Why Brand Photography? My Origin Story ~ Tonya Riggs Fresno Brand Photographer ~ Branding By Tonya

I get this question a lot…“How did you get into Brand Photography?” Even though I’ve been an established portrait photographer for over 16 years, my journey into brand photography began in 2018. I first saw a shift in the way I was needing to market my own business with more storytelling visuals for marketing on social media. It was no longer sufficient for me to have just a pretty curated portfolio website with a simple headshot of myself. I needed to start showing more of me and how I served my clients. I offered a very high touch service with tangible products however my own brand seemingly lacked visuals that showed any of this.

I quickly found out through my own brand photography quest, that hiring a great photographer, didn’t equate to great brand visuals. There was definitely a gap I was seeing in my own industry of photographers who were great but not true brand specialists. There were no business questions asked, no help with wardrobe, no help with concepts, no help with my vision, etc. Out of necessity, I started breaking down what that process meant for myself and came up with what what I now call a Shoot Plan. I did my own wardrobe styling, story boards and shot lists for the photographers I worked with which led to my desired results.

Offering Brand Photography to other small businesses started as more of a creative and experimental project. I started repeating my Shoot Plan processes for other small businesses. In the beginning, my hope was to fill a service gap in my industry. The more I kept seeing other businesses grow, elevate and align with their marketing goals, the more I wanted to keep helping them. I realized that I had a lot more to offer than just being their photographer.

Inspired with seeing transformation led me down a deeper path of perfecting my own client processes and experiences. I invested heavily in brand photography education, hired a web/logo designer, continued to build my portfolio, built out my brand experience offerings, and by September of 2023, Branding By Tonya (Brand Photography) was officially launched.

Today I proudly serve a multitude of entrepreneurs from realtors, personal coaches, esthetician’s, photographers to interior designers in Fresno California and the surrounding Central Valley area. Are you ready to invest in your business visuals this year? I can help. Click the link below to schedule a exploration call. I would love to dive into your marketing needs.

Are you looking for a personal / brand / headshot photographer in Fresno or Clovis? Tonya Riggs has been a professional photographer for over 16 years. She specializes in providing brand photography for entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Clovis and Fresno, and Central Valley California Area.