There’s a field up the road from my house that has been left almost completely wild. At this time of year, one of its bramble bushes is laden with, well, brambles.
Dozens of people walk past it every day, but strangely, I seem to be the only one who eats the brambles. (Why is this??!)
The other day, I got a wee bit carried away and ate three very large handfuls. They were free, ripe, and apparently going to waste. I felt I was providing a small public service. And waste not, want not, of course!
My stomach disagreed quite forcefully.
The bramble bush that reminded me why more outfits don’t automatically create a better brand photoshoot
The existence of more brambles didn’t mean I required more brambles. The third handful’s only discernible contribution was several hours of stomach ache.
A client (not the one pictured in this article) recently asked me a question I hear often: How many outfits do you need for a brand photoshoot? She had only three that felt suitable, and was rather apologetic about it.
She said it as though she had failed a test before we’d even begun. But all three outfits suited her, felt comfortable, and made sense for the way she works. That mattered more than extra clothes included simply to increase the numbers.
Three outfits can still give you plenty of variety
Variety does absolutely matter in a brand photography collection. You need photographs that can do different jobs, because a gallery in which every image looks almost identical won’t be terribly useful for long.
But clothing is only one way of creating that variety.
Three outfits can be plenty when they represent different parts of your working life. One might feel a wee bit more polished, another more relaxed, and the third like something you genuinely wear while doing the work your clients pay you for.
We can also change the feel of an outfit without replacing every item. Removing a jacket, adding a scarf, or rolling up sleeves can give us a different look without another full change.
Your wardrobe isn’t responsible for the whole collection
The rest of the variety comes from careful planning.
So, say I photograph you working, walking, talking to somebody, or looking directly at the camera... We can also vary the locations, backgrounds, expressions, compositions, and distances. We can create wide photographs with room for website text, close portraits for LinkedIn, and details that help explain how your work is done. There are so many options!
The same outfit can appear in several photographs without those photographs feeling interchangeable, because their subjects and purposes are different.
This is why I plan the uses and messages of a shoot before worrying about the length of somebody’s packing list - my article on how to plan a brand photoshoot explains that process in more detail.
Choose clothes that genuinely suit you
So when people ask me how many outfits you need for a brand photoshoot, they’re often convinced there must be a universally correct number. And there's really not! What matters is whether the clothes you have chosen feel like you, suit the settings, and help us communicate the right things about your business.
If you genuinely own only a small number of suitable outfits, please don’t panic-buy several more simply to satisfy an imaginary quota. Three well-chosen outfits will serve you much better than six that don’t fit properly, need constant adjustment, or make you feel like somebody else.
If you need help deciding what belongs in that small, useful selection, my guide to what to wear for a brand photoshoot will help.
So, how many outfits DO you need for a brand photoshoot? Enough to represent the relevant parts of you and your work, is the simple answer.
If that number is three, we can create the rest of the variety through what you’re doing, where you’re photographed, and how each image is composed.
More outfit options can be useful when every option has a good solid reason to be there. But do remember: more for the sake of more is how you end up standing in a field with stomach ache, regretting your commitment to an abandoned bramble harvest.
Yes, your photographs need variety, but your wardrobe doesn’t need to provide all of it.
Thinking about business photos but concerned about what to wear?
If you’re considering a brand photoshoot but worried that you don’t have enough suitable clothes, don’t let your wardrobe make the decision for you.
I’ll help you choose the outfits that properly represent you and your business, then create the rest of the variety through the locations, activities, expressions, and compositions we plan around them.
If you’re a service-based business owner in Edinburgh or elsewhere in Scotland, get in touch and tell me what you need your new photographs to help people understand.
