Why You Need a Professional Branding Session | Cleveland and Chattanooga Photographer | Fall 2020

Let’s face it, everyone! If you are a photographer, one of the reasons you love shooting is because you get to hide behind your camera! You love taking pictures of weddings, portraits, seniors or whatever your jam is! We rarely get pictures of ourselves and if we do, it’s a quick selfie with our smart phone and we use that for our Facebook and Instagram profiles.

But I’m here to tell you that you have got to change that up for your business!

I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t wear make up everyday and I’m lucky if I get to wash my hair! Taking care of two kids all day and running a photography business at the same time, not to mention being a wife and trying to keep my house clean, is a lot to do! However, you really need to set some time aside for yourself and schedule some head shots or a branding session. Your clients need to put a face with a name if they are going to make a personal connection and choose you as their photographer. I was super excited about getting mine done recently with my talented friend and local photographer, Haylee Gaffin. We had so much fun doing mine, and I love to support other small businesses where I live!

To help you realize why you need to update your head shots or schedule a branding session, here are some must have reasons!

Personality and Style

Your branding session is all about you! Your head shot should show off who you are as a photographer and person. I love wearing blues and greens and I made sure to have those colors on during my session, along with my favorite gold jewelry. It shows off my personality and my style. I brought my laptop and camera for my pictures because that’s the equipment I use for my business. If you were a chef, you would want pictures made of you cooking your favorite recipe or making your signature earrings if you were a jewelry designer. Also, you wouldn’t hire another photographer for your session who edits darker when your editing style is light and airy. You want to choose someone whose style is similar to yours.

We All Change

I am not the same person I was last year. Neither are you! I definitely don’t look exactly the same, which is why it is always good to update your head shots every year. Your hair color may be different, you may have upgraded to a new camera or you have changed your style. Whatever the reason may be, it is always good to invest in new photos at least once a year. You want to make sure that your clients know who they are hiring.

Do Something For Yourself

I will be the first one to say I put others before myself. I always have. But it is nice to be pampered every once in a while. I love getting massages and taking a break from being a mom. Getting head shots or a branding session is a perfect opportunity to do something fun for yourself! Not to mention, if you find a photographer to work with and end up making a connection or forging a friendship, she may ask you to take pictures of her family later on.

Here are a few photos from my recent session with my friend, Haylee! Hopefully this will give you some inspiration on what kind of photos you would like for your branding session!

If you enjoyed reading this, make sure to check out my past blog posts and keep updated with me on social media!