FOOD BLOGGER BRANDING PORTRAIT SHOOT
THE FREELANCER’S COOKBOOK
There are some amazing brands developing on the food blogger and Instagram scene at the moment. At the heart of these brands are individuals who are passionate about their subject and are exploring social media platforms in really exciting ways. Engagement is so important for these brands and the core of this is giving the opportunity for followers to really get to know the individual behind the images and recipes. This is where branding portraits come in. A branding portrait shoot is all about capturing images that show personality and importantly are authentic and underpin the values of the brand.
Rose Parkin is the creator of The Freelancer’s Cookbook. Her passion is about creating health recipes for freelancers and people who work from home. She has a great following on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/freelancers_cookbook/ where people can link back to her blog for full recipe info.
One of my favourite parts of my job is viewing images in active use and seeing the impact they make on page engagement. Rose’s hero image for her ‘About’ page hinted at her role but felt quite dark and a bit too structured. During the shoot we staged some action kitchen shots and Rose has taken one of these as her new hero banner image on the About Page. The new image is light and airy and I love Rose’s floral dress against the wooden table top. On the portrait front Rose had informal snap of her with a friend for her ‘About Me’ image. Following the shoot Rose picked out a beautiful portrait with great eye contact and engagement. It tones in really well with the banner image by using the floral dress again.
Here are the before and afters for the About Page:
Here are some other images from the shoot that Rose will be using as part of her ongoing social media marketing and specifically to support the visual identity of her brand on Instagram. The images were shot on location at Rose’s home in York. An overcast day and a spacious conservatory provided an amazing natural light space to work with. I styled the portraits using various props from Rose’s everyday work roles. Rose was super organised and had prepared a handful of dishes which were perfect to use as styling props. I also took some flat lay food images of the dishes prepared for use as banner images.
You can find out more about branding portraits and the benefits of using authentic images that encourage engagement. People really want to see the person behind the business and hear your story!