How to Build a Photography Brand That Attracts the Right Clients
Angela Adams talks to Abul Shah
Building a photography brand isn’t simply about choosing a logo, creating a website and posting regularly on social media.
A strong photography brand should communicate who you are, what you photograph, how you work and, perhaps most importantly, why the right client should choose you.
For photographer Abul Shah, that has meant moving towards a more personal and authentic approach to his business, while developing a clear understanding of the clients he wants to work with.
His experience offers some useful lessons for photographers who are trying to establish or refine their own brand.
Start with the photography you love
Many photographers begin their careers by trying to work out what the market wants.
That can be useful to a point, but there is another question that is just as important:
What do you actually love photographing?
For Abul, the answer is connection.
His wedding photography focuses on the relationships between people and the stories that emerge from those relationships. Rather than simply looking for conventional poses, he is interested in the subtle ways couples communicate with each other.
That personal interest becomes part of the visual identity of the business.
The same principle applies whatever your genre.
If you love photographing people, places, products, sport, architecture or wildlife, think about what specifically interests you within that subject.
What do you notice that other photographers might overlook?
What kind of images do you naturally gravitate towards?
What would you happily spend hours creating?
Those answers can help define a much stronger photographic identity than simply following whatever style is currently popular.
Authenticity can become your competitive advantage
One of the strongest themes in Abul’s approach to business is authenticity.
It is tempting to look at successful photographers and try to work out how to replicate what they have done.
You might copy their visual style, website, social media strategy or pricing structure.
The problem is that clients can often tell when something doesn’t feel genuine.
Your personality is part of your business.
Your way of communicating, the experience you create and the way you see the world all influence the work you produce.
Trying to become a slightly cheaper or slightly different version of another photographer makes it difficult to stand out.
Instead, consider what makes you different.
Your personality, background, interests, values and way of working can all contribute to your brand.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself into your brand
For photographers, this can be surprisingly difficult.
You are often comfortable putting your images in front of people but much less comfortable putting yourself there.
Yet clients aren’t only choosing photographs.
They are choosing the person who will photograph them.
This is particularly important in genres where trust and personal interaction are central to the experience.
A couple choosing a wedding photographer, for example, is inviting that person into an incredibly important and personal day.
They want to know what the photographer is like.
Are they calm?
Friendly?
Confident?
Professional?
Will they make people feel comfortable?
Will they understand what matters to them?
Showing some of your personality through your website, social media and communication can help potential clients answer those questions before they ever make contact.
Know your ideal photography client
You cannot effectively market to everyone.
A photographer who tries to appeal to every possible customer can easily end up with a brand that doesn’t appeal strongly to anyone.
Instead, think about your ideal client.
What do they value?
What sort of photography are they looking for?
Where do they discover photographers?
What level of service do they expect?
What are they prepared to invest?
What other brands, businesses and photographers do they admire?
Abul discovered some useful information by asking previous favourite clients about how they researched photographers and found that Instagram and Pinterest were particularly important to them.
That kind of information is far more useful than guessing where your potential clients might be.
Ask your existing clients.
They can tell you why they chose you, what they liked about the experience and what made your work stand out.
Let your portfolio communicate your personality
A portfolio shouldn’t simply demonstrate technical competence.
It should tell prospective clients what it feels like to work with you.
If your images consistently show genuine interactions, natural moments and storytelling, potential clients should begin to understand that this is what you value.
Your portfolio becomes part of your sales process.
This is why showing everything you have ever photographed isn’t necessarily a good idea.
A smaller, carefully selected collection of work can communicate a much clearer message.
Ask yourself of every image:
Does this represent the type of work I want to be commissioned to create?
If the answer is no, consider removing it.
Your style doesn’t have to follow the latest trend
Photography trends can move incredibly quickly.
A particular editing style becomes fashionable. A certain type of composition fills social media feeds. Suddenly everyone seems to be producing similar images.
There is nothing wrong with being influenced by contemporary photography.
But there is a difference between being inspired by a trend and allowing a trend to define your entire visual identity.
Your style should develop through experimentation and experience.
Study photographers whose work you admire. Look at photographers from outside your own genre. Explore historical work. Try different approaches.
Then decide what genuinely fits you.
The goal isn’t to look different simply for the sake of being different.
It is to produce work that feels recognisably yours.
Build the client experience around connection
A photographer’s job doesn’t begin when they pick up the camera.
The client experience starts much earlier.
It begins with the first email, telephone call or website visit.
It continues through the consultation, booking process, preparation, shoot and delivery of the finished photographs.
Every stage contributes to the way a client perceives your business.
Small details can make a significant difference.
For Abul, one example is carrying an instant printer and occasionally giving people physical photographs during engagement sessions, surprise proposals or informal encounters.
The value isn’t simply the print itself.
