You can tell people you’re a yoga and reiki facilitator or a food coach, but that doesn’t give a clear picture of what it looks like to work with you. That’s exactly what I wanted to help Ana from Root and Rise Louisville achieve in this nutrition, yoga, and wellness branding photo session.
Creative and strategic brand sessions aren’t just about getting a few aesthetic photos for your feed (although we definitely will do that). When you are someone who supports people through physical or internal healing, there is a level of vulnerability and intimacy that your clients want to know they can trust you with.
Through these nutrition, yoga and wellness brand photos, we’re building trust with Ana’s future clients with images that communicate safety, presence, and connection.
Before a future client ever reaches out to her, the images on her website and social media communicate a desire to help others be more in tune with themselves.
Preparing for a Wellness Brand Photo Session
I actually got to experience Ana’s yoga Nidra and reiki for myself prior to our session- it was deeply impactful to me, and gave me more context for who Ana is as a wellness practitioner and how I could document her brand.
We visited multiple locations during this session- Cherokee Park, her studio, the Douglass Loop Farmers Market, and her home. In each space, we created brand photos with a specific purpose that showcased her connection with nature, her process as a yoga Nidra and reiki facilitator, the community she serves, and her expertise as a chef and food coach.
Natural light and outdoor spaces were a key to create calming, harmonious images that reflect the peaceful environment she aims to create.
Helping Your Brand Personality Shine Through
From our first brand consult, I wanted to create wellness branding photos that integrated Ana’s story and her deep spiritual connection with her work. She has such a calming presence, feels very at home in nature, and listens intently- all aspects of her personality that are magnetic to the people she helps.
While at times, nutrition, yoga, and wellness brand photos feature muted earthy tones that feel serious, but I knew my vibrant and colorful editing style would bring out the lightness and whimsy that she helps her clients tap into. For me, it’s all about bringing out your true personality, not copying an industry aesthetic because that’s what everyone else is doing.
Your Process in Motion
Since Ana offers a variety of services, we ensured her extended brand session covered enough time to highlight each element sufficiently.
For the connection to nature that is deeply spiritual for her, she walked barefoot through Cherokee Park, quite literally hugged trees, and stretched her arms to the heavens on a lone rock in Big Rock Creek.
To highlight her nutrition and food coaching, we went to the Douglass Loop Farmers Market to hand pick ingredients, connect with her community, and went to her home to take photos of her preparing food as she would with or for her clients.
She also invited a friend to sit in for a consultation, yoga, and reiki session for more yoga and wellness brand photos. This allows her clients to know what the studio looks like physically and what to expect before they ever step foot inside.
With each of these nutrition, yoga, and wellness brand photos, we were able to capture unique elements of her personality that give a peek inside her world.
Strategy, not just aesthetic
In order to help Ana tell the story of how she helps her clients, we needed to illustrate her services as a process in motion.
That’s why I focused on creating a variety of nutrition, yoga, and wellness brand photos for Root and Rise Louisville that she can use for her social media posts and Reel covers, filler images for her website, email opt-ins, and other marketing assets.
From relaxed lifestyle portraits at home, to yogi poses in the park, and performing reiki in her studio, this collection of cohesive images are all part of the story that help her clients understand what she offers and how she helps.
FAQs about brand photoshoots
If you’re intrigued by the idea of a branding photoshoot, but still have a few more questions about what it can do for your business- I get it!
I’ve put together a few of the most common questions I get about branding photoshoots to put your mind at ease. As a brand photographer, my goal is to help you plan a session that is purposeful, aligned with where your brand is headed, and fun!
When is the right time to book a brand photoshoot?
There’s truly never a wrong time to book your brand photoshoot! Regularly updating your brand visuals shows YOUR future clients that you care about your image and, by extension, giving them a top-notch experience.
