Fourthly in our Bold Place collection is the ever so fabulous Branding Photographer Lucy Hannah. She has a studio space in Bold Place where she works on her photography and edits.
Despite not being a stereotypical artist. The work Lucy does for various brands and people is an art in itself. She solely focuses on making brands look the best as possible.
We spoke to Lucy on why she believes that good branding and good photography of branding is so important to a brands overall success. Additionally, why a shared studio space at Bold Place allows her to let her creativity flow surrounded by likeminded women.
Over to Lucy Hannah to hear her story…
Branding is so important for the success of businesses, how did you get into working in branding, particularly as a photographer?
I started out about ten years ago as a wedding photographer, and back then there wasn’t the same emphasis on personal branding as there is today. So I branded my business and my tone of voice as what I thought a business needed to be. But it was never quite right. It wasn’t until a few years later that I started putting more of myself into my business – including my personality, things I liked, writing my social media posts as I actually speak and showing my face more, that I noticed a shift.
Not only did I feel more at home in my business and more confident but my business grew and I was attracting more of my ideal client. It was through weddings that I was then meeting other businesses who needed headshots or behind the scenes images for social media, and knowing the difference that embracing a personal brand made to my business I wanted to help other businesses feel that impact too. So I moved away from weddings and threw myself into the world of brand photography.
Do you think that branding is key to a business being successful and what is the most important thing about good photography of branding?
Branding definitely plays a massive part in how successful your business can be, it’s the foundation of your business – it ties your offerings in with your values, the people you want to work with and the impact you can have. Strong branding can cement your reputation and make your business instantly recognisable.
And your photos support that. If you have a personal brand I think it’s important that your photos show exactly who you are because you’re part of what makes your business unique. But they also need to be high quality – you could have the best business in the world but if your photos are blurry, out of focus, don’t show your offerings at their best, or aren’t relevant then your business is going to stand out for all the wrong reasons.
Your instagram shows some of your branding shoots, what would be your biggest tip for someone who is unsure about stepping in front of the camera?
Ooh, this is something I could chat about for hours! First off, it’s completely normal to feel nervous about being in front of the camera! Most of the people I work with don’t like the idea of having their photograph taken. Make sure the person you work with for photos is someone that you feel comfortable around because if you don’t feel relaxed and enjoy the experience you’re never going to like the photos. And remember that when you’re having brand photos taken, it’s not about being narcissistic and wanting to be the centre of attention, it’s about the things that showing up can do for your business. It can also be really helpful to think about what it is that’s stopping you from stepping in front of the camera as that can help figure out steps to take to lessen the fear. There’s loads of info about reasons we don’t like having our photos taken and things we can do here https://www.lucyhannahphotography.co.uk/confidence-on-camera
What would be your biggest tip for someone who is thinking of becoming a branding photographer?
Like with any aspect of photography I think it’s important to figure out your style, the ways you like to work with people and the types of businesses you want to work with.
You have a space at Bold Place, what’s your favourite thing about being a female creative at Bold Place and would you recommend a space at Bold Place for other creatives?
The people! It’s such a lovely group of women to be surrounded by. Everyone is creative in their own way and it’s always fun to see what everyone is up to. It can be lonely when you work for yourself – If I’m not out shooting then I’m normally glued to my laptop so being in Bold place is such a nice change from editing at home on my own.
Absolutely! It’s not like any other space I’ve worked from. It’s such a unique building and mix of creatives that it’s a joy to work from. It’s going to be so exciting when the garden and community space are up and running for workshops and things, and there’ll be even more people using the building!
