Branding Portraits with Claire Qute: Capturing Personality and Presence
Working with actress and YouTuber Claire Qute was such a rewarding experience. She brought her vibrant personality and professional energy to every part of this session.
Our goal wasn’t just to capture headshots—it was to create a collection of branding portraits that reflected the many sides of Claire: her professionalism, creativity, and authenticity, all while showcasing her versatility across her different artistic platforms.
The Vision Behind the Shoot
From the beginning, we approached this session with the mindset of building Claire’s personal brand visually.
She needed images that would:
Work for YouTube branding
Represent her artistic identity across social media and marketing platforms
Feel polished, creative, and true to who she is—not just "posed" but full of life and character
Instead of focusing solely on traditional headshots, we styled the session to include a range of looks—from clean and professional to slightly more creative and stylized portraits that reflected her individuality.
The Creative Process
Throughout the shoot, Claire’s enthusiasm, adaptability, and natural expressiveness made the process feel effortless. We worked collaboratively to:
Adjust posing and expressions depending on the mood we wanted to create
Shift between professional, approachable looks and more playful, artistic frames
Capture a mix of polished branding shots and more natural, in-the-moment portraits that could be used flexibly across her platforms
Her background as a performer really came through—Claire understood how to bring different nuances to the camera, which gave us a wide variety of strong images to work with.
Behind the Scenes: A Look at Our Collaboration
Claire also documented our session in a behind-the-scenes vlog on her YouTube channel.
It’s a great glimpse into the dynamic of the day—how we brainstormed, adjusted setups, and worked together to bring her brand vision to life.
Seeing the collaboration captured from her perspective added another layer of appreciation for how much thought, energy, and connection went into this session.
You can watch her BTS vlog below:
Reflections on the Shoot
This session was a powerful reminder that personal branding photography goes beyond technical execution.
It’s about:
Listening to the person you’re photographing
Understanding their goals and personality
Creating an environment where they can be themselves fully in front of the camera
