Personal Branding portrait sessions require quite a bit of prep work in order to effectively plan and execute the photoshoot. That means that we actively collaborate every step of the way, with me taking on most of the work, but with some responsibility falling on the client as well. This allows us to really dial in the strategy for the photo session and create over a hundred photos within just a few hours.

In this post, you’ll find out exactly what you need to do before your Personal Branding photography session, how to best prepare, what meetings we will have, and how to guarantee a successful day ahead.

1. Gather your brand assets

In order to create imagery that is on-brand, we need to know what your brand actually looks like. If you have an already-established business, this might mean that we take a look at your website and social media to see how you’re currently presenting yourself online. And if you’re starting a completely new company, we would need to take a look at the logo design, colors, business vision statement, products, or anything else you already have going into your session. This allows us to evaluate which colors we should be using within your photographs, what feeling we want to portray, and what we need to communicate to your audience.

2. Make time for our Concept & Vision Strategy Meeting

This one is important! While we do a quick overview of your business during the initial phone consultation, it’s important for us to properly sit down together and go over your vision, how you want to present yourself and your business online, who your target market is, what products or services you offer, and what sets you apart from your competition.

During this 1-hour Zoom call, we focus on distilling that vision into concepts we can recreate for your photoshoot. Without a strategy, all we would have are some pretty pictures. But by deliberately planning and diving deep into what makes you and your business different, we can create imagery that goes beyond the surface level.

This is also when we decide on a timeline for the day of the photoshoot. I try to get a sense of the types of locations we’re considering, the kinds of images we need to capture, and any personal time restrictions we’re working with (a person whose whole day is open is different than a Mom who only has 2 hours in between other commitments). Each timeline is different. But every one is optimized for getting us the biggest variety of images in the shortest amount of time.

3. Evaluate your clothing options

Now, you will have some homework. Go through your closet and take out all the clothes that fit into the criteria we went over during our Strategy Meeting. All you need to do is take photos of every item and either text or email them to me so I can start putting together our plan for the day of the photoshoot. This also goes for any locations that I can’t personally access, like your home or office.

While this does take some time on your end, it’s one of the most important steps in getting us fully prepared for your Personal Branding session.

Once I receive all the clothing images, I will put together a fully custom PDF by pairing your wardrobe options with the locations. Not many people realize that it’s not only the outfits that make the image, but also the background. The goal is to have you coordinate with the location, whether that means standing out or fitting in, every single situation is different.

The other part of this is location scouting. Indoors, I have a bunch of tools and techniques that I use in order to create flattering light in any situation, but outdoors, I prefer to work with the least amount of equipment possible. The biggest reason for this is speed and comfort. Equipment takes time to move around and can be cumbersome. It also makes it look like a production is taking place, and attracts the eyes of strangers and people passing by.. which can feel uncomfortable for most people, especially if you’re not used to being in front of the camera. With only a camera in my hand, we can move quickly from one spot to another without attracting too much attention or getting in the way. But that also means that I have to use available light, which makes looking at the sun’s direction and the quality of light important. This is why locations are scouted ahead of time, at the same exact time as we’ll be photographing, usually a few days before the session (you’ll be surprised how a location can change over a span of a week with sudden construction or barriers popping up).

4. Review the Shoot Plan PDF and provide feedback

Once I have the Shoot Plan PDF put together, your job is to review it. It will have the overall concept for each story we’re focusing on, locations, clothing that goes with each location, and a shot list of the photos we need to capture. It’s important to be completely honest during this step as I need to know, very directly, your opinion about the plan. If there are shots that you don’t really feel we need, we'll remove them, and if there’s something you feel we’re missing, we will revisit the locations, clothing, and story concepts to make sure we capture everything that’s needed.

The point is, the PDF plan is a guide for our day. We need to go into the photoshoot with the best possible plan we can, with any issues that might arise being brought to the surface ahead of time. This allows us to move through concepts quickly and capture many different images in the end.

That being said, things do change on the day of the photoshoot. We might decide that a certain outfit or location just isn’t working as well as we thought and throw on a blazer or walk down the street for a better spot. We might add shots if we are inspired by a random item on the desk, or decide that we got everything we needed and end early (especially if everyone is tired and wiped out from the day). There’s no right or wrong way to go about this and years of experience allow me to make these types of decisions on the fly for best results.

5. Prep for hair & makeup

On the actual day of your photoshoot, you get to enjoy professional hair & makeup to get you camera-ready. I love to bring in Haus of Pretty for these sessions because I know how incredibly skilled Kelsey and Lauren are (makeup for photos is, after all, very different from everyday or even event makeup!).

But you still need to prepare, even if someone else will be making you all beautiful for your session. Mostly that means washing and fully drying your hair, moisturizing your skin, drinking lots of water, going to bed early, and making sure your favorite lipsticks or lip glosses are available for the makeup artist to use (this means we can easily reapply during the session). Hair & Makeup typically takes place about 2 hours before the photoshoot, in your home (to keep everyone distanced and safe).

You can read through a more detailed getting-ready guide here: https://www.nlalorphotography.com/blog/how-to-prep-for-professional-hair-and-makeup-with-haus-of-pretty

This process is one I am really proud of. It took several years or refinement to fine-tune exactly how to prepare for something as important as a Personal Branding photoshoot. I believe strongly in not just showing up with a camera on the day of and expecting everything to work out. I love to prepare fully before any task, and these sessions are no different!