When you pay for a professional photo session, the last thing you want is to feel disappointed afterward. To help you avoid this, here are five mistakes to be aware of to ensure you walk away with the personal branding shots you’ve been envisioning.
Mistake 1: Copying Another Shoot to the Letter
While it is perfectly fine to use someone’s style or another personal branding shoot as inspiration, it’s best not to copy the entire shoot down to every detail. An effective personal brand is one that’s authentic, which is why you want to work in some unique details of your own. Speak to your photographer about your ideas to get some assistance with the brainstorming process.
Mistake 2: Only Shooting Headshots
The point of a personal branding shoot is to tell a story. This means you need to do more than just take a few headshots. Headshots are perfectly fine for your LinkedIn profile, but they won’t help tell your story on your site or social media pages. Give your customers something to relate to – tell them more about what makes you tick using your outfit, style, location, or props.
Mistake 3: Completely Controlling Your Shoot
Your photographer is a professional for a reason. If you want to make the most of your session, you need to place some trust in your photographer. Once you share what you want to achieve, your photographer is there to guide you in terms of the location, poses, lighting, and anything else that will make your shoot a success.
Mistake 4: Only Capturing Yourself
Yes, you are the star of the show during your personal branding session, but you also need a few filler photos. These are the photos that you can use on your site and marketing material to bring your story together. Examples of filler photos include products, the outside of your office space, or any other types of props that fit in with the theme of your session.
Mistake 5: Not Doing Anything with Your Photos
Your personal branding photos are there to be used, so don’t let them sit in a file on your computer after your session. In fact, it’s best practice to decide how you want to use them prior to your shoot so that you can give your photographer a shot list.
Now that you know what to avoid, you can get back to planning the perfect shoot.
