A personal branding photography experience can do wonders to elevate your professional image. Meet Dani Prieto, founder of Social Bubblegum, and dip into her shoot day at XCHGSpaces, Bishopsgate 22 with photographer Alicja Korbinska.
“Alicja was creative and enthusiastic. She got my business right away.”
Social Bubblegum launched in 2021 as a communications media agency. It’s now a more structured community interest company (CIC), and business owner Dani Prieto is more focussed in the coaching space. She helps creatives and social enterprises develop their media and marketing practices, while also offering ghost writing and editing services to new authors.
Why personal branding photography?
Dani wanted to put her face to her business, and to create more content for her website and social media. Her aim was to build a stronger brand identity and association of herself with the business. This is particularly important as she networks to raise her business profile.
Hear directly from Dani Prieto on her experience
I found Alicja through Instagram, and I really liked what I saw before I spoke to her. Especially her personal branding photography, because this is what I wanted to imprint on the business, to build trust with potential clients.
When I spoke to her, she knew what I wanted from day one. The first time we connected on Zoom, I liked that she gave me a lot of different options. She was creative and enthusiastic. She got my business right away, and what I wanted to accomplish from the photos - that felt so positive.
When we got into the details of the photoshoot and what that would look like, she came up with some excellent ideas on how I could position my brand. We were using an office for the photoshoot, and we discussed the space, so I could build a picture of what we were aiming for. She gave me a wide spectrum of creative opportunity. That combined with the fact that she offered me a great proposal, I didn't really worry about talking to anyone else. I was like: "Let’s just do it!"
Shoot day
I was excited to have my picture taken, I hadn't had that sort of shoot before, not for my own business. But it was brilliant, because she gave me so much direction. Which way I should look, making the most of the lighting, how to pose. I just needed to be there and be confident. A lot of work went in, and Alicja was making us laugh. She has a lot of energy, and was jumping all over the sofas to get different angles. I couldn’t wait to see the results.
Karolina was our make-up artist for the day, and this also added something special to the experience. I wasn't exactly sure how to do my hair and make-up, but Karolina was really knowledgeable and I could tell her what I liked and she worked with it. While Alicja took pictures, and focussed on posing me, Karolina would step in and fix my hair - I felt like a movie star! I thought: "This is what it must be like to be an actress." I had the full experience.
The photography process
I was amazed by the variety of ideas that Alicja had. We were in this grand office which had a lot of open space, as well as communal areas. Alicja has experience with interiors, and it showed because she was inventive. Her ability to zero in on angles that I wouldn’t have picked up on myself, it was just fun.
We had a change of outfits, so I had two different looks. And that was something else I was surprised by - the amount of consultation I got generally, but also on wardrobe choices. It was great that I had her direction on which dresses to wear. This meant I turned up to the shoot as myself. Realistically, I’m not going to be wearing a suit - I was me, and I was comfortable.
The results
On print day, I met up with Alicja in person. We had a coffee and went through all the pictures together. I selected 11 pictures from a selection of 100 photos. It was a difficult choice, as she had so many to choose from. So I have those, as well as the box that she gave me with the prints in, and then of course the digital versions which I have been using on my social media.
I think they’re great! The pictures have given a fresh look to my social media, which I'm delighted with. I have gotten a lot of compliments from friends and family, people have been like: “Oh wow, you did a pro-shoot?" I was excited to post them, I literally put them online the day that she sent them over. The next thing is to put them on my website.
Who needs personal branding?
This service is for any businesses or business owners, as well as entrepreneurs and professionals who want to stand out from the crowd. If you are ready to invest in your visual marketing and elevate how you present yourself professionally, personal branding photography is for you.
It’s more than taking a few professional pictures. It's about creating an association between the human's skills and knowledge with the brand. When Alicja takes on a new client, for her, it's about getting to know the person and understanding their aims and vision for the business. On shoot days, she focusses on helping them feel at ease in front of the camera, and photographing with empathy. Working together to communicate ideas through the pictures.
It helps connect the humans (or human) behind the business to the people they want to work with. That matters, because people do business with people. So whether your B2B, or B2C, a CIC or an NFP, always remember that decision-making is the result of how a human has interacted with your brand. Personal branding photography is a trust building exercise, and it's an opportunity to elevate your professional image, but to also be creative, real and human.
That's how you bond with your audience.
What you get from the Personal Branding Experience
Type of package: Dani chose to go with the Refresher Collection for personal branding, which includes 10 pictures of her choice, and the full photography experience. She had a gallery of 100 pictures to choose from, with two different outfits. The pictures showed many different moods and compositions to ensure a good blend of options for her different platforms.
Experience includes: This package includes a make-up artist on the day, as well as consultations on the client's desired outcomes, wardrobe advice, and different types of shots for branding. There is also a designing call, which involves a short consultation with the make-up artist. From there we build the session proposal.
Photography style: In this scenario, Dani's aim was to pitch her services in a professional environment, but not all personal branding photography requires this. It can be very humorous.
Setting: The client can come to the studio, or they can arrange for an appropriate setting of their choice.
Development time: It can take 2-4 weeks. Up to two weeks after a shoot, we'll do a gallery reveal over a call. Then after this, the final session is an in-person meeting to narrow down the final choice of photos, with advice from Alicja. The client will receive a printed contact sheet with all the photos as a reference if they ever want to purchase any more. For viewing, we review printed small copies of all the photos, though the contact sheet is probably efficient.
Format: The basis of the package is that there is a session fee, and the client buys the photos on top, which are high-quality digital versions and complimentary prints to accompany them. More can be purchased later from the contact sheet.
Add-ons: There is a picture alterations period of up to six months on bigger packages. Smaller packages have up to three months. That means if you come back later for background removal, it's free of charge. There is a limitation of image alterations depending on your package. Banner alteration pictures are also available.
See my personal branding work.