My approach to branding photography

My approach to branding photography

For many years I mainly specialized in wedding photography but I have done a number of branding sessions in between that. Being a creative wedding photographer actually lends itself very well to branding photography as I am used to working with ordinary people as opposed to models which means I can direct people to look their best. My Fine Art background is also a handy asset as I am able to tell stories with images which is perfect for a client who wants a branding session that tells their unique story as opposed to those typical branding shots you see with businesswomen and coffee cups!

I haven’t shared many of these images but life in lockdown has given me some time to catch up on blogging.

Here’s a few shoots along with a short write up about each person so that you can understand my approach.

Click here if you would like to read about some tips for getting the most out of your branding session


Chanelle Segerius Bruce is an online coach who specializes in teaching people to teach online and build their brands online in general. Her brand is centered around enabling women to free up their time and earn money from their experience and skill and her overall branding has the element of barefoot luxury to it. Hence the tropical vibes. Chanelle has used these images on her website and also across social media platforms. If you are a personal brand it is vital that you have a number of images of you to share.

Laid back KZN midlands wedding, shot by top South African creative wedding photographer Jacki Bruniquel at Corrie Lynn Farm

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Amy Down from Mommy Mojo is an online health and wellness coach from Australia. We shot these images in Bali and wanted to create the idea of well being and mindfulness which Bali is known for. It became the perfect location to communicate these ideas.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Ard Matthews is an internationally acclaimed and well known South African Musician who became famous with the band Just Jinger. I have photographed Ard many times over the years and he has used these images for PR and marketing.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Lauren Pinnoy is a Yoga teacher who runs the Yoga Studio in Ballito South Africa. We wanted to create striking imagery that would really have her standing out on her social media. These have also appeared in magazines.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Deborah Goode is a businesswomen who developed Free-Sweet, a sweetener that can be used as a sugar replacement amongst many other entrepreneurial endeavours. Deborah has created a personal brand around her product and these images have been used on her website and in various magazines and other marketing materials

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Frances Patterson is Obstetrician Gynaecologist. In these images we wanted to ensure that she looks extremely professional but also friendly, open and trustworthy. This collection of images have been used in her marketing material but also on presentations and papers.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Sharni Quinn is a yoga teacher, life coach, author and speaker. We photographed a collection of images around Bali, Indonesia that all speak of her brand which is about being the best version of yourself! She wanted a bright and airy feel about the photos to convey her message. She has used these images on her website, various training programs, online marketing and also in print media.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

https://jackibruniquel.com/blog/for-photographers/my-approach-to-branding-photography/

https://jackibruniquel.com/blog/for-photographers/my-approach-to-branding-photography/

https://jackibruniquel.com/blog/for-photographers/my-approach-to-branding-photography/

https://jackibruniquel.com/blog/for-photographers/my-approach-to-branding-photography/

Dylan McGarry is an academic, an artist, a teacher, an eco warrior and illustrator. He wanted something unique for his portrait so we used contrasty lighting and props. The images we made have been used on this website and various campaigns and academic papers.

https://jackibruniquel.com/blog/for-photographers/my-approach-to-branding-photography/

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Bretton Jones is an NLP life coach. The brief was to make some images that were modern and fresh and showed him as a working professional who is friendly, reliable and trustworthy. These have been used on his website and across all marketing platforms.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Ben Vos and John Van Der Ruit are both actors, play writers and comedians. John is famous for his series of books called Spud. This branding shoot was done before their show Mamba Republic and we wanted to create an element of drama, fun and humour hence the use of the red velvet to allude to a stage curtain and more dramatic lighting. These images were used on everything from lamp-post posters, in the newspapers and on social media.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Cathy Layzell is an internally acclaimed Cape Town based abstract artist and painter. Artists often need images of themselves for PR, exhibition artist statements etc.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Guy Buttery is an internally acclaimed South African musician and I have photographed him many times over the years. These images have been used across social media and print PR – some of them even appeared in the Rolling Stone magazine.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Shane Smith and Shaun Bebbington own West Coast Distillers which is a craft gin distillery who also make bitters and other beverages in the Cape. They are anything but corporate hence a more relaxed and alternative approach when it came to choice of outfits etc. These images have been used for marketing purposes.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Prasheen Maharaj is an entrepreneur who’s official title is Chief Executive Officer at SanDock Austral. These images needed to appeal to a corporate audience but also show Prasheen’s role as CEO of a shipbuilding yard. They have been used extensively for PR and marketing purposes and have even appeared on the front page of a business magazine.

