Choosing a location for your personal branding shoot can be one of the hardest parts of planning your personal branding shoot.
So I thought I’d run through a few things you need to consider and some suggestions of places that you can often use for free.
What look do you want to achieve?
If we look at your overall brand; so that includes you, your website, brand colours, your social media feeds, instagram etc – what overall tone are you looking for?
For The Branding photographer I like rich colours … so for a location I’d be looking at somewhere dark (that still had natural light) – so perhaps a restaurant or cafe with dark walls and lots of candles and rich opulent furniture? Or may be just my own living room?
But what if you’re wanting somewhere light and airy? Perhaps a white backgrounds, natural wood etc? Clean sharp lines, and minimum clutter?
Is it important to have a natural element to your images? Perhaps a park or gardens might be the best place for you?
The overall tone of the images can make a huge difference to the impact of the images.
Do you have a signature colour you need to incorporate?
This might seem obvious but if you have a colour thats important to your brand, have a think about places you might have seen that colour? A wall in a cafe or shop? A graffiti wall in a town centre? Or a museum with a beautiful painting thats on brand?
Obviously you can dress in your colours and then choose a more neutral background, however as you can see from this image, the background can really look great on a website.
What do you want to be doing in the photographs?
Its sometimes easier in the images if you’re doing something? Not only does it take your focus away from feeling embarrassed but it also looks more natural. So maybe its just sat on a comfy sofa with your laptop… Perhaps you want to be seen with other people. Are you going to be on your phone or enjoying a glass of something nice?
Some unusual ideas of locations:
Here are some ideas for choosing a location for your Personal branding shoot:
For someone who’s a food blogger, chef, food writer or cake maker
If your own kitchen or workspace isn’t the look you’re going for consider other options. We could contact a cookery school and use their kitchen? Or perhaps use the showroom from a kitchen manufacturer or B&Q? Maybe we could even pop over to Ikea and use one of their set ups?
For someone that works from home; digital marketer, PR etc
If your home isn’t the look you’re wanting, what about a sofa showroom? Or perhaps you have a friend who’s an interior designer and you could use their space? Or even a friend with a nice living room?
Want a dramatic backdrop?
Consider a modern art museum or even a luxury hotel lobby?
Need other people in the image?
What about a busy cafe in a town centre, or literally just a busy street with people rushing past you?
If you review books or you’re a writer or editor
We could go to a library or a bookshop? Again, maybe you know someone who has a beautiful library or living room?
Hopefully this has given you a better understanding of the unlimited options available for finding a location for your Branding photography photoshoot. Don’t forget to join me for the next part in the series…
And if you’re looking for even more inspiration, check out my “Personal branding locations” over on Pinterest.
And when you’re ready, here are three ways that I can help you:
1) Visit my blog for tips on VISIBILITY.
Every week I discuss strategies to improve your visibility, get over your fear of visibility and my latest shoots. Read here
2) Plan a bespoke photoshoot.
We can plan a shoot based on what you actually need (read more) or you could join me at a Branding Day.
3) Join ‘Visibility School’.
Visibility school is a membership group where you get 12 months of photoshoots, a fab little Facebook group and a Visibility Toolkit (new for 2023 members) . Read
