Orwin photography

Capture Your Brand: Personal Branding Shoot Insights | Orwin Photography

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:00:00 -0800

So your interested in a brand Photography session. You are wanting to know more about what you get, but don’t fancy chatting with me quite yet. Well lets do something out of the norm and I will tell you every thing here.

After I have received your deposit for the shoot.

The first thing I do with my clients is send them a work book. (What I have to do some work, I thought you just came and took photos.) When you have completed the work book we will either get together or zoom chat, specially if your further afield or in another country.

I want to learn about your business. Your story, values, what you do.

I want to know things like your Brand colours, your brand font. So when I take the images I am making sure your brand colours stand out in the images. When I create graphics afterwards any text on it is using your brand fonts.

We will discuss location ideas. If you book the 3 hour shoot you get up to 3 locations within that 3 hours (sorry we can not do North Yorkshire then pop to London, travel between locations is part of the 3 hours.) You also get up to 3 out fit changes, so not all the images are the same outfit. I am not a fashion expert so I won’t be giving fashion tips. What I do suggest is look at your brand colours, do you have something in your brand colours. If you are having a friend in the images to act as a client they are in a plain out fit that does not have lots of patterns and is brightly coloured. What we are ensuring is that the focus in the image is you and not someone else.

I will also get you to create a Pinterest board of images that you like, that we could look at copying the style and look during the shoot. It may be a pose or the type of lighting in the image you like.

It may even include props you want to bring into the shoot that go with your business or brand. (You will need to source these yourself)

So when we have our zoom call or get together we will go through both the these together. If there is something like a dark moody image that does not fit your bright bubbly style, I will check why you chose the image. This may be the way the person is looking and not the moody look of the overall image.

We will then book in a date for the shoot if this has not already been done. Full payment is required then 1 week prior to the shoot.

Why do you charge that much?

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:00:00 -0800

Why do you charge that much?

You have seen the price for a Brand Photography shoot and are wondering why it cost this much.

I could just get some stock images off the web to use. I don’t need to be in any photos and I will just take the images on my phone.

Let’s start with why using stock images off the web is a bad idea.

You are a dance school and have just opened looking to adverts for students. You go on line and find a stock image website that you can get images to use for your website for free. Great. You have got your images and created a website with them, and you have even had some marketing flyers made.

The flyers have been printed and they are just waiting to be handed out, when you see the same image you are using being used by the government saying a dancer should retrain and go in to cyber security. How would you feel? How much money have you lost as you can not now be handing out a marketing leaflet with the same image.

Now you could buy the images off a stock library like Getty Images for about £50 for a small image. You are still not getting the exclusive rights to that image, that would cost you thousands of pounds.

A three hour brand shoot will give you 150 images, to buy those 150 image would cost £7,500 at £50 per image. Although you could call it £75,000 as with a Brand Shoot the images are yours to use and only you can use them.

This means they are not going to pop up on some government advert.

Also the images are of you and your brand.

If you were to decide to just take images off Google to use on your website, you could end up paying thousands of pounds in compensation. Taking an image off Google and using it on your website is actually steal, and breaking copyright.

Capture Your Brand: Mini Personal Branding Sessions | Orwin Photography

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:00:00 -0800

What is a mini Personal Branding session?

A mini personal branding photography session is not just head shots. It will give you a collection of images to use on your social media, marketing and website.

As with my half and full day Personal Branding Photography sessions I recommend that you go on to Pinterest and create a board of images and styles you like. Printing it out with little note on why you like that certain image. This could be the the pose of the person, the atmosphere of the image. Then bring it with you to the shoot so we can have a look at your thoughts.

Decide the theme of the images you want. It may be that you are doing a promotion or the season you are using the images. We only have time for one outfit, but if you wear a jacket or tie or scarf these can be removed to still give some variety. You do not have to wear a suit or be smartly dressed if that is not you. You are conveying you through these images. So dress as you would meeting a clients. If you are say an Artist then wear what you create in.

Bring props. These props can be as simple as a phone, laptop, some of the tools you use in your business. Also consider things like note books, diaries, mugs, water bottle that are in your brand colours.

Think about where the images are going to be used. What social media platform are they going on? Are you looking for an image to use as a header. So needing to be a one side of the images to be able to put text and information to the side. Is it your profile image?

When you get the images you will receive them in full size, which means if you are wanting to use them on a post or larger than the computer screen they will print out ok. You will also receive a web ready copy of the images, these having been reduced in file size so your website is not slow in loading the images.