Top-South-African-Creative-Personal-Branding-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

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SA Shipyards Commercial Content Photo Library

SA Shipyards Commercial Content Photo Library

As the need to have a solid online presence surges for all business big and small, so the importance of creative and arresting imagery increases. Photographs communicate without words and have the ability to move people emotionally. It has been said that the average modern person sees between 4000 – 10000 images a day between all the screens, billboards and media we view. It’s going to take something special to get potential clients to stop scrolling and take notice of your brand and what you are selling. Gone are the days where you can throw up some salesy copy and hope people will buy. A solid brand needs a human element and story-telling behind it. Consumers want to know who is behind businesses these days. They want to see faces, know about what they are buying and what companies stand for.

Prasheen Maharaj from SA Shipyards is well aware of this. He is an incredible entrepreneur with an amazing business mind and so I was very honoured when he contacted me to commission a photo library that could be used over the period of a year for their website, social media presence, on presentations and in training material. SA Shipyards is South Africa’s largest ship building company and it employs over 600 people. They also do ship repairs, maintenance and have a training facility where they run apprenticeship programs along with many other social responsibility projects.

This is the beginning of this photo library, where I photographed portraits of management as well as factory workers, but also looked to tell the story of what this company does, who works there, what their company values are and how they operate.

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The Art of Seeing

The Art of Seeing

People always ask me how I get such great reflection shots so I will let you into a little secret! It’s got something to do with opening your eyes and seeing what is right in front of you!

But let me tell you a story first

I’m was in the market for a new car and I saw a Honda on the road the other day that I had never noticed before and now I am seeing them EVERYWHERE!

I remember when my sister was pregnant, suddenly I was seeing pregnant people EVERYWHERE

Or when I got engaged and suddenly all I could see was engagement rings EVERYWHERE. (That relationship didn’t work out by the way, just in case you were wondering why I’m not wearing a ring now!)

When the brain is aware of something we notice them. It’s not like those things weren’t happening around me all of the time – I just never took note of them and so I didn’t see them!

In order to be a good photographer you really need to NOTICE things and this happens by being aware of them, being present, mindful and opening your eyes to the world around you! Even when you don’t have the camera on you, you should be watching the light and the way it behaves, seeing compositions or studying people to watch for emotion and moments. When your brain is aware of things you will improve your eye and therefore be able to react quicker when you have your camera in hand. This is called the art of seeing and it is something you should be working on all the time if you want to be a better photographer!

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Best of Hartford House

Best of Hartford House

If you know me you will know that I absolutely love horses so any wedding venue that offers a bit of equine therapy makes me very happy! Hartford House is one of my top wedding venues in South Africa because of its horses but also because of its excellence. This prestigious boutique hotel sits snuggly on a horse stud farm just a few clicks from Mooi River in the Natal Midlands in South Africa. The natural beauty of this farm is truly something to behold and offers the visitor emerald rolling hills to walk in during the summer, beautiful gardens to inspire and delight in the spring, golden trees in the Autumn and a roaring fire place in the winter. They are known for their gastronomic food experiences and have thrilled patrons with delicious feasts for many years. What has always struck me about this particular hotel is their ability to make every guest feel special and at home. It’s a fancy hotel and yet it’s totally unpretentious. It’s the type of place where you can lie around by the pool with a book or go for a jog around the farm, you can eat till you pop or jump on a horse and have a gallop around the track.

As a wedding venue it is most definitely one of KZN’s best. Besides the wonderful food, luxurious rooms, 5 star service and beautiful gardens it offers some of the most gorgeous photo opportunities around. I absolutely love shooting there and if you are a bride or groom to be, I can assure you this is a wonderful option if you love the outdoors with a bit of fancy thrown in!

Here are a few pictures I have taken at various weddings at Hartford House over the years. Unfortunately some of my Hartford clients didn’t want any of their pics put online but there are enough here for you to get the idea of the wonderful celebrations I have had the pleasure of photographing at this venue over the years.

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