Hiring a professional brand photographer to do your personal brand shoot may not be in your budget, but that doesn’t mean you should miss out!

I understand the importance of personal brand shoots and how they can help your business grow, so what better way to ensure you can have a personal brand shoot than by teaching you how to do a DIY personal brand shoot?!

After this, you’ll be ready to get the camera out and have the best brand photo shoot, so let’s waste no time and get straight into it.

DIY PERSONAL BRAND SHOOT

• Equipment
• Outfits & Accessories
• Setting Up
• Angles
• Shot List
• Editing

EQUIPMENT

The first step is to figure out what kind of equipment you need. As a business owner, there’s a high chance you’ll have a lot of this stuff already!

TRIPOD

If you don’t have someone else to take photos for you, a tripod is essential. An added bonus is if you have a tripod with a clicker, you’ll be able to take photos without having to put on a timer every time.

If you don’t have a clicker, there’s an app available on the App Store called Lens Buddy that allows you to set a certain amount of time, and within that time it will take multiple pictures – so this would work in a similar way as a clicker.

If you don’t have a tripod, find some boxes and books and get stacking! 

LIGHTING

Having a DIY personal brand shoot is all about using the things you already have, so in this case, natural lighting is your best friend, so make sure to set up next to a large window! But if you happen to have box lights or ring lights, they can add that extra touch and a professional glow to your photos.

CAMERA

You do not need a professional camera for your DIY personal brand shoot! If you have one already then absolutely use it, but if not, don’t worry! Your iPhone camera will be perfect, just make sure to give the lens a wipe and use the back camera.

PROPS

These will be things to add some life back into your DIY personal brand shoot and give it that authentic lifestyle feel. Some key props I love for personal brand shoots are:

• Laptop
• Coffee cup
• Notebook and pen
• Stool/chair

OUTFITS & ACCESSORIES

Deciding what to wear in general is hard, but deciding what to wear for your DIY personal brand shoot? Not that hard anymore because you’re here! 

Firstly, if in doubt, smart casual is the way to go! Most people already own bits that will fit the smart casual criteria, plus it’s such an easy way to look professional and classy without feeling like you’re in a full suit.

When talking colours for your personal brand shoot, neutrals are the way to go! They’re timeless, plus they look flattering on everyone! If you want a pop of colour, a bright blazer, heels, or earrings are the perfect way to get that boldness in there!

Whatever you do, do not forget the accessories! Adding a couple of rings, some earrings, or a necklace can really tie the whole look together making your DIY personal brand shoot look like a professional brand shoot.

Finally, make sure you have a few outfit options lined up, in case of incidents, but also so you can get a variety of shots, and keep the content fresh across all your channels.

SETTING UP

You’ve got the outfits, you’ve got the equipment, now let’s get set up for your DIY personal brand shoot!

If you don’t have artificial lighting, find somewhere that is open and has a good source of natural light.

Set up your tripod to around chest height or a bit higher depending on what kind of shots you’re looking for and point it in the direction of where you’re going to be shooting.

For example, let’s say you’re shooting content at your desk – set your camera or iPhone up on the tripod and check to see how it looks through the camera. Check the height is nice, and make sure whatever backdrop you have, it’s clean.

Position your chair/stool in the middle of the frame (turn on grid lines to help you!). If you’re standing in an emptier space leave a small object like a hair tie on the floor where you would need to stand to be in the centre so you know. 

If you’re looking for a ‘studio vibe’, a plain white wall is the perfect backdrop! But if you want to go more lifestyle for your personal brand shoot, then most rooms will work well for you.

If you’d like to know some great location ideas for your brand shoot, check out this blog.

ANGLES

You already know this but angles are everything! So getting them right for your DIY personal brand shoot is key. So, here are my top tips for getting those angles.

Sometimes standing straight and staring directly down the camera doesn’t give off the friendliest, nor professional vibe, so always include some sort of angle.

The camera pointing straight, about chest height, turn your body slightly and look towards the camera. It’s always good to include some kind of movement to achieve a natural personal brand shoot.

Avoid having the camera too high and looking down, and too low and looking up, as this can be unflattering and look unprofessional.

SHOT LIST

So, you’re in front of the camera and you’re thinking “what do I do now?”. You get out your shot list, (your list of poses and shots you want to take) and work your way through it! Here are some poses that work great for DIY personal brand shoots.

• Sitting on the couch
• Sitting on the kitchen counter
• Sitting on stool
• Sitting at your desk
• Sitting on the floor
• Making a coffee
• Holding a coffee
• On a client call
• Doing your makeup/skincare
• Talking and laughing with business partner/client
• Taking notes/writing a to-do list
• Sitting on the stairs

EDITING

Well done for taking your photos! But to complete your DIY personal brand shoot, you’ll need to edit the photos to add that professional sheen.

Now, you don’t need to be a professional editor for this, you can either do this in an app or software or within the photo editing functions on your phone.

Some adjustments I always make on photos are brightness, contrast and saturation, but have a play around with everything and see what you can come up with!

If you need to retouch your photos or remove something from the background, I recommend the free app called Snapseed with has retouch options which are very user-friendly.

CONCLUSION

And that is everything you need to carry out your very own DIY personal brand shoot! By following these tips, your audience will never know it was DIY.

If you ever consider taking your brand to the next level by considering a professional photo shoot, get in touch here! I can’t wait to hear from you!