Working with Eleanor Carn Psychotherapy to create brand photography imagery and a more cohesive brand aesthetic
Eleanor is a psychotherapist offering 1:1 work with clients, supervision for other therapist and consultancy and training for therapists who work with neurodivergent clients. Eleanor is neurodivergent and this lived experience strongly informed the work they do with others. Eleanor and I know each other in various capacities, which always makes for a really enjoyable collaborative process.
They approached me initially wanting some updated headshot photography in advance of a US conference that they were speaking at but we eventually expanded to a full branding shoot, along with some strategy work to give Eleanor a structure and cohesive template to support them in sharing their work.
Keep reading to find out a bit more about my shoot with Eleanor Carn Psychotherapy and check out images of them, along with the branding photography and identity work we did together.
Creating branding photography through identifying branding keywords
Identifying keywords that underpin your brand is a really great starting point when you’re looking to implement a more cohesive brand aesthetic and set of visuals.
Keywords are essentially part of your brand’s values. In the case of Eleanor Carn Psychotherapy, keywords included ‘self-led, open hearted, authentic, healing and supportive. As well as identifying keywords, I ask clients to think about other descriptive words that demonstrate how they want their images to look and feel. Eleanor wanted their photography to feel honest, authentic and natural.
Your personal brand is an expression of you! Creating authentic branding photos
Personal branding is a bit of a buzzword but, in essence, it’s all about your values, your ethos and how you show up in your work. If you have no idea where to start with answering those questions check out this post with 5 questions to help you build your personal brand.
In Eleanor’s case, we built our shoot plan around the keywords they’d defined, with authenticity being one of the most important. Eleanor sees clients and supervises online from their South Birmingham home so it made sense to capture them authentically in that environment.
It was important to Eleanor that their branding photography captured the fact that they’re a nice, approachable human being who can hold and support clients and the people they supervise.
Photographing details that expand on your story
With all of my branding photography clients, I suggest we capture details from the background of the work they do. These details, such as the fidget toy and collection of books from Eleanor’s shoot, can be used to share more of yourself with your audience. The books you’ve read that you found meaningful and impactful tell your audience a little bit more about who you are. The fidget toy is relatable for Eleanor’s Autistic and ADHD counselling clients and counselling supervisees and speaks Eleanor’s understanding of them through lived experience.
From branding photography to brand visuals
As well as branding photography, I worked with Eleanor on their social media and content strategy. This involved generating content ideas, creating templates for visuals that could be used across social channels and creating a template for blog content that’s formatted inline with Search Engine Optimisation good practice.
For many freelancers, translating their branding photography images into content that works for them can feel like a block so I offer a branding support service as an add on. If you’d like to work with me on your branding photography I’d love to chat. Drop me a message here. And do check out more images from Eleanor Carn Psychotherapy below.