From Photographing the Art to Photographing the Artist
It was great working with Marlene last fall making photographs of her paintings in her studio. So when she called me about this time having a branding photography shoot, I was looking forward to returning to her studio for an entirely different shoot. She had plenty of artist props and settings to get a wide variety of branding shots, but she also wanted a couple of the photos we made to be able to be cropped to a more typical headshot style. The flexibility of my lighting setup and the high resolution of my mirrorless camera allowed me to get just what she wanted in terms of both a branding photo ,and one that could be cropped to a headshot. This provided max value “two in one” photos for Marlene to use on her website. I had one idea for the final shot if Marlene was game for it. I asked if she would be willing to lie on the floor and surround herself with brushes and tubes of paint for a straight down perspective branding photo. She said sure! I turned out to be my favorite photo of the shoot. Thank you Marlene for continuing to choose me as your photographer!
If you run a business, offer professional services, or create anything for a living in Pacific Grove or the Monterey Peninsula, there is a good chance you are already doing “personal branding”… even if you have never called it that. Every time someone lands on your website, reads your bio, checks your LinkedIn, or sees your profile photo next to a review, they are forming an impression in seconds.
Personal branding photography is simply the visual side of that first impression: modern, natural-looking images that show who you are, what you do, and what it feels like to work with you. Here are five practical reasons personal branding photos are one of the best upgrades you can make for your business presence.
A Collaborative Campaign Headshot Session in Pacific Grove
Burcu Mousa (see the headshots I made for her on her campaign website) contacted me about making headshots and branding photos for her campaign to be Auditor-Controller for Monterey County. She visited my photo studio in downtown Pacific Grove, California bringing with her a number of wardrobe changes and I had reggae already playing per her request when I asked her what music vibe she wanted for her photo shoot! This was a fun, collaborative shoot, and yes, having a professional photo session matters because elections are visual. Since I shoot tethered to a 43” screen, Burco and I went through shot by shot during the session getting each headshot and branding photo just right in terms of lighting, background, and expression. She also changed wardrobe several times to match with the background and intention of each photo. In less than an hour long session, we were able to create 10 images she personally chose and that some of which are already up on her website! I really enjoy working with candidates running for political office. It definitely adds a little kind of extra buzz to the photo shoot in my mind! Thank you Burcu for choosing me as your photographer and trusting me to make the visuals that will be used in your campaign!
Colorful and Black & White Branding Photography DJ Musician Producer Photo Shoot in Studio in Pacific Grove California
Incredibly, this was my fourth shoot (1st, 2nd, 3rd shoots) this year with local DJ and music creator Jason Kushy as his career continues to take off! We were back in my photo studio in Pacific Grove for this shoot where Jason wanted some branding photos with a colorful background. He chose a shade of red for those images. Then we shot on a gray gradient background for photos eventually converted to black and white for some minimalist, but eye catching branding portraits. All this resulted in yet another creative shoot that provided Jason more high impact branding photos to use for his own Spotify account and for his label to submit to publications writing about his new music releases. Thank you Jason for continuing to choose me as your photographer!
Branding Photography shoot in Pacific Grove SoundWorks recording studio with returning DJ client Jason Kushy
I am so grateful that as local DJ and music creator Jason Kushy has more and more success with the new EDM tracks he releases, he continues to choose me as his personal branding photographer. Our first shoot was just back in June, in my just opened photo studio in Pacific Grove, then our second shoot was out on the streets of Pacific Grove in September. Now the third shoot was in a Pacific Grove SoundWorks, a local recording studio. I had met the owner, Jermaine, of the recording studio shortly after he had opened it up about a year ago. He remembered me and was fantastic to work with helping both Jason and I in getting the most creative photos we could at the sound board in his studio. This was a true team effort with open sharing of ideas and resulting in another series of branding photos Jason will use on his Spotify channel and with the record label he newly signed with too! Thank you to Jermaine for a great location in his studio for this photo shoot, and to Jason for continuing to choose me as his photographer on his music journey! —Find Jason Kushy, DJ and producer, on Spotify
A Creative Shoot for a Doctor in Monterey from Headshots to Branding Photos to a Group Shot
I met Dr. Allison and her staff at her clinic in Monterey, California aptly named Monterey Natural Wellnesss, to make a variety of professional photographs for her and her team. We started out with making some white background headshots with my on location studio setup. Then some branding photos of Dr. Allison before finishing with a group shot of the entire team. Her wellness center space made for a great photo studio so that her and her staff could get right back to caring for patients, taking up only an hour of their morning. That is what I offer clients with on location team headshots and personal branding photography. Thank you to Dr. Allison and team for being so great in front of the camera and choosing me as their photographer, and also to Elijah for assisting!
DJ Jason Kushy gets signed to a label returns for a second personal branding photo shoot in Pacific Grove California
Even before my photo studio here in Pacific Grove, California was even close to fully setup, local DJ and producer Jason Kushy contacted me about a branding photo shoot to help him launch his first tracks on Spotify and other music streaming platforms. It was a great shoot in studio and out on location. Since that time he has grown greatly in popularity and been able to sign with a label! So he wanted another branding photo shoot to have images to share with the label and this new, exciting phase in his music career. This time the shoot was entirely out on location in downtown Pacific Grove using a couple of spots I had scouted before, and then also improvising with a few more. The result in just an hour shoot was a fantastic variety of backgrounds, styles, and vibes for the photos we made. Big thanks to Felix for assisting with this shoot allowing me to focus on getting as many creative looks for Jason as I could. And of course, a very big thank you to Jason for continuing to choose me as his photographer as his music journey takes off!
