On Personal Brand Photography

I’ve been a portrait photographer long enough to remember when “personal brand” wasn’t a phrase anyone used.

We made headshots. We made portraits. We made album covers and book jackets. And back then, that was enough because the work was always meant to tell something true about a person.

Then something shifted.

Suddenly, everyone had a website. Everyone had a platform. Everyone was, in some way, responsible for how they appeared in public, both visually and verbally. With that shift came language to describe it: personal brand, visual identity, online presence.

I come from a family rooted in advertising. I understand the power of strategy, clarity, and positioning. I believe that if you are building a business, it should begin by doing the branding work to define it. That foundation matters deeply.

But branding and branding language are not the same as the photographs you live with and share.

Branding defines the message. It clarifies who you are speaking to and why. It shapes the words you use, the colors you choose, the platforms you inhabit.

Once that foundation is in place, something quieter has to happen. The work has to feel like you. That’s where portraiture comes in.

When Claudia Coenen reached out for her next session, she was about to launch a new book and her Karuna Cards. She’s a grief counselor who lives in a church. We didn’t scout a location. We didn’t construct a scene. We set up in her space, where she already lives and works, where her presence naturally belongs.

The beauty of that place, the way she moved through it, the genuine ease in her expression — all of it was already part of her story. Photographing her there wasn’t based on marketing, but on pure vibe.

That’s the heart of this work.

Not to invent a persona.
Not to manufacture performance.
Not to reinvent who you already are.

But to observe. And to witness.

Every session begins with a conversation. Not about poses or outfits, but about direction. About the chapter you’re stepping into. About what matters to you now. About what feels authentic and alive in this moment.

That conversation informs everything — location, wardrobe, lighting, pacing. It shapes how I approach the session, and how you begin to relax into it.

When you feel seen, you don’t perform. You inhabit.

And the photographs reflect that.

When alignment is real, the images don’t feel promotional. They feel grounded and familiar to you. They feel like something you can grow into rather than something you have to live up to.

And when that happens, the right people don’t just notice you.

They recognize you.

If you’re entering a new chapter — professionally or personally — and you want your images to carry the same clarity and depth as your work, I invite you to schedule a consultation. We’ll shape the next step together.