The things you don’t think about until you own a photography business, am I right? Do I watermark my images or not? How many forms of social media do I really need to use (I’m still trying to learn the right answer to this!). What should I use as my business profile photo on social media accounts?

The last was a question that was recently posted in a popular photography group online and it came down to three main opinions:

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1. Use Your Logo as your profile photo

2.Post your work at your profile photo

3. Post a headshot or different photo of yourself as your profile photo

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Of course, every person had justification for their opinion and the reasons were all valid to those people in their business. I was shocked to realize that there were so many disagreements on this topic.

I read MANY comments along the lines of, “my work of course, people are paying for my work, not my face.” And “no one cares about me, they care about my work.”

These comments are probably 100% accurate for those people’s business models, and that’s OK. However, they don’t fit the way that many photographers are trying to run their business.

What do I mean? We are in a “people” business, we make connections, we help people preserve memories to last their lifetime and beyond. Personally, I believe that my clients are going to be much happier with their experience (and therefore show more genuine emotion in their images) if they DO know who I am. I WANT my clients to recognize my face and feel connected with me. Does that add another layer of work to my business? Sure sometimes, but it’s work it to KNOW people.

Yes, my logo represents my business it’s on my website and blog. I had to designed to represent a certain feeling and really, I adore it. But my logo does NOT help my clients know me or feel connected with me as a person.

My work is important! If I didn’t love my work, I would change it or simply not be in this business. And of course you should have your work posted on all of your platforms, your clients should care what your work looks like. The quality and style of your work matter.

But who you are matters most of all. There can be several photographers who have a similar style as you. YOU are what sets you apart from everyone else. Put your smiling face in your business profile photo, because your clients do not come to you just for your work. Your clients also come to you because of who you are.