Headshot vs Branding Photography

Brand SessionsBrand PhotographyHeadshots

23 Apr

Written By Jean Lugg

Brand Photography // Jean Lugg

I often have business owners ask me, “Should I get a headshot or go all in and do a full branding session?”

Well, it’s really a matter of what you and your business need because they are not the same thing!

First up…the headshot.

Just as the name suggests, the headshot is an image of you the business owner or a team member smiling directly at the camera. It’s most often taken as a head and shoulders image that clearly shows your face. Headshots are most commonly used as profile images, or in your email signature. Usually, only one image is needed for a headshot, however some may need a couple to use in different places because they like a little more variety. The variety however, comes in the pose of the person having their headshot taken. So, an example of this might be both arms folded and one arm folded and the other near your face.

Headshots can easily be taken at your office or business location and it doesn’t take much time out of your day (besides making sure hair and makeup is on point that day ladies, am I right;)). That’s it, short and sharp! The beauty of headshots is they can be updated regularly and that if your business has a team of employees their individual photos when used together on the business about us page or company emails, you will have a cohesive, consistent and professional look. Which helps to build customer trust in your business and the people who work for it.

Next up…branding photography, also commonly called personal brand photography.

This is where the business owner has an entire photo shoot designed to cover all the visual content that their business may need. It can include headshots, lifestyle images, the people in the business, what the business does, what the business looks like, the products the business sells and the stories the business tells its audience. Brand photography covers it ALL! And it aims to do it in a cohesive and visually appealing way that draws your customer in so that they never want to look away. These images can be used for everything you can think of in your business, website, emails, social media, podcasts, advertising, marketing campaigns, billboards, magazines, basically a brand shoot provides all the images a business will need for between 6 months to a year of content creation.

Sounds overwhelming I know! But these are the photo shoots that last a half, full or even multiple days. So, we have more time on our hands to include different locations and looks and as much variety as we can pack into them. Each smaller selection of images in the entire overall collection tells a different story and showcases the different facets of your brand and business. And if having your photo taken all day sounds like your worst nightmare, don’t worry, I will make it a fun experience and I promise it will be worth it for your business!