You can’t get away with a text-only website or social media presence anymore, having branding photos on display that really reflect who you are and what you do is essential.
Check our examples and tips on how to DIY them to see that you can have fun and end up with great pictures without paying thousands of dollars, even if you’ve never taken branding photos before. We’ll also introduce you to a virtual personal branding coach, Brandi, who can make this process (and the rest of your personal brand building) even easier.
Branding photos are pictures that illustrate a brand’s purpose and personality. In the case of a personal brand, it could be on-brand portraits, or pictures that show what the individual does.
Imagine a website or social media profile with just text and no visuals. It’d be boring and hard to digest. And since you need visuals anyway, you might as well make them reflect your brand for maximum impact. You wouldn’t want people clicking away because your profile feels too generic or messy, right?
Branding photo ideas & examples
It’s so much more fun to think about the “how to” when you’re already in the mood, brimming with ideas, and excited to get started. So let’s check some ideas and examples first before diving into the tips.
Whenever you take photos for your personal brand, take a few short videos of that same scene. You’ll be able to use them later as B-roll for your videos on social media, your future self will thank you for it.
Branding portrait ideas
You can of course always take professional personal branding headshots but especially if your brand is more casual, you can always switch it up a little. Also try one “in your natural habitat”, so maybe in the office with a cup of coffee—or create a whole, on-brand background with prints and fun pieces of decoration. Another idea would be taking “candid” shots of you while working to show you mean business.
Brand photo ideas for freelancers
Regardless of your niche and profession, if you’re a freelancer there are some extra pictures you could take for your website and socials. These could be ones that show what it feels like working with you (a pic of you talking with a client), professional-looking, super on-brand portraits, or some out-of-the-box ideas, like the one with the laptop and papers.
Marketer branding photos
Marketers spend most of their time on their laptops or phones, so the first branding photo idea that comes to mind is exactly that. You can take over-the-shoulder shots or ones of just your hand typing away. If you’re specialized in SEO, show a SERP or blog post on the screen, or if your area of expertise is social media, then swap the laptop for a phone and take a shot of your Instagram feed.
If you do have non-laptop tasks like filming videos, a few BTS shots could be golden for your personal brand. Similarly, good quality but friendly lifestyle portraits would work amazing both on your marketing portfolio website and your social media.
Copywriter branding photos
It’s no surprise when we say copywriters spend most of their time writing, so that’s what you’ll want to show. You can of course get creative with it and do it many different ways. You can get shots of you typing on your laptop (close-up of your hands, over the shoulder, from a little far away), or of your handwritten notes in a notebook. If you want to go one step further, you can always grab books and more stationery for a hardcore writer aesthetic.
Designer branding photos
Designers are all about the visuals, so think about all the way you can show those off. You can take photos of your laptop with Pinterest or Behance open, or you holding your iPad working on some new sketches. If you’re more analogue, snap a pic of your pens, markers, and sketches lying around.
Content creator branding photos
For content creators, it’s all about showing the behind-the-scenes of your work and how that badass UGC portfolio came to life. If you usually create content with your phone, you might need a second one for these. Set up shots of you adjusting your phone on a tripod, speaking in front of it (through the view of your camera app), or taking product photos.
Or if you use a different camera (maybe you just got a shiny new thing), then show it off in action and/or with some inspo in the background.
Should you get professional branding photos or DIY?
Long gone are the days when studio photos were the only acceptable option for a compelling appearance. With content on social media also heading in a more raw, realistic, and imperfect direction, branding photos are changing too.
If you scroll back to the examples above, you’ll see that none of them were pro-grade pictures taken with expensive cameras. They were all taken on phones. But since the quality is good enough and they convey personal brand traits and professions well enough, they still do an amazing job.
So if you don’t mind spending a little time planning your shots, grabbing a tripod, and taking some pictures on your own, you can definitely get away with DIY branding photos.
If you feel like you’re particularly bad at taking pictures or really can’t be bothered to even think about all these things, you can of course hire a professional photographer. It’s just going to be a bit of a financial investment.
How much do professional branding photos cost?
The cost of a professional branding photoshoot depends on a few things: where you are, how experienced your photographer is, and the extent of the shoot. Short headshot-only sessions with a beginner will obviously cost much less than a full-day shoot with a seasoned pro.
To still give you some ballpark numbers, here are some price ranges you can expect for standard half-day (or 3-4-hour-long) branding photos in different locations:
- US: $1,500-5,000
- UK: £800-1,000
- EU: €700-1,500
Do you have your personal brand figured out?
It’d be hard to make your photos on-brand if you haven’t nailed down the details of your personal brand first. Your tone of voice is not that important for pictures, but you should definitely get clear about your USP and brand personality before diving into planning and taking your branding photos.
They’ll give you ideas on both the contents of the photos and the vibe. If you haven’t thought much about your brand assets yet and are not sure where to start, try chatting with Brandi, your virtual personal branding coach.
You can simply start a chat and answer questions about you, your work, and your goals. Through that, Brandi will work with you to nail down your USP, brand personality, and tone of voice. That’ll take about 10-15 minutes—just know that she won’t let you get away with one-word, generic answers. That’d lead you to a brand just like that, and who wants a run-of-the-mill, boring brand?
Create a free Copyfolio account & start chatting with Brandi.
All your brand assets will be saved on the side of the chat, so you can come back and check in with them anytime. And if you need more branding help than that, Brandi can also help you work on your portfolio, write copy for your website, create a social media strategy, and more.
How to take your own branding photos
Don’t worry, it’s really not as intimidating as it sounds. The key is to think it through first, and then you’ll know what to do.
Step 1: Make a plan
Start with making a plan, aka a shotlist. Here’s how:
- Browse through Pinterest (or the beginning of this post 🤭) for inspiration
- Brainstorm things that match your profession and/or your personality (think mic for podcasting or the latest hot lip gloss for a girly pop aesthetic)
- Think about all the different sections and corners of the space you’re going to be shooting in (your desk, by the window, an armchair, on the front porch, etc.)
- Combine all of these and write a list of all the specific photo ideas you want to take
Try to write down as many ideas as you can, even if you know you probably won’t take all of them. It’s always good to have more to go back to, and you might still come up with new ones as you’re shooting, on the go.
Ideate with your personal branding coach
If you really can’t come up with anything, you can of course always ask your personal branding coach, Brandi, to give you a few ideas. Here’s a prompt you can ask her:
I want to take some branding photos. Some of me and some of things around me that show my profession and my personality that I can use on my website. Can you list 20 branding photo ideas specifically for me?
Here are some ideas Brandi listed for a digital content marketer for B2B SaaS (me 🙋♀️):
- At a desk setup: laptop open with a blog outline + YouTube script side by side
- Over-the-shoulder shot editing a YouTube timeline (clear “video” signal)
- Writing SEO content: keyword notes, SERP screenshots, content brief on screen
- Holding a coffee while reviewing analytics on a laptop (traffic/retention vibe)
- Close-up of hands planning a content calendar (Notion/Trello/Sheets on screen)
- Sitting in a café with laptop + headphones (smart coffee-chat energy)
Step 2: Choose colors & props wisely
Whether it’s the clothes you wear or the items in the photo or its background, details matter, sometimes more than you think. So take a little time and pick them carefully.
Make sure the style of your clothes matches your brand personality (if your personal brand is casual and fun, ditch the black suit) and if you can, incorporate your brand colors in it. Don’t force it if it doesn’t feel natural though.
Instead, you can incorporate your brand colors with props you have in the photos, or even the background if you edit the photo.
Step 3: Use natural light
Natural light is not only your best friend when it comes to taking photos, but it’s also free. Make sure to pick a spot and a time where there’s plenty of it for your pictures. Try to shoot next to a big window, or even outside—just avoid direct sunlight when taking portraits, as it can create harsh shadows that won’t look that flattering.
Step 4: Move around while shooting
If you feel awkward in front of the camera, we have a quick posing tip for your branding photos.
Set your phone to take continuous pictures on a timer. And instead of just sitting in one place trying to smile, try moving around a little bit. Pretend to fix your watch, adjust your hair, look to the side, or do a simple task like talking on the phone or writing notes.
Even just stepping to the front and back while standing can make you feel less awkward and the photo feel way more natural. You can of course always stop for a second and look into the camera, but giving yourself something to do can help tremendously.
Step 5: Edit with Lightroom & use presets
You’ve probably dabbled in photo editing for your IG posts already, so this tip won’t come as much of a surprise. But even just increasing the exposure on your photos a little can do wonders, so we highly recommend some small improvements to finalize your pictures.
If all the individual adjustments feel a little bit intimidating, you can always look for Lightroom presets to make editing easier. You can search by the vibe—ones called “light and airy” could be good options as they’ll brighten your photos a little bit.
Just make sure you edit all of your photos the same way, so that they look cohesive together, and yet again, match your personal brand. Feel free to check some personal brand examples to see how others do it.
Just don’t think too much, make a simple plan, grab your phone, and start shooting. Need a personal brand website to add your new branding photos too? Keep Copyfolio in mind, where you can build quickly and easily with presets and sections, and get help from your branding coach, Brandi, anytime.
