The Most Important Photo You're Forgetting in Your Shoot

Believe it or not, your photo shoot isn’t about you.

After working with personal branding clients for over 8 years, you start to notice patterns. Recently, after a client's photo shoot, I had a light-bulb moment about a common misconception from personal brand photo shoots:

Your face doesn't have to be in every photo.

Upon reflection, I realized that this is a teaching moment for my clients that I should be communicating with confidence from the very beginning of a project (which is why I'm writing this blog post). It's easy to think that you need to be in every photo. It's your photo shoot, after all! You've put in work getting your hair done, choosing your outfit, going on a detox, whatever it is, so wouldn't it make sense to be in every single shot? Not really.

You see, when you get a photo shoot as a personal brand, you're ultimately creating a set of photos that work together on a web. A tell-tale sign of an amateur website is when a person's face is everywhere. As a user, you start to feel uncomfortable ("Why are they staring at me?") and their face becomes less visually rewarding because it's all over the place.

I'm not saying that you can call it a day and show up to your photo shoot in sweatpants, but I am saying that your photos aren't about you. They're about your brand and they're about your website. Website designers need to tell a story, create atmosphere, and have a variety of images to choose from, some of which simply cannot include your face.

To show you what I mean, I'm going to give you context behind some of my favorite no-face shots.

Simon T. Bailey

Simon has a dynamite personality and, as someone who speaks at 100 events a year, is used to being in the spotlight. However, it was important to us to convey the thoughtfulness Simon brings to every speaking event. Essentially, we wanted to zero in on his work behind the scenes and create a mood that’s inspiring.

In this image, you don't see Simon. You see Simon's hands, and you see Simon's favorite notebook where he's crafted his crowd-pleasing speeches on airplanes and between meetings. While you don't see Simon's face, you see his craft. It's powerful stuff that conveys an extra degree of preparedness that a smiling face just wouldn't show. That’s why Simon’s personal brand ended up being one of our best.

Desirée Rogers

A force to be reckoned with, Desirée's personal brand was created to give her a platform to voice her own story. The shoot took place in Desirée's home, which is fashioned in a way that complements her ultra-stylish wardrobe.

To paint a picture of where Desirée's hard work happens, we got a photo of her office in its normal state. The varying colors of books, layers of texture, and random pieces all work together to create a scene that's creative, purposeful, and utterly Desirée.

Ric Lindberg

Stockholm-based Ric is the powerhouse leader of a tech team within a global fashion company. His approach to leadership is ultra-personalized. It was really important to us to have filler images from Ric's shoot that capture Swedish culture and emulate Ric's working style.

We decided to get a shot that looks like you're mid-fika (a Swedish custom to take a break over coffee in an afternoon and discuss hopes and dreams *swoon*) with Ric. Instead of a picture-perfect pastry, there's a bite, which alludes to Ric's casual nature. it puts you at ease while communicating his value, which was the main goal of Ric’s personal brand.

Me

Here's proof of just how valuable filler images are: I flew my entire team to Los Angeles for a shoot, but still managed to get images without anyone in them. The reason why it's important to get filler images at the same time as your shoot is so that there's consistency in lighting and environment for the shots that do have people in them.

This shot of chairs and a laptop is one of my all-time favorites. It's versatile, conveys the right message about my company (young, creative, flexible), and I've had the chairs edited to suit my color scheme whenever I need it changed. In fact, because there are no people in it, the photo is completely timeless. I still use it today and this photo was taken 2.5 years ago.

I rest my case. Do you agree? Comment below.