The following are all excellent indicators that it’s time to update your brand photos:
It’s time for you to book a brand photoshoot if…
- You are going through a brand or website update
- Your current photos reflect an outdated version of your business, not where your brand is going
- You want to raise your prices or enter a premium market
- You need more photos to share on social media
- You only use stock photos on your website or social media
- You get repeatedly asked the same questions about what you do
- You get plenty of inquiries, but not as many bookings
- You want to stand out from your local competition with brand photos that are fresh and unique
- You need a library of cohesive images that look professional
- Your social media or marketing manager keeps telling you “I need something to post!”
How much time does a brand photoshoot take?
Typical brand photoshoots for my clients are around 2-3 hours. The time we’ll need depends on the number of locations, outfits, scenes, and variety of content requested. The fewer locations, the more image we can create in a shorter time frame. Additional locations add on driving time, buffer time to set up lighting, unpack props, etc.
I’ll help you determine how much time is needed without feeling rushed and smoothly coordinate outfit and location changes, so we give each portion of the session the spotlight it deserves.
For Ana’s session, we visited 4 locations (all within a mile or two of each other) and the duration was close to 4 hours. This was an extended session to adequately capture the multi-faceted work she does.
I already have a headshot, how is a lifestyle brand photoshoot different?
Headshots and branding photos are both necessary for small businesses to have in their content library. A headshot is usually a more formal portrait that shows your face…but it doesn’t show what your services look like, your real personality, your process, or anything deeper about your brand.
Lifestyle brand content helps your ideal client visualize what it’s like to be in your space, have a consult with you, how it feels to have a conversation with your staff, or the results you help them achieve.
Storytelling images are essential to lifestyle brand content, so you can share more than what your face looks like- you can create a multi sensory scene that welcomes them in and makes them want to hire you.
I want to book a brand session, but what if I don’t know what kinds of images I need?
That’s what I do best as a strategic brand photographer! Here’s what it looks like to work with me and have support from start to finish-
First up, on our Brand Consult Call, we’ll discuss your goals for your small business. From there, I’ll do a digital deep dive to understand your brand personality and current gaps in your visual marketing to create your Pre-Session Visual Guide.
After booking, I’ll design a custom Pre-Session Visual Guide with outfit and prop ideas, a shot list, and visual inspiration for each look or scene based on YOUR vision to help you easily prepare for your brand photoshoot.
On shoot day, I’ll guide you every step of the way to create a collection of dynamic images that will help you reach the goals we discussed on our very first call.
Two weeks later, your gallery will land in your inbox, as well as a handy guide on how to start implementing your images right away!
I hope these questions have given you a better understanding of what to expect from a brand photoshoot with me! And don’t worry, if you still have more questions, I will support you through the process from inquiry through the day you have your gallery and are ready to use your photos.
Goals this brand session achieved
This session is a beautiful example of how strategic brand photography can help small business owners. For nutrition, yoga, and wellness brand photos like Ana’s, it’s not just about having stock photos on her website- it’s about the feeling someone has when they land on her page and feel seen.
Brand photos do just that- create an instant sense of familiarity, help someone know they’re in the right place, and build trust that leads to booking their first appointment with you.
With the images we created from this nutrition, food, and wellness branding session, she was able to update her website images to show each service she offers, have more content for social media, and create other marketing assets like her email opt-in.
I feel so honored to help wonderful and caring practitioners elevate their brand image so that they can continue to help people improve their lives, health, and understanding of themselves. Whether it’s her gentle smile as she sits in her garden, her soft gaze as she looks to the treetops, or her steady hands as she practices energy healing, these photos tell the story of a yoga, reiki, and food coach who truly uses her gifts to help others.
You can connect with Ana from Root and Rise through her website or Instagram.
Book your Brand Session
Are you a Louisville-based wellness practitioner or small business owner in need of brand photos that help you attract new clients and build a library of content for your website and social media?
Let’s start the conversation with a Brand Consult Call, or explore more about my services on my website.
Meet your Colorful Louisville Branding Photographer
I’m Johanna Hribal, a Louisville-based headshot and personal brand photographer who loves helping local professionals upgrade their image. I work with everyone from corporate to creatives, and any profession in between! Let’s curate a professional image that matches YOUR brand, business, or passion.
See past client work and testimonials on Google, or book a complimentary Brand Consult to discuss your upcoming photo needs!
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