Brand Photography: A Step-by-Step Guide, Examples, and Tips

People spend less than a second on an ad and less than a minute to scroll through a website. And with social media, one client gets flooded with hundreds of content, making it a challenge to nurture engagement on this channel, too.

For many businesses, images—in addition to other visual assets—have evolved from simple stills to an artistic expression of an idea or message at a glance. And it works as over 60 percent of the population are visual learners.

With the rising demand for branding photos, millions of free and paid stock images are available at your fingertips. But that means other businesses may be using them, too.

If you want to be unique, you may need a collection of images tailored to your brand. Whether you have your own business or a personal brand, you’ll benefit greatly from branding photographs.

It includes product shots, production processes, workspace photos, and photos of your team members. Or other everyday images used on websites, blogs, and social media posts to tell your brand story, among others.

Compared to other forms of photography, branding photography aims to communicate your brand’s personality and style more casually while aligning with your visual identity.

For example, a typical corporate photo would have a group of people in suits seated around a meeting table. It gives a generic, formal, and uptight visual identity.

On the other hand, brand photography would have a few photos of in-the-moment scenes at work. Say, pictures of people enjoying coffee, conversations with clients, and having fun in the break room.

A huge plus to producing and curating your branding photography collection is having creative freedom, flexibility, and exclusive ownership of images that visually represent your brand essence.

According to a study done by HubSpot, images ranked second among other types of visual content with the highest ROI (return on investment), making branding photography important.

If that’s not enough to convince you to start taking professional photos, below are some of the biggest perks of investing in branding photography.

You Can Create Images That Are Unique to Your Brand

Veer away from generic photos and curate a gallery that instantly makes people think of your brand. Take cycling apparel brand Rapha with its summer and spring collection.

While Rapha has sporty stills of cyclists on the go typically seen in its industry, its newest brand photographs captured the interplay of colorful flowers and vibrant textiles. The texture, contrast of brand colors, and high fashion vibe effectively highlighted its high-end and stylish designs.

With its on-brand visual aesthetics, Rapha is more likely to increase brand awareness and capture the attention of its ideal clients.

You Can Edit Your Images However You Desire

While they are free, a downside to using free stock photos is the inability to edit them. You do have the option to purchase, but modification is still significantly limited. Hence, many spend hours and are often left to choose among a few images that fit their content needs.

On the contrary, investing in branding photography gives you the creative freedom to shoot on brand concepts and alter them for future use.

You Have Exclusive Rights to Your Images

Aside from making your brand unique and memorable, investing in high-quality images can save you a lifetime of royalties and other licensing expenses. And if you produce hundreds of content on different platforms, that can be a hefty price.

Brand photography is used widely to amplify your content marketing strategy and your overall brand, online and offline.

You can upload them in blog posts to help explain concepts, social media posts to boost engagement and websites. Or how about brochures, brand stand displays, and other print marketing materials? It also helps when promoting workshops, networking, and other events.

Brand photography is not just for businesses, though. Individuals can have professional images captured through personal branding photography to build a positive first impression and boost their portfolio.

Before you jump into a branding session with your favorite photographer, here are some different types of brand photography you should be aware of.

1. Behind-the-Scenes Branding Photography

Let your audience have a glimpse of what happens behind the curtains. Share pictures of your production process fresh from the workshop or factory. It showcases your brand’s commitment to transparency, which can further nurture trust.

For instance, Maison Marou, a Vietnamese chocolate company, effectively tells its brand story and values by integrating images of its local farmers and workers. You can see farmers happily harvesting cacaos before they become chocolate bars.

You can also create content from images taken before and during an event to increase curiosity and make your audience feel involved. Plus, guests may even share your behind-the-scene photos on their socials.

Levi’s partnered with fashion and lifestyle magazine Highsnobiety for the fashion week, where guest photos were on Instagram. It successfully created more buzz and expanded the brand’s reach to other potential clients.

An article about the launch of LEGO’s Build the Change program provided a sneak peek through photos of what people can expect from its latest creative space. The program encourages children to have fun and build innovative solutions to real-world problems through Legos.

2. Inspirational Branding Photography

Photos partnered with compelling copy can be a powerful visual that amplifies your storytelling. In fact, brand photos can even serve as an inspiration to many.

Take the sports brand Puma which champions lesser-known athletes by giving them a shout-out on social media.

Inspirational photos are also a great accompaniment to blogs, especially when featuring customers or clients.

In one of Tesla’s Customer Stories, the brand highlighted one of the small business owners Peter Lüttel, and his shared passion for building a sustainable bakery through clean energy. A text only content would have been a long and boring read. But with the addition of photos, the story became more interesting and relatable, especially to other small businesses.

3. Lifestyle Branding Photography

Add a bit of fun and show your brand personality through lifestyle images. Share images of your office pets, hobbies, and favorite hangout spots at work. Or why not take photos of after-work activities, like a friendly badminton match, yoga sessions, movie nights, sundowners, or other social events?

If you’re tired of using the same photos repeatedly, opt for brand lifestyle photography. With tons of concepts you can shoot, it is a rich source of fresh content.

Evolvetogether showcases lifestyle images with warm tones and natural textures. Every shot is a nature-y scene. Through its artistic and whimsical imagery, the brand conveys its commitment to producing daily essentials that are beautiful, high-performing, and environmentally friendly.

