How does keeping your brand fresh help you attract and connect with more of the right people to your business? By keeping FRESH personal brand photos, of course!
Did you know that your personal brand is a continuous journey?
YES! You have to constantly put yourself out there so that more people will think of you!
Again, the best way to do this, is to keep fresh personal brand photos of yourself for your website and social media. I mean, images that represent your personal brand at it’s best. This means, in your most common environments, with your most most natural expressions and emotions. BUT that’s not so easily accomplished, is it?
Your Personal Brand Images, Outdoors
It seems like there’s just so much planning that goes into it, right; where to shoot, what to wear, how to make the session more natural, enjoyable and less curated…and then… there’s LIGHTING, the one single thing that so many times get overlooked until you realize this just did not go as smooth 😮 as expected.
So, what should you do, for example; if you’re outdoors using the SUN as a natural light source and you want to get the right kind of lighting? What if you’re not carrying around your professional lighting gear, like I do?
Photography is, first and foremost, about lighting right. Whenever I am outside with a client, the number ONE thing I do is look for good light first before anything else.
We could be in the most beautiful place on earth but if the lighting stinks, the photograph will stink!
Believe me, I learned this the hard way. I am primarily a studio lighting gal – I learned portraiture photography at Washington School of Photography and that’s what I’ve done most of my career. So…when I started venturing outside and looking for great locations, I would often be disappointed in my results.
I ended up with dark circles under people’s eyes or worse, they would be completely silhouetted but the background would look perfectly exposed.
After some additional training and practice, I am happy to say that I’ve resolved those issues and I’d like to pass along what I’ve learned to you:
Natural Lighting Rules to Remember
1. Overcast sky is the “easiest” and softest lighting but you STILL need to know where the sun is. Instead of putting your back to the sun, you’ll actually face the sun. To find the sun, hold your palm up facing you and turn in a circle until you see a shadow on your palm. When you see the shadow, you’ll be facing the right direction!
2. The best times for great light are during the golden hours – in the morning for about an hour after the sun rises and in the evening about one hour before sunset. You’ll get GORGEOUS light at these times and it’s much easier to face in the direction of the sun without squinting.
3. If you just can’t make it out at sunrise or sunset and are stuck with a bright sunny day, try to shoot before the sun is at it’s highest point in the sky. This means either in the morning or mid-late afternoon and also look for open shade. Open shade means that you are in a shady spot with no dappled light and you can see open sky above you. The open sky acts as a big “soft box” and reflects the light of the sun onto your face.
4. If open shade is not an option on a bright sunny day, then turn your back to the sun & turn on your flash! The flash will allow you to fill in the shadows on your face and still keep the background of your image properly exposed.
Hope this helps you feel much more confident about getting your lighting right in the great outdoors! Remember, YOUR personal brand photos must without a doubt, be the best representation of you.
Let’s Schedule a Call!
If all this lighting stuff is confusing or you just don’t have the time to create your own images, get on a call with me. Let’s Talk about whether having professional photographs for your business and brand is the right, next-step for you!
