Who photographs the photographer?

Professional photographer Cherry Beesley, the lady behind the camera at Simply C Photography was recently commissioned to take a series of personal branding headshots for one of her peers. In her forthcoming blog Cherry talks about what she learnt from the experience and why she feels that now, more than ever, corporate headshots are absolutely the most important investment you can make for your personal branding right now. 

“When accomplished photographer Mike Bowden, who now works for maritime logistics giant Cory Brothers, commissioned me to capture some headshots of him, I confess I was as jittery as I was flattered” Cherry explains, “after all, I’ve long been inspired by Mike’s ‘scroll stopping’ approach to commercial photography and the headshots of his colleagues that he produces. He just needed some of him!”

Capturing a fellow Pro is a huge deal in the world of photography so it’s no surprise that come the day of the shoot, Cherry found herself wide awake well before her alarm went off!

“Luckily for me, Mike is a warm and friendly man, and in fact, it turned out he was just as nervous as I was! With that, the ice was broken, and we bonded over our shared amusement that whether you’re a newly minted pro on your first shoot, or a grizzled veteran with decades of experience, those nerves still exist!”

Getting ahead with a headshot.

“One thing that doing the shoot with Mike really underlined for me, was just how important natural, candid looking headshots really are now for personal branding” Cherry continues, “we are long past the era when corporate headshots looked like overgrown college yearbook photos”.

Despite the way remote working is becoming the norm and so many relationships are conducted online Cherry still firmly believes that people still like to do business with other people. “They still want to know who they are dealing with” she explains “and that’s where your headshot comes in. Whether it’s there in your email profile, on your Twitter image, or the ‘about you’ section of your website, that headshot needs to do a lot of heavy lifting. It’s where the ‘real you’ has to come across at a glimpse”.

Cherry makes it her mission to make clients forget that there’s a camera pointing in their direction. “When I can do that, I can really capture their warmth, their friendliness, their professional steel. And generally, at some point, it’s just a matter of capturing the right moment”.

“If you are looking for the perfect way to represent your business and connect with other business people and customers don’t underestimate the power of professionally taken headshots”.

“It’s not so much about how you feel about yourself, it’s how you want other people to feel about you” Cherry concludes.

For further information about Simply C Photography’s professional photographic services or to read more in Cherry’s blogs visit the website here.