Auckland Personal Branding Photographer

Photography that shows the person behind the business

Who personal branding photography is for

Most of the people I photograph are not models and have never enjoyed being in front of a camera. They are consultants, coaches, accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, financial advisers, recruiters, therapists and business owners across Auckland who have reached the point where one old photo is holding them back.

You are probably ready for a personal branding photoshoot if you are rebuilding your website, launching something, speaking or teaching, being introduced to people before you meet them, or simply posting on LinkedIn far more often than your photo library can keep up with.

Really it is for anyone who needs to promote their business.

People need to trust you before they will deal with you, and that is hard to do from a logo and a paragraph of text. A personal branding shoot lets them see a bit more of who you are and what you are like to work with, before they have ever spoken to you. That is the part a single portrait cannot do on its own.

You do not need to arrive knowing how to do any of this. I coach you through the whole session. Most people tell me beforehand that they are not photogenic, and what they mean is that nobody has ever directed them properly.

What happens in a personal branding photoshoot

Not knowing what to expect is the main reason people put this off, so here is the whole process.

Before the day

The first thing I do is ask about your business, and I keep asking. What you do, who your clients are, what the personality behind the business is, where these images are going to be posted and what you need them to achieve. This is not small talk while I set up. I cannot photograph a business well until I understand it, and the answers change what we shoot.

My background is in marketing as well as photography, and that shows up in the questions. Clients often tell me the questions were the useful part, because answering them out loud made them clearer about what they needed. People arrive knowing they want photos and leave that conversation knowing which photos, and why.

Then we plan the day around the answers. If one part of your work is the part you most need people to see, that is where we spend the time. The goal is the images you will get the most use from, not a tidy list of shots.

People tell me this is a reassuring way to start, and I think I know why. Clients are smart. They can tell the difference between someone going through the motions and someone who cares how their business does. I teach photography as well, and when photographers ask me how to get better, my honest answer is to become a better person. The camera part is learnable. The caring part is what shows up in the photograph.

We plan your looks together too, and you are welcome to email me photos of your outfit options so nothing is decided in a panic on the morning.

At the start of the session

We do not begin with the hardest shot. We start with something easy while you settle in. Almost everyone loosens up within the first few minutes, once they realise I am going to tell them exactly what to do.

During the shoot

You are guided the whole way through. Where to put your hands, where to look, how to stand, how to shift your weight so it reads as relaxed rather than stiff.

I show you the back of the camera as we go, for two reasons. The first is practical. You get to check your own appearance while we can still do something about it, whether that is your hair parted on the side you do not like, or a collar sitting wrong, or anything else you would rather fix now than notice later in a photo you have already paid for.

The second reason is that it changes how the rest of the session goes. Most people are surprised by the first frame. They are used to seeing themselves in badly lit, badly timed photos, because that is most photos, and they have quietly concluded that is how they look. Seeing yourself properly lit and properly posed for the first time tends to land as a shock, in a good way. After that, people relax, because they are no longer bracing for a bad picture.

I am also watching for the things you do without noticing. A way you hold your hands when you are explaining something, an expression that turns up whenever you talk about the part of the job you love. I will often stop and say that is a look you do a lot, I want that in your shot. Those frames are usually the ones people end up choosing.

I will also try at least one setup that is bolder than the standard personal branding look, built to stop someone scrolling rather than blend into a feed. Almost every time it is a look the client would not have picked for themselves beforehand, and almost every time it ends up being their favourite.

After the shoot

Your images are edited naturally. I remove distractions and passing blemishes without smoothing you into someone else, because a photo that does not look like you is no use when you walk into the room. You then have a set of images you own and can use anywhere.

Where I photograph across Auckland

I work throughout Auckland, the North Shore and the Hibiscus Coast, including Takapuna, Albany, Milford, Devonport, Browns Bay, Silverdale, Orewa, Whangaparaoa and the central city.

A personal branding session can happen in three places, and the right one depends on what your images need to say.

In my studio in Stanmore Bay. Controlled light, clean backgrounds and no weather to work around. Best when you want a polished, consistent set that will sit neatly alongside your existing branding.

At your workplace. Often the most useful option, because the background is yours. Your desk, your workshop, your clinic, your meeting room. These are the images that show people what working with you is like.

On location. A cafe, a co-working space, a hotel, or somewhere outdoors that fits your brand. Good when your work happens out in the world rather than at one desk.

Studio or on location: which one is right for you

These are two different sessions and they give you different things. It is worth deciding which one you need before you book.

A studio session

You come to my studio in Stanmore Bay. The light is controlled, the background is clean, and every frame is close and deliberate. You choose fifteen images and I retouch them properly, one at a time. Choose this if what you want is a set of polished, beautifully lit images to carry your website, your LinkedIn profile and anywhere else you need to look your best.

A session at your workplace

I come to you and photograph you doing the things that fill your day. Working at your desk, talking with a client, running a meeting, using your tools, whatever your day really looks like. You receive every image that meets my quality standards, lightly retouched, so you come away with far more than fifteen. These frames are not as close, so they do not need the same intensive retouching, which is why there are more of them. Choose this if you need a working library of images that show people what you do, not just what you look like.