Pet food business A Better Treat accompanies their brand story with photos of the owners bonding with their favorite dog. These photos show how much they care for animals, ensuring customers that their products are made with love.

4. Professional Headshots

Let your clients meet the team through professional headshots. These are typically found on the “About Us” page of branded websites or shared on social media.

While formal pictures in suits certainly have their place in professional networking platforms like LinkedIn, try pushing your creative boundaries. Don’t be afraid to zhuzh it up with candid individual or group photos of your team. Doing so also creates an open, friendly, and approachable vibe that could entice your customers or clients to connect with you.

Professional headshots also work perfectly for people looking to build their personal brand. These could be consultants, influencers, industry leaders, celebrities, authority figures, and other service based businesses trying to elevate their own brands.

As they say, first impressions last, especially when looking for potential clients. So, go ahead and invest in your personal brand photography. A personal branding photography session is more intimate and elaborate as you dive into your personality, goals, and stories.

Tip: Find a personal branding photographer who can make you feel comfortable and bring out the best visual version of yourself. For starters, ask for their portfolios and work process. You can also take photographer recommendations from other business owners.

5. Product Branding Photography

Your branding photography session is incomplete without professional product shots, especially in ecommerce. As the name implies, these are images that highlight the features of your products.

In addition to standard product photos with white backgrounds, go for creative images that play with different textures, backgrounds, and lighting. Maiso’s product photography transformed its water bottles from boring to chic and modern. The brand's product gallery makes you want to drink from their fancy bottles!

Or consider Down the Road Spice Co.’s take on product photography. Muted yet deep colors of jars of spices backdropped against teal velvet fabric give that artisan look and a nod to its Indian origin. They certainly are far more appealing than standard grocery spices.

Whatever type of brand photography you choose, it is crucial to have the right photographer for your project. You'll need a photographer—company branding or personal branding photographer—who understands your brand and has the skills to translate your creative business side into compelling and dynamic images.

A brand photoshoot can be intimidating. But fret not! We got your back with these six easy steps to get you started.

Step 1. Define Your Photoshoot Goals

Before you begin your branding photo shoot, it is best to identify what you want. Ask yourself how you want others to perceive your brand and what emotions you want customers to associate with you. This helps set the tone and direction of the photo shoot.

Of course, you can break your goals into multiple brand photoshoots. There are different options for branding photography packages you can choose from. But, it is crucial to be consistent by aligning your visuals with your brand identity.

For individuals, dive deep into your goals through a personal branding session. Evaluate what you want people to think and feel once they see photos of you.

2. Create a Brand Photoshoot Mood Board

Next is creating a brand photoshoot mood board. Think of it as a visual representation of ideas and inspirations for the shoot.

Start by looking for images online—Pinterest, stock photo websites, social media, etc—that are close to what you want to depict. Add color swatches, materials with different textures, and different illustrations relevant to your concept. It is best to work closely with your photographer of choice.

The goal of a mood board is to declutter your mind as you go through your creative process. The final product is a refined concept that ties in all the essential elements. It is also a great tool to explain your brand photoshoot goals as you get everyone on board.

3. Determine Where to Use the Photos

Different channels require different image formats and feel. That said, narrow down which channels you will use your professional brand photos on.

For instance, your team’s professional headshots can go on your website. Lifestyle and behind-the-scene brand photos are perfect for social photo-sharing platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

Knowing which channels to prioritize helps you organize your brand photoshoots and choose the right brand photography package, optimizing your resources and return on investment. If you already have an existing collection of image content, it is best to run a brand audit and see which ones work with your audience.

4. Prepare a Shot List

A shot list or a brand photography checklist serves as your guide during the shooting day. It includes specific poses and scenes you want to capture, lighting, and camera lenses needed.

Sometimes, branding photos are not shot sequentially for practical reasons, too. So, your shot list prevents confusion and chaos. And finally, a shot list also helps your creative team know what props and materials to set up and models, if necessary, to hire.

5. Check Your Locations

As much as possible, eliminate distractions when shooting, especially outside a studio. And this is where location scouting comes in handy.

If your lifestyle photos include outdoor sceneries like a park or a cafe, it is best to have the arrangements–date of the shoot and for how long—with management ahead of time. If you’re showing the manufacturing process, you want your factory to look perfect on camera.

6. Shooting Day!

Make the most of your brand shoot by coming in prepared and early! If it helps, organize a final meeting with your team before the shooting day to ensure everything is in order. Double-check your shot list and refer to your mood board should you need to make creative decisions in a snap.

And remember to have fun!

Whether you’re establishing your personal brand or a business owner, your decision to hire depends on the size of your project, goals, and resources.

You can DIY and learn from free online course content led by experts. But, hiring a professional brand photographer or a brand design company has its perks you may not want to miss. Plus, it is often cost-efficient with your choice of brand photography package.

Brand photographers can take care of the nitty-gritty as they lay out concepts and plan for your brand photography. Being the experts, they can give you advice on how to enhance your brand photos. And with the massive work a shoot entails, it could be a harrowing experience for beginners.

With the help of the experts, all you have to do is double-check if everything aligns with your brand identity, brand story, and brand message.

So, are you ready to capture new photos that are on brand? Team up with Ramotion and book a branding session. Or keep in touch and learn about our brand photography services.