8 Great poses to capture at your next brand shoot | Essex brand photographer

August 3, 2023

When it comes to building a presence on social media, you NEED to have brand photos of YOU on there.

When I personally come across an account now and I can’t see any photos of the owner or there is a poor range of images – I will carry on scrolling.

WHY – because I can’t instantly feel a connection with you or feel attracted to your service.

It is key for you to have on brand images to promote you and your business – photos you take yourself or if you have the budget with a brand photographer.

As as small business you are your brand and you need to capture the story of your business and be able to share this across all your marketing platforms.

I have written this blog to give you inspiration and to share with you from my experience as a brand photographer the key images you need to capture to create your brand image library.

These poses will give you ideas on how to create images that will help you connect and engage online with your ideal clients

These 8 brand photoshoot ideas are great options to show various aspects of your personality whilst also showing your authority in your niche offering.

Pose 1 – the happy smiley face

Every business owner needs to have the happy photo – one where your clients can clearly see your face and one happy expression of you confidently looking into the camera. These photos make great profile pictures and invite your audience to see that you are a great fun and confident person to speak and work with.

These brand photos will also show that you are confident and knowledgable in your niche – that you love what you do and that you are the expert to help your ideal clients

Pose 2 – you and your tools

Take the time to think about the tools you use for your business.

It could be as simple as a phone and a laptop or if you are a product based business the tools you use to create your products.

The tools you use tell a story to your ideal clients and capturing them in your images help clients see how you work and your skilled expertise.

Using a phone and a laptop in a coffee shop shows you are flexible and can work from anywhere. If you are a creative entrepreneur for example a candle maker or a painter again showing your specialist tools shows a level of experience and expertise.

These photos will make you stand out from your competitors as they will show the love and investment you put into your business – they will be able to see your story visually.

The image below if from a brand photo shoot with business owner Mayla & Oscar who runs her table top business from her home, showing that all her products are handmade by herself.

Pose 3 – bursting with laughter

Photos that show you laughing having fun really do show the world your personality and will attract your ideal client to want to connect with you.

Think about the photos you see every day on social media – what images are you attracted to?

Images of a business owner laughing and showing that they would be fun and easy to connect with will attract more people to connect with you.

You need your images to stand out and give your audience a reason to want to connect with you.

Pose 4 – detailed shots

Take the time not just to capture images of just you but pose your surrounding to help tell your story.

Plan into your shot to capture photos to show the tools you use up close. Details of your office environment or of personal items that tell your story.

These photos will help give your audience a more insight about you and your business. Helping you to share your story in a more creative manner.

Give your followers a more up-close personal look at your life by sharing details of your personal hobbies and things you love to do – from drinking your favourite drink to kick off the weekend or photos of your favourite books that keep you inspired.

Brand photoshoot of a chocolatier creating her favourite chocolate treats in her work kitchen
Above brand photo shoot with the chocolatier The Curious Cocoa, the whole process of making their chocolates was captured to show all the details and time that is taken to create this companies beautiful handmade chocolate range.

Below brand shoot with a female business owner showing the sources of information she uses to plan for her product range.

Pose 5 – use props

Have fun with props to tell your story. Capture images using props like books/stationary / your favourite foods to give your audience more of an insight about your likes and dislikes.

A popular saying in the world of selling is the know, like, trust factor – you need your ideal clients to firstly get to know you, then like you and then to finally trust you before you can covert them to a sale. Telling your personal story and sharing your personal interests will help you build that know, like and trust factor with your ideal clients.

This image was captured of Lucy Everett a VA who wanted to create fun social media content – images from her brand photo shoot that would look different and stop people from scrolling past her.

Using her favourite planner we created this fun shot which can be used to talk about how she plans her working week, what breakfasts looks like in her home, her Sunday morning routine. Fun images like this will allow you to reuse your images muplitle times each time telling your audience something new about you.

Pose 6 – walking

I absolutely LOVE a good walking shot!

This is where you can have fun and simply let loose.

Walking shots are a great way to also capture your location as they can be taken wide to help tell your audience about where you work from. This could be to show a London background for example to say you work and travel into the city or to show your favourite locations that you visit to unwind.

Walking shots are taken ideally from a slightly low angle to make your legs and body look taller.

Shoreditch headshots for a social media manager

This image was captured of Gill Sharpe from her brand photo shoot – Gill is a social media manager who wanted images in and around London as this is where her client base is. Wanted to show she is London based and able to easily meet her clients when they needed her.

Pose 7 – anonymous

I love to capture creative images like the one below – it may seem odd at first however capturing photos with a twist will help stop the scroll and attract more eyes to look at your social media account. Something about the fact you can’t tell who the person adds a little intrigue and will invite your ideal clients to find out more.

Images like these work really well as a website background, on social media, or small detail images to give a glimpse of your service.

Business photos for an outdoor wedding planner

Pose 8 – don’t forget to pose your hands

Lastly one pose that is required for all shots is knowing how to pose your hands.

One of the most common things that do my clients ask on a shoot is ‘what do I do with my hands’

It’s a funny thing but when taking photos of people they never quite know where to place their hands and this makes them feel uncomfortable and akward in photos.

I always advise my clients to either use their hands to hold something for example a phone or a drink or use their hands as they would to work.

If no props are available use the clothes they are wearing, hands in packets or simply playing with with their clothing such a grabbing the end of a jacket or scarf.

Or simply use your hands around your yourself to add shape to your pose – placing a hand on your neck and your other hand crossed over – or a classic cross your hands pose as shown in the images below.

Using hands to play with your hair or twisting a piece of jewellery.

Using your hands will distract you from thinking about the photos being taken and help capture more natural candid brand images.

I always recommend sharing a mix of brand images as you can see from my posing tips above when planning your brand shoot. I think it is so important to work into your brand shoot details about your business as well as images of you.

Take a look at this post for more ideas on on to prep for a brand shoot – my top 10 tips on how to prep for your brand photography shoot to get all the images you need.

And if you’d like to get yourself booked in for brand photoshoot with me, head over to this page and get in touch! I would love to hear from you.

If you would like to find out more about booking brand shoot, fill in my contact me form to book a discovery call, or take a look at my pricing and packages here. I’d love to hear from you!

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8 Great poses to capture at your next brand shoot | Essex brand photographer

Pose 1 – the happy smiley face

Pose 2 – you and your tools

Pose 3 – bursting with laughter

Pose 4 – detailed shots

Pose 5 – use props

Pose 6 – walking

Pose 7 – anonymous

Pose 8 – don’t forget to pose your hands

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