sense of colour, attention to details, is it reflecting in the finished photographs? Do you get excited at the thought of working together and being their client?

Duncan Chrystal - Head of Marketing Solutions, Give Clarity

Here a couple of bonus tips for this criteria:

• Look for experience in this particular branch of photography - A diverse portfolio with lots of different faces and a good number of professions will reflect the photographer's experience in this field.

  A generalist photographer might be able to deliver decent pictures of all sorts (sports, nature, architecture, abstract, food, family photography and so on), but a great personal branding photographer will know exactly how to work with people - with you as a unique individual - and what to focus on in order to deliver the best on-brand images for you and your business!

• Ask to see more photos from a single branding photo session - This will give you the indication of their creativity, editing abilities and visual consistency.

  A couple of headshots are not what a brand photoshoot is about, and one hero image is not enough for a strong branding gallery!

Caroline Ross - Personal Trainer, Mamaste Fitness

• Look for a diverse client demographic - A skilled brand photographer should be able to craft beautiful images for all age groups, genders, skin tones, body shapes etc.

• Look for great posing and composition - Do subjects have flattering poses? Do they look natural, comfortable and most importantly relatable? Would you like to get to know them better, or strike up a conversation with them? Whatever feeling you get from looking at their previous business photography clients is a good indication of how the photographer might be able to help you as well.

Victoria Ward - Strategic Adviser

• Assess the quality of post-production - How do their finished branding images look like? Are they exciting to look at, and edited to a high standard, or do you notice a lack of attention to details?

• Try to spot familiar faces and see how well their personalities shine through - This could indicate the photographer's ability to capture your own true essence, while making you look really great in your brand photos.

• Even a simple business headshot session speaks volumes - Start by assessing a certain photographer’s headshot work. If these images don't appeal to you straight away, there are small chances that they'd be a good fit for a more complex branding session.

3. Glowing Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Whether on Google My Business, LinkedIn recommendations, Facebook business pages etc., a great photographer should have consistent feedback and reviews from previous customers and collaborators.

Personal recommendations are also helpful to support your decision - if you found somebody that looks great online, what are your friends saying, do they happen to have worked with them?

Lilly Meikle - Artist, Lilly Mai Designs

4. Creativity and Visual Skills

Once again, a look at different professionals’ portfolios should inform your opinion quite well. Are their images quite bland and predictable or are they showing you something new and exciting?

Are their clients looking amazing and you’d like to be part of that fabulous entrepreneur crowd? If the answer is yes, then you should get in touch with them.

Another way of assessing one’s creativity is a consultation with them. Have a coffee together, or if this is included in their package, have a consultation call. Take the opportunity to meet up and present your vision/creative brief to your photographer. Chances are you’ll get lots of ideas flowing and come up with a great starting point in terms of preparations for your brand photoshoot.

5. Investment and Value Offered

A branding photoshoot is indeed an investment, just like a professional website, a visual brand identity, or a licence to a piece of software are, and often this becomes another factor to keep in mind. It is therefore important to assess different cost options, find out what’s included in all the packages you’re considering and so on.

Mark Firth - Business Consultant, Mark Firth Online

However the fact that some photographers might be charging less than others could mean many things, i.e. the digital files are offered at an extra cost to the session fee, retouching is not included, travel expenses are added on top, often there’s VAT to consider etc. But most importantly it can reflect them being really new in the industry, therefore hiding a lack of experience or the ability to produce top notch results.

From my experience over years I advise potential clients and collaborators to think twice about this, and ideally save up to work with their ideal professional, or find a way to split the cost through instalments. Otherwise in most cases they end up wasting their budget on mediocre results, and investing again sooner than planned in a new brand photoshoot to actually get their desired visual outcome.

6. Qualifications and Professional Background

Whenever possible, assess your photographers’ work backgrounds and professional qualifications. This should be a good indicator of trustworthiness, reliability, connections, specialist skills and so on. In essence anyone can pick up an expensive camera and start taking pictures - does that mean they will be great brand images? Will they know about lighting, posing, image composition? Will they know what is required to deliver a brilliant project? Will they capture the real you and your business?

Pam Vick - Marketing Expert, Caspia Consultancy

7. Personality Match

So how do you determine if a photographer’s personality is a good fit to yours? A one-to-one meeting or a pre-photoshoot consultation is a great way to find out more about the professional you are entrusting to take your vision and turn it into visual magic.

I personally offer a 30-minute initial consultation in person, or via video call, and they’re always helpful in identifying my ideal clients and the best projects to take on.

Alternatively, if you are you running in the same business circles as your photography candidates, find out how are they as an individual, online and offline. Are they helpful and kind, do they deliver on their promises, are they good listeners, good connectors of people, energetic and fun to be around? etc. If you resonate with how they come across, there is a solid chance that you will be a good match in terms of personal brand photography too.

Conclusion / final words of advice? Do your research properly when choosing your photographer - don’t just settle for good, aim for great instead! Yes, beautiful imagery comes at a cost, but ultimately it’s an investment in your brand and your business, and when it’s done right, it’s sooo absolutely worth it!

If you want to find out more about this topic, do have a read of my previous article An Introduction to Personal Branding for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. And while you’re here, if you’re intrigued by the idea of using bespoke personal brand imagery, check out the related article What is Personal Brand Photography and Why Do You Need It. Hope you enjoy!