Personal brand photos: a shot list for LinkedIn, website and press
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LinkedIn, a website, press and a speaking announcement need different frames of the same person. How to shoot that set in one session.
A personal brand photo is not one portrait
If the same LinkedIn picture has sat for three years, the profile looks dated even when the person does not. A website needs more than one frame too: the homepage, About and a press kit all crop differently. Treat personal-brand photography as a short shot list, not a single keepsake portrait.
Start with three places the pictures will live
For most founders and specialists three destinations are enough: LinkedIn, the company website and press. LinkedIn wants a close, clean, recognisable face. The site wants a slightly wider frame and a sense of place. Press wants a horizontal, logo-free frame that survives cropping. All three can be shot in one sitting.
The LinkedIn frame that still works when it shrinks
The face should fill most of the frame, because the circle crop is small. Keep the background quiet: no signage, no busy shelves. Look near the lens with an attentive expression, not a strained smile. A suit is optional; a clean shirt or jacket that matches the role is enough.
Second and third frames for the website
The homepage works with a wider frame: the person at a desk, in a studio or by an office window, with the working environment readable. About pages sit better with a quieter, three-quarter portrait. Shoot both in the same light or the site looks like a collage of different days.
Press and speaking announcements
Banners and event posts crop the sides, so press needs a horizontal frame. The person does not have to sit in the centre; leaving space left or right gives the designer a place for type. If hands are in, keep the gesture natural. Folded arms often read as closed.
Clothes, glasses and the small things that fight the face
Plain fabric photographs cleaner than pattern. A bright white shirt can bounce light into the face; navy and grey stay quieter on most backgrounds. If there are glasses, raising the key light a little and moving it off-axis cuts the reflection. A chest logo or a large piece of jewellery will argue with the face in every crop.
A one-hour shot list
Six frames are enough: a tight LinkedIn, a three-quarter for the site, a wide environmental, a horizontal press frame, an at-work frame and a spare unsmiling portrait. That list covers the profile, the site and the next speaking announcement in an hour.
When to update
Change the pictures when hair, glasses, role or company identity change. Otherwise an 18–24 month refresh is enough. Media7 can put a personal-brand session on the same day as corporate portraits or a short founder video, so the light is built once and the stills cover several channels.