It creates a moment.
People can immediately hold something that has just been created for them, and that can help build excitement and trust.
Think about what small experiences you could create that are genuinely relevant to your own clients.
Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth
Social media can make it appear as though every successful photographer has built their business through Instagram.
That isn’t necessarily the case.
Recommendations and word of mouth remain extremely powerful.
A happy client who tells a friend about you can be more valuable than a large number of social media followers who will never become customers.
The best way to encourage recommendations isn’t simply to ask for them.
Create an experience worth talking about.
Produce photographs that your clients love.
Communicate well.
Be reliable.
Make the process enjoyable.
Then stay in touch.
A photography business built on genuine relationships can become much more resilient than one dependent entirely on constantly finding strangers through advertising.
Use social media deliberately
Social media can be an excellent way to attract photography clients, but posting constantly isn’t a strategy in itself.
Think about where your ideal clients actually spend their time.
Then consider what they want to see.
Your social media content doesn’t have to consist entirely of finished photographs.
You can show:
- Behind-the-scenes moments.
- How you approach a shoot.
- Stories about individual images.
- Client experiences.
- Personal projects.
- Your interests and influences.
- Helpful advice.
- Location scouting.
- Before-and-after examples.
- Your personality.
The aim is to give potential clients a reason to understand and remember you.
Your personal brand should evolve
A brand isn’t something you create once and then leave untouched for the next ten years.
As your photography develops, your business may develop with it.
You might start in one genre and gradually move towards another.
Your prices may change.
Your ideal clients may change.
Your style may mature.
You may begin working with a team rather than alone.
Your website and visual identity should be capable of evolving with you.
A rebrand can therefore be much more than changing colours and fonts.
It can be an opportunity to ask:
Does my brand still accurately represent the photographer and business I am today?
Don’t try to do everything yourself
Running a photography business involves an enormous range of skills.
You might be an excellent photographer but have limited experience in branding, public relations, marketing, website design or social media strategy.
That doesn’t mean you have to become an expert in everything.
As your business grows, outsourcing specialist tasks can allow you to concentrate on the things where your time has the greatest value.
For example, you might eventually work with:
- A designer.
- A publicist.
- An accountant.
- A website developer.
- A marketing specialist.
- Second photographers or assistants.
- A professional printer or album company.
The important thing is knowing when bringing someone else in will genuinely improve the business.
Keep developing your visual language
Technical skill is only part of becoming a better photographer.
Once you understand your equipment and the fundamentals of exposure and lighting, the next challenge is developing your visual language.
This means learning how to communicate ideas, emotions and stories through your photographs.
Study how other photographers use the frame.
Look at composition.
Look at light.
Look at relationships between subjects.
Look at what has deliberately been left out.
Street photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt and Robert Frank demonstrate how the entire frame can contribute to a visual narrative.
You don’t have to photograph streets to learn from them.
Great photographers in one genre can fundamentally change how you think about another.
Don’t shoot purely for approval
Photography competitions can be a fantastic way to develop your skills, but they aren’t the only measure of progress.
For some photographers, competition photography becomes a major creative focus.
For others, the priority might be improving their client experience, developing a distinctive style or producing better commercial work.
There is no requirement to create images specifically because you think they will impress a judge.
Your goals should reflect the career you want.
If your business depends on clients, then improving your client work and experience may be more valuable than creating images that exist solely for competition entry.
Creativity requires courage
Developing a distinctive style can be uncomfortable.
You have to be willing to experiment.
Some ideas will fail.
Some photographs won’t work.
Some people won’t like what you create.
That is part of the process.
It can be particularly difficult for photographers who are naturally introverted or who are uncomfortable putting their work and personality in front of others.
But creative growth requires a willingness to take risks.
You don’t have to become somebody else.
You simply have to become more comfortable being yourself.
Your brand is a promise
Ultimately, a photography brand is a promise to the client.
Your website, portfolio, social media and marketing create an expectation.
The actual experience then needs to deliver on that expectation.
If your website promises a relaxed, personal and natural photography experience, that should be reflected in the way you communicate and work with clients.
If your brand promises high-end commercial photography, your presentation, processes and attention to detail need to support that positioning.
Consistency builds trust.
Be seen for who you really are
There is a natural temptation to make a photography business look like everybody else’s.
But the photographers who create the strongest brands often understand that their individuality is an asset.
You don’t need to appeal to everyone.
You need to connect with the people who appreciate what you do.
That means being honest about your approach, showing work you genuinely love, understanding your ideal client and creating an experience that matches your promises.
Be yourself. Develop your craft. Understand your clients. Build genuine relationships.
The clients who are attracted to that authenticity are much more likely to value not only your photographs, but the person who created them.
And that is the foundation of a photography brand that can grow for the long term.
