Beyond The Thumbnail Headshot
Have you wondered why it is that you need more than a simple Headshot for your website? Is a branding portfolio even worth your time and investment? Well, the answer to these very common questions is this - The traditional old-fashioned Headshot is all about the first impression. It focuses mostly on your eyes, your smile and your connection with the audience. Beyond that, the rest of your branding portraits are about raising the interest level. They capture your personality, project your confidence, communicate your expertise and authority in your field and engage your client so that you can ultimately build trust with them and most importantly, each branding portrait serves a unique purpose.
In your branding portfolio of images, you need a range of portraits to select from. What’s even better? A step-by-step, hand held, guided posing and branding consult on your selection is also helpful. So instead of choosing images from an blackhole, an consult with your photographer to chat about your goals, your future plans, your strategies is helpful. This helps you make a well-informed decision about the choice of images for your website or for your social media presence, that is guaranteed to give you a presence you want.
Wondering where you can use the Branding portraits? The traditional face focused Headshot can be used for:
§ Business cards with a photo help people remember you from networking events,
§ Your professional networking profile image (LinkedIn etc),
§ Social media profiles,
§ Website,
§ Email signature,
§ Resume,
§ Company reports,
§ Company directory,
§ Employee of the month,
§ Corporate brochures,
§ For your campaign when you have political aspirations?
§ Job applications sites.
Basically, any place to represent you when you can’t be there in person.
The personal branding “personality shots” can be used for:
§ Marketing materials such as brochures,
§ Press releases,
§ Postcards to re-connect with your clients,
§ Newsletters,
§ Ongoing social media posts,
§ Displays in reception or waiting room,
§ Speaking engagements,
§ Building your personal brand as a consultant or starting a business,
§ Dating agency profile,
§ Volunteer roles.
The above list can have interchangeable applications and can be expanded with your imagination.
Here’s a neat example of the branding Headshots that we created for one of our amazing clients - Linda Domino.
Linda is the Founder of YogaSoul, Princeton. She is a passionate and authentic leader in the Princeton Yoga community. Her teaching style is intentional, empowering, and inclusive. With nearly 20 years of practice and study within several yoga traditions, Linda delights in sharing yoga teachings and life experiences that inspire insight and transformation on and off the mat.
Here’s how she chose to use her Branding portraits on her website: In her “About” section, “Upcoming” section and “Contact form”:
Linda is a woman that exudes warmth, love and care. Everything about her is genuine and gentle. It was my deepest privilege and pleasure when we created Business Branding Yoga Portraits for her. We shot it at my favorite location, the Mercer Lake, and I photographed her while she was centering in her practice. The setting sun creating the serene orange glow was a huge plus. Here are the shots we created together:
I absolutely loved creating these for Lindas new website. Her words to me were Joy, Grace and Serenity. And that is what I have tried to capture here.
Would you like to update your Headshot / Branding portraits and/or are you looking to add more images to your existing portfolio? Let’s chat or DM us here:
