Personal Branding Photography

A branding session usually includes a few headshots, so you rarely need to book both.

Before the session, the photographer works through a short brief with you. A useful shot list covers:

• Hero images: wide, horizontal frames with empty space for text on your homepage.
• About-page portraits: closer, warmer, one or two with eye contact.
• Working shots: you with a client (a friend can stand in), at the laptop, on a call, at a whiteboard, with your tools.
• Details: hands, notebook, product, coffee, the view from your desk.
• Vertical frames for Instagram stories and reels covers.
• Your brand colours in clothes or props, without making every image look staged.

Bring your website or a mock-up; the photographer will frame some shots to fit it.

Most branding sessions use two settings. Popular combinations:

• A co-working space or café plus a street scene. In Amsterdam, the converted industrial buildings around the NDSM wharf and the Westergas area give a creative feel; the Zuidas says corporate.
• Rotterdam's architecture for founders and consultants who want a modern, confident look: the area around the Markthal and the Wilhelminapier. See Rotterdam photoshoot locations.
• Utrecht's Oudegracht or a smaller city like Delft for coaches and therapists who want warmth over polish.

Cafés and co-working spaces are private property. Ask before you photograph there, and expect some to say no or to ask you to buy something. Photographers who work locally often know which places are easy.

Plan three looks that match how clients actually see you: what you wear to a client meeting, what you wear on a relaxed day, and one step up for speaking or press. Avoid tight patterns and very new clothes that still show fold lines.

The day before: steam or iron everything, charge your laptop (it will appear in shots), and clear your phone's lock screen.

A typical two-hour branding session:

• 0:00–0:15: walk-through of the shot list, check outfits, choose the first setting.
• 0:15–0:50: first look at your workspace or a co-working space. Working shots, details, a few headshots while your energy is fresh.
• 0:50–1:00: change and move.
• 1:00–1:45: second look, second setting, usually outdoors. Walking shots, hero images with space for text, vertical frames.
• 1:45–2:00: anything missing from the list, plus a few frames you did not plan. Those are often the ones that get used most.

Afterwards you receive a proof gallery or a curated selection, depending on the photographer. Build a simple folder structure as soon as the images arrive (website, LinkedIn, Instagram, press) so the library actually gets used.

Branding sessions include a commercial licence for your own business: website, social media, newsletters, speaker profiles, press. Paid advertising, book covers and use by a third party (for example a publisher or employer) may need an extended licence; confirm with the photographer when you receive the quote.