What Kind of Photos Do You Actually Need for a Personal Brand Shoot?

By Marie Feutrier • July 9, 2026

Most people book a personal brand shoot and then realize they are not sure what they are actually supposed to walk away with. They know they need "more than a headshot." They are just not sure what the more is.

I had a phone call this week that got at it perfectly. She asked three questions in a row: Can I wear different outfits? Can we get photos of me working at my desk? And can we make it feel like me? Those are exactly the right questions, so let me answer them the way I answer them in the studio.

Start with one strong headshot

Every set still needs an anchor: a clean, confident portrait of your face. It is the image that goes on your LinkedIn, your speaker bio, your team page. Everything else in the shoot builds outward from it. So we get that first, while you are fresh, and then we loosen up.

Then the photos of you actually working

This is the part people underestimate, and it is the answer to "can we get photos of me at my desk." Yes, and we should. The images that make a brand feel real are the ones where something is happening: you mid-sentence on a call, reviewing a document, sketching an idea, pouring the coffee before a meeting. Environmental shots like these tell a client what it feels like to work with you before they have read a single word on your site.

Different looks, so the set does not feel like one long minute

Yes to different outfits. In fact, please bring several. Three or four looks that reflect different sides of your work give us a set that can carry a whole year: a polished look for the keynote, something softer for the "about" page, something relaxed for social. We change the outfit, we change the setup, and suddenly one afternoon looks like an ongoing story instead of a single moment.

Props help here too. The tools of your trade, a laptop, a camera, a book you wrote, a whisk if you are a baker, all of it makes the images specifically yours. Generic is the enemy of a personal brand. Specific is the whole point.

A signature color that runs through everything

Here is a favorite request of mine. One client asked for a touch of magenta in every single frame, and it completely changed how the set read: scrolling through her images felt like scrolling through one brand, not one photo shoot. If you have a signature color, we can build it in on purpose, in a backdrop, an outfit, a prop, a wall. It is the same instinct behind Anthony's Wes Anderson-inspired session, where the color coordination was the point, not an accident.

Even if you do not have a brand color yet, we can keep a consistent palette across the shoot so the images hang together when you use them side by side.

Do not forget the "empty" frames

A few wide shots with room around you, negative space to one side, are worth planning for. Those are the images your web designer will love, because they leave room for a headline, a logo, or a call to action laid right over the photo. Nobody asks for these, and everybody ends up needing them.

So how many images is that?

You do not need hundreds. You need a considered handful that each do a job. Most of my clients leave with 15 to 25 finals: the headshot, a few working shots, a couple of lifestyle frames, some detail and prop images, and a few of those wide "designer" shots. Enough to fill a website, a year of social, a press kit, and a speaker bio without repeating yourself.

That is really the difference between a headshot and a personal brand shoot. A headshot answers "what do you look like." A brand set answers "what is it like to work with you." We take the time to shoot the second one properly, without a clock running, because that is the version people actually remember.

If you are planning a shoot and want help thinking through your looks, your props, and your color, that is exactly what I do. Here is how personal branding sessions work, and you can bring your list of questions to our first conversation. Mine started with three good ones.

Marie

What Kind of Photos Do You Actually Need for a Personal Brand Shoot?

Start with one strong headshot

Then the photos of you actually working

Different looks, so the set does not feel like one long minute

A signature color that runs through everything

Do not forget the "empty" frames

So how many images is that?

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