Defining my brand photography style

Taking a little break from design, today I was working on a different aspect of branding: my photography style. This is sort of what I specialize in: I have a background in photography and photographic storytelling. I love this stuff.

I like to think about three different things when it comes to brand photography: subject, style, and mood. Subject is what’s actually in the pictures - people, food, animals, abstract designs. Style is how it’s constructed compositionally, such as camera angles and layout. Mood is how it makes you feel, and can focus on color themes and lightning techniques.

Each can range from extremely specific - such as women shot from behind at sunset with a warm, soft glow; to incredibly broad. The idea isn’t to create limitations, but to figure out what is necessary to keep my brand story accurate.

So let’s gather some ideas, and then I’ll pull a few photos that inspire me. Building a photo library, to me, is extremely important, so I’ll probably have a few posts to show you how I will go about doing this to come!

Subject

• People: Mostly women, either from behind or over-the-shoulder, so the reader can put themselves into the image
• Nature: Vistas and sweeping landscapes, and also close-up details of flowers, berries, and foliage.
• Food: Breakfast foods, baked goods, and drinks mostly - basically things you would eat at brunch.
• Interiors: Full rooms of decor, and close-ups of specific details like pillows, floral arrangements, or vignettes.

Style

• Bright, vibrant colors, but no more than 3-4 different old hues per image. Something between a pop-of-color and a rainbow effect.
• Natural color temperature and color cast, no retro or colorized filters
• High contrast, high brightness, but not blown out; pure black points
• Simple text overlays on top of a low opacity box - either in a neutral or brand color represented in the image

Mood

• Inviting, comforting, engaging
• Vibrant, bright, bold
• Happy, upbeat, delightful