Plenty of people eventually do both. The studio set gives you the polished images, and the workplace set keeps you posting for months. Full details of what each includes are on the pricing page.

How long it takes, and how many outfits to bring

How long your session runs

About two hours on average, but I do not run a stopwatch. Some people relax within minutes and we have everything we need quickly, particularly at their own workplace where they are already comfortable and simply getting on with their day. Other people need more guidance and more time to settle, and that is completely fine. The session finishes when you have the images you need, not when the clock says so.

Bring as many outfits as you like

There is no limit, and I actively encourage you to change often. It matters more than people expect. A whole set of images in one outfit looks like exactly what it is, a single photoshoot. The same images across several outfits look like they were taken on different days, which gives your feed depth and makes it far easier to keep posting without repeating yourself.

When you get your photos

Usually within a week. If I am going through a particularly busy stretch and it is going to take longer, I tell you that when you book, not afterwards.

Do you need a headshot or a personal branding photoshoot?

This is the question I am asked most, so here is the short answer.

A headshot is one strong portrait of your face. It is what you need for LinkedIn, a team page, a conference programme or a media profile. If you need one good image and nothing more, book a headshot.

Business branding photography is a wider set. Portraits, working shots, detail shots, images with space beside you for text. It is what you need when you are posting regularly, building a website, or trying to look like the same business across every platform someone might find you on.

Plenty of people start with a headshot and come back for personal branding once they realise how often they need a photo and how quickly one image runs out.

What if there are two or three of us?

A personal branding session is built around one person, but it stretches comfortably to two or three who work together and want some images side by side without booking separate sessions. Beyond about three people it stops making sense and becomes a team shoot instead, which is a different session with different pricing. If you are not sure which side of the line you fall on, ask me and I will tell you which one will serve you better.

How to get the most out of your session

Sessions rarely go wrong, because I ask a lot of questions before the day and give a lot of advice on the phone. Most problems get headed off there. But there is a real difference between a session that goes fine and one you are still getting value from six months later, and the difference is thinking, done in advance.

Before your shoot, give some thought to:

• Where the images will be used. A LinkedIn banner, a website header and an Instagram post are different shapes. Knowing where they are going changes how I frame them.
• What you need people to understand about your business. Which part of what you do is the part that wins the work? That is the part we should spend the time on.
• Your clothes. Bring more than you think, including something less formal if you want variety. There is more on what photographs well below.
• Props you work with. If there is an object that says what you do without a caption, bring it. A doctor with a stethoscope, a chef with their knives, a builder with their tools. Props tie an image to your work instantly.
• The advice I give you on the phone. I know everyone is busy. The clients who get the most from their session are the ones who acted on that conversation rather than arriving hoping it will sort itself out.

You do not need to have this all worked out before you call me. Working it out together is part of what you are booking.

What to wear, and the two things to avoid

I go through this with everyone on the phone before their shoot, and most people follow it. It is here as well because it makes a real difference and it is easier to plan a week out than on the morning.

Wear something structured, even if it feels snug

This is the one that surprises people. When we feel self conscious about our size, the instinct is to reach for something loose. On camera it does the opposite of what you are hoping. Baggy clothing adds weight, and it reads as frumpy or ill fitting in a photograph.

Structured clothing photographs far better. A jacket or shirt that fits you now is a better choice than a looser one, even if it feels slightly tight, and even if you have gained a bit of weight since you bought it. I can pose you around a fitted garment. I cannot pose away the extra fabric of a baggy one.

Avoid small stripes and small checks

Fine repeating patterns fight with a camera sensor and produce a shimmering, wavy distortion across the fabric. It is called a moire pattern, and once it is in a photograph it is very difficult to remove. A finely striped shirt or a small check jacket is the usual culprit. Solid colours are safest, and larger patterns are generally fine.

Bring options, and send them to me first

There is no limit on outfits and I would rather you brought too many than too few. If you are unsure, email me photos of what you are considering before the day and I will tell you what will photograph well and what will not. That takes five minutes and saves the guesswork.

Most people are back in about three months

Here is what happens with a good set of images. Clients use them, and then use them again. The same photos turn up on a website, in a LinkedIn post, on a conference programme, in a proposal, in an ad, in a newsletter. Not once each. Over and over, in different places and different crops.

Which means the thing that eventually brings people back is not that the photos stopped working. It is that they used them so much they ran out of fresh ones. Around the three month mark I tend to hear from people who have worked through the whole set and want something new to post.

That is worth knowing before you book, because it changes what we shoot. If you are going to be posting steadily, you need variety built in from the start: different outfits, different settings, different framing, and images with deliberate empty space beside you so text can sit there later. That is what makes a set last rather than run dry in a fortnight.

I am also not precious about what you do with them. Once you have paid for your session, the images are yours. Crop them, add text, put them in an ad, use them anywhere that helps your business. Some photographers restrict that. I would rather you got every bit of value out of them.

If you want the longer version of my thinking on this, I wrote about what is changing in Auckland personal branding photography right now.

If you would like a FREE no-obligation consultation, I'd love you to contact me: