Your Headshot Doesn't Have to Be Just a Headshot | Cornelius NC Branding Photographer

There is a time and place for a clean, professional headshot.

There is also a time to hand someone a very large chef's knife and see what happens.

For this editorial shoot, I photographed Chef Jennifer Gallagher at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte for her column in the school's magazine. Jennifer is the Assistant Dean of the College of Food Innovation & Technology at JWU's Charlotte campus and has been a full-time culinary instructor there since 2005. Before moving into education, she spent 20 years working in the hospitality industry.

So photographing her against a generic backdrop wouldn't have told much of that story.

We went to the kitchen.

Professional Photos Should Show What You Actually Do

A traditional headshot has a job: show people what you look like.

Branding photography can do more.

For Chef Gallagher, that meant photographing her in the environment where her work actually happens.

We created traditional portraits in her chef's coat, but we also photographed her cooking, chopping vegetables, working at the stove and interacting with the tools of her profession.

And then we had a little fun with it.

Because if you give me a commercial kitchen, a chef and a giant knife, I'm not going to pretend I didn't notice the possibilities.

That black-and-white knife portrait?

Definitely not your standard faculty headshot.

Exactly the point.

Headshots, Editorial Photography & Branding Photos Aren't the Same Thing

These terms get thrown around a lot, but they serve slightly different purposes.

A professional headshot is generally a closer portrait designed to clearly show you. Think LinkedIn profiles, company directories, speaking engagements and professional bios.

A branding session gives us room to tell more of the story. We can photograph you working, your environment, the details of what you do and several different expressions or setups so you have a library of images to use across your website, social media, marketing and publications.

An editorial portrait is often created to accompany a story or publication, like this session for Chef Gallagher.

And they can absolutely overlap.

In one session, we can create the polished portrait you need for your bio and the more interesting photographs that actually give people some idea of who you are.

our Workplace Can Be Your Best Location

You don't necessarily need a studio for professional branding photos.

Sometimes your office, restaurant, salon, workshop, storefront or other workspace tells me far more about your business than a backdrop ever could.

Chef Gallagher's kitchen at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte gave us stainless steel work surfaces, hanging pans, commercial equipment, ingredients and all kinds of opportunities to create photographs that immediately connect her to culinary education.

Her credentials are extensive, including Certified Executive Chef and Certified Wine Educator, among others. She's spent her career working in hospitality and educating the next generation entering the industry.

That context belongs in the photographs.

Professional Headshots & Branding Photography in Cornelius, Lake Norman and Charlotte

Whether you're updating an outdated headshot or need an entire image library for your business, the goal is the same:

You should look like yourself, and the photographs should make sense for what you actually do.

I offer professional headshots and branding photography in Cornelius, NC and throughout the Lake Norman and Charlotte area for business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, creatives and professionals who need more than a phone picture cropped from somebody's wedding.

We can keep it clean and straightforward.

We can photograph you doing your actual job.

Or apparently, we can give you a knife and make things interesting.

Depends on the job.