At personal brand shoots, you will be treated like an actor in a movie! The photographer and you will have planned a detailed schedule in advance down to the exact shots you want to include. Things like a how you like to celebrate, how you spend your free time, photos of you creating your products or performing your craft, a basic headshot, images of what you do behind the scenes, product images, etc. It all depends on how you will be using these images. If you need just a handful of images to choose from for a billboard, your photographer is going to spend the entire day focusing on detailed perfection in order to give you just a few, amazing images. On the other hand, if you need as many images as possible for social media and your website, the photographer is going to work quickly and efficiently. They will likely have an itinerary and work straight through it efficiently so that you have a lot of options.
At a typical personal brand shoot, you’ll want to show many different facets of your time. If you are a realtor who spends half of your day on the phone, you’ll want to capture that part of your life. It is a glimpse into what life looks like for you behind-the-scenes. The photographer will probably pretend to be a client and act out a conversation with you on the phone. That way, you’ll have genuine expressions and laughter.
I personally learn best by hearing and seeing examples so this is how I want to explain to you what a real personal brand shoot can look like. When planning a shoot with a vegetarian food blogger, we included time choosing herbs at the local grocery store, photos at my kitchen table planning her week with a very large mug of coffee, food prep in a kitchen showing how she creates her recipes, photos of her setting a table and taking food photos herself for her blog, the trunk of her van as she “packed healthy snacks for her son’s soccer game,” and yoga in the woods to show how she liked to spend her free time.
Now that we’ve discussed what you can do at a personal brand shoot, let’s see photos from the very talented food blogger I mentioned above. Cindy Gordon is the recipe creator and extraordinaire at vegetarianmamma.com. I highly recommend you check her out! Here is a blurb about what her site is all about: “We make easy vegetarian and vegan recipes that are free from gluten and perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night snacking. No matter your cooking method: Air Fryer, Instant Pot, Oven or Range, we have got you covered!” Cindy says, “When our youngest son was diagnosed with food allergies, my focus shifted to sharing allergy-friendly recipes and products. I started my first site, Vegetarian Mamma as a way to answer the continuous question from friends and family, “What do you eat as a vegetarian?”
By the way, Cindy is also an author of the recipe book “Gluten Free Fork,” sold on Amazon and featured on many blogs and in publications!