Transform Your Business Profile Picture Today! | Orwin Photography

Sun, 18 May 2025 17:00:00 -0700

Are you one of the many people who either has no profile picture or just your business logo?

I recently saw a poll on LinkedIn by Craig from Influxeo asking what type of Profile Picture do you have?

One of the poll answers was Professional. My comment was there is Professional and there is Professional. What I meant was that we sometimes think a professional profile image has to be a head shot looking smart and at the camera, when we can make our profile image stand out while still being professional (some may well disagree.)

The profile image is the beginning of people getting to know you. So if you are known for wearing baseball caps all the time then wear one. If you are wearing smart business clothes in your image but normally you wear bright colourful clothes, how would a visitor or client recognise you if they met you in person?

BEFORE TAKING YOUR PROFILE IMAGE.

Before you take your profile picture have a quick look through LinkedIn or another social media platform at people’s profile pictures. Don’t spend long looking. Very quickly scan through and open each profile that catches your eye and stands out in a new tab.

Now ask yourself what caught your eye about the profile picture. Was it the colours, the face of the person (I mean were they smiling, laughing, crying?)

Was it the colours that caught your eye? Were they the brand colours of the business?

CHOOSING YOUR BACKGROUND.

We can add our brand colours into our profile image in a couple of ways.

One is to use some sheets of paper that are in your brand colours. You will need a sheet around A2 or A1 so when you stand in front of it your shoulders are between the edges of the piece of paper. If you have a selection of brand colours use strips of paper in each colour.

If you have a logo on your wall at your business (in a well lit area) you could stand in front of this. Look at the image if you do this before uploading, in case you are blocking letters and the letters left spell something rude, or it looks like something strange is coming out of your head. You do not want to reduce your face in the profile image. So you could look at standing further away from the logo and have it still in view but smaller.

WHERE TO TAKE YOUR PROFILE IMAGE?

You are wanting a nice light area to take your photograph. One of the best areas is by a window so that you can use natural light. Try not to be stood by the window at the same time as having a fluorescent light above you.

If it is a very sunny day then you need to move away from the window, on a cloudy day you can stand next to the window. If you are not sure where to stand, just take a photo stood by the window and then move away from the window. Find the image where your face is lit evenly all over.

HOW TO TAKE THE IMAGE.

If you have a business partner or friend then this is great as they can hold the phone and take the image. If not get a shoe and slot the phone in the shoe to hold it up right.

Yes I am saying phone and not camera. This is because you can then quickly open the social media app and upload the image from the phone.

When you take the photo don’t be looking down at the camera. You need it at eye level or just a little higher so you are raising your chin and slightly looking up. (This is so people like me do not get three chins) This will mean if you are on your own finding a pile of books or something to put the shoe on to raise it up.

WHAT TO DO NOW I HAVE THE IMAGE?

Simply open the social media app and upload as it tells you to. Do not be taking it into any app to add effects on to the image.

Transform Your Brand with Personal Branding Photography | Orwin Photography

Sat, 17 May 2025 17:00:00 -0700

How do I get to Know you and your business?

When a client books a brand photography session (check out What is involved in a Brand Shoot?) I send them a workbook to fill out.

In this blog I go through some of the questions I ask to get to know you and your business.

I can not tell your story through my images if I do not know you. By completing the work book I can start to learn more about you and your business.

Steve Forbes says “Your Brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.”

FIRST QUESTION.

WHAT IS YOUR STORY?

Tell me about the story of your business. Who you are. What is your business?

Describe what your business to a person who is clueless. Do not just say I am a … Tell me what you do to help your clients. What are the benefits on hiring you or using your business.

When we do your Personal Branding Photography session we look at telling these answers in in images.

NEXT QUESTION.

WHO IS YOUR IDEAL CLIENT?

Who are your ideal clients. What do they do?

What problems do they have you and your business is going to help solve?

When planning the photography session we look at using your friend/s to act as a client in images. These images then can be used on your website or used in a social media post showing you working with a client.

NEXT QUESTION.

I am not a Brand designer but understanding your Brand Values, what you want your clients think of you and your brand. What they feel when they work with you. I want to bring these out in the photographs.

I want to know about your brand colours. What colours do you think go with your brand values?

I can then look at incorporating these colours in your images. We can discuss looking at on brand out fits or bringing in an accessory in your brand colour.

AFTER COMPLETING WORK BOOK.

When you have completed the work book. I go through it and we chat either on Zoom or face to face if local.

I also ask for you to create a pinterest board of images you like that you might want to replicate. The image may be a person walking down a street, but what you see is just the person.