Should You Make a Mood Board for Your Branding Photo Shoot?

For your business, branding photography is an investment that has powerful potential. It’s a vital step in building your brand and connecting with the right customers. But there are a million recommendations out there about how to make the most of your photo shoot, and one that you may see mentioned often is to create a mood board to show your photographer. As a branding and headshot photographer, I’m happy to weigh in about this suggestion.

What Is a Mood Board?

A mood board is essentially a collage of images that describes the “mood” of your brand. It can include color swatches, photos that have an aesthetic that matches your brand, photos that symbolize how you want customers to see your brand, and even a few words that describe your brand. The goal is to ultimately show a visual representation of your brand so that anyone who sees it will understand the look and idea of your brand.

How Can a Mood Board Help Your Branding Photography Session?

Making a mood board is a common suggestion for preparing for a branding photo shoot (and for the process of defining your brand in general). It can be helpful because it gives your photographer a better idea of what your brand is, how to visually show your brand, and how to capture the aesthetic you want.

Should You Make a Brand Mood Board for Your Next Branding Photo Shoot?

Here’s the ultimate question: is it worth it to make a mood board for your brand before your next branding photo session? Every photographer works differently, but for my clients, my answer is that it’s not a necessity, but it never hurts either.

A mood board can be a great way to help me understand your brand if you’d like to, and I’ll never turn down insight from my clients, but it’s absolutely not a requirement. I do a lot of legwork to understand you and your brand before your photo shoot - that’s something my clients have noted that they especially appreciate about my process. During the planning, you and I will meet and have a great discussion about your brand and how you want to present your brand to the world. From there, I’ll custom-design your photo shoot based on what we discussed.

If you have a mood board already or other similar tools you use to define your brand, I’d love for you to share it with me, and you can feel free to make one if you’d like to. But rest assured that I’ll be able to understand your brand and create a wonderful visual look for your brand without it, so this is an extra step you don’t have to do.

Book Your Headshots and Branding Photography

Let’s get your new branding photos up and running so you can put them into action! Contact my Mercer Island photo studio and let’s book your session.