By Ann Oleinik, owner and lead photographer at Ann & Kam Photography & Cinema in Barrington, Illinois. Fifteen years photographing women in business across the Chicago suburbs.

The short answer: Most small business websites need about 25–40 usable photos. That usually includes a wide hero image with room for text, an About page portrait, photos that show your services or process, detail and environment shots, a clean headshot for LinkedIn and directories, and horizontal images for banners and headers.

But the number of photos isn’t really the hard part. They need to be photographed in the right orientation, composition and crop for where they’ll actually be used. A folder of 50 beautiful portraits doesn’t help much if none of them works across the top of your website.

How many photos do I actually need for my business website?

To be honest, I think we need to address another question:

For a service business with a home page, an About page and three to five service pages, I usually recommend planning for 25–40 images you would actually be happy to publish.

That sounds like a lot until you start counting.

Your home page alone might use four to six images between the hero, section breaks, calls to action and service introductions. Your About page might use another three to five. Each service page could need two to four. Then there’s your contact page.

And your website isn’t the only place these images need to work.

You’ll probably also need a LinkedIn profile photo and banner, Google Business Profile images, blog headers, email graphics, social media content, speaking bios, press requests, ads and whatever else your business needs over the next year.

This is why I don’t think about a branding session as creating a collection of portraits.

We’re building an image library for your business.

What stories does your website photography need to tell?

Before we make a shot list, we make a story list.

Because the real question isn’t just, “What photos do I need for my website?”

It’s: What does someone need to see to understand my business and feel comfortable hiring me?

Your website photography should help answer some of the questions a potential client is already asking.

Who are you?

Yes, people want to see what you look like. But they also want to get a sense of you.

Are you warm and approachable? Polished and sophisticated? Creative? Energetic? Calm and reassuring?

That’s why we usually create more than a traditional headshot. Your expressions, clothing, environment and what you’re doing in the photograph can all tell people something about who they’ll be working with.

What do you actually do?

This sounds obvious, but it’s especially important for service businesses.

If you sell a physical product, you can photograph the product. If you’re a consultant, attorney, coach, designer, financial advisor or other service professional, what you’re selling can be much harder to see.

Photography can make an intangible service more concrete.

An interior designer can be photographed reviewing plans and materials. A consultant can be shown leading a meeting. An aesthetic provider can show the equipment, treatment room and actual experience instead of relying on a stock photo of a woman in a robe.

Instead of just telling people what you do, we can help them see it.

What does it feel like to work with you?

This is one of the most important stories your website can tell.

Think about the questions people have before they contact you.

Will this be intimidating? Will I know what to do? Is this place comfortable? Will she understand me? What actually happens when I get there?

Photography can answer some of those questions before a potential client ever schedules a call.

Showing a conversation with a client, a consultation, part of your process or simply the environment where you work helps someone imagine themselves there.

What makes your business different?

This is where generic branding photography often falls short.

If we could replace you with another business owner in the same photographs and nobody would notice, we’re probably not telling enough of your story.

Maybe it’s the way you work with clients. Your space. Your team. A particular process. The tools you use. The way you dress. Your personality. The details people remember after working with you.

Those things belong in your photographs too.

Who is this business for?

Your potential client should be able to look at your website and think, “This feels like it’s for someone like me.”

Sometimes that means showing actual clients or models who represent the people you serve. Sometimes it’s communicated through the environment, styling and situations we create.

Either way, we’re not only photographing the business owner. We’re thinking about the person on the other side of the screen.

What makes the business feel real?

Not every photograph needs a person looking at the camera.

Your office. Your hands working. Products. Materials. Equipment. Architectural details. A notebook on the table. The little things that are part of a normal day in your business.

These images may seem less important when we’re planning the shoot, but they’re some of the most useful photographs in a website gallery.

Together, all of these images do something a headshot alone can’t do:

They give people a picture of your business before they’ve experienced it for themselves.

What kinds of photos do I need to tell those stories?

Once we know the stories, then we figure out the photographs we need to tell them.

That’s where the practical shot list comes in.

A wide hero image

This is the large image at the top of your website. It usually needs to be horizontal, photographed fairly loose and composed with intentional space for a headline and button.

The important thing isn’t simply that we remember to take a horizontal photo.

We decide what story the hero needs to tell first, and then create that story in a composition your designer can actually use.

An About page portrait

Your About page usually needs a portrait, but it doesn’t necessarily need another corporate headshot.

This photograph can tell us more about your personality and the experience of working with you. It might be warmer, more relaxed or more environmental, depending on your brand.

Service and process images

These are the photographs that help make your services visible.

We might photograph you working, consulting with someone, using a particular tool or moving through part of your process.

Ideally, your major services have images that actually help explain them rather than one generic photograph being repeated across every service page.

Detail and environment images

These are your hands, workspace, tools, products, materials, office and all the smaller pieces of your visual story.

They give your designer ways to break up pages without putting your face in every section, and they’re incredibly useful later for social media, email and other marketing.

A headshot that works everywhere

You still need one.

Your website, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, speaking engagements and professional directories all need a strong, recognizable photograph of you.

We just don’t ask that one photograph to tell your entire business story.

Horizontal and vertical versions

The same story often needs to live in several places.

That’s why I might photograph one setup as a wide horizontal with room for website copy, a closer horizontal for a service page, a vertical for social media and a tight detail image.

We’re not taking four random photographs.

We’re making one story usable in four different ways.

I already have a professional headshot. Why isn’t that enough?

A great headshot tells people who you are. But your website has a much bigger story to tell.

People coming to your website want to understand what you do, who you work with, what makes your business different and what it might actually feel like to work with you. One photo of your face can’t do all of that.

If you’re an interior designer, I don’t just want to show you looking polished. I want to show you reviewing plans, working with materials and standing inside the kinds of spaces you help create.

If you’re a financial advisor, we might show you sitting across from a client, working through a plan or having the kind of conversation someone can imagine having with you.

If you own a wellness practice, your clients may want to see the treatment rooms, the equipment, your team and what actually happens during an appointment.

Those images are doing something your headshot can’t: they’re helping a potential client picture themselves working with you.

That’s why I don’t approach website photography as a longer headshot session with more outfits.

Before we photograph anything, I want to understand the stories your business needs to tell. What do you want people to know about you? What do they need to understand about your services? What questions or hesitations could we answer visually? What parts of the experience are easier to show than explain?

Then we create the photographs that tell those stories.

Of course, we still need to think about the practical things your web designer needs: horizontal and vertical images, room for copy, different crops and photographs for different pages. But those are the formats.

The story comes first.

A great headshot helps people recognize you. A great branding library helps them understand your business.

That’s why one of the first things I ask when we’re planning a branding session is:

Where are these photos going?

If you’re building a website, I want to know what the site looks like. Where does the designer need horizontal images? Where will text sit over a photo? Do we need vertical images for the About page? Are there three different services that each need their own visual story?

Those answers change the way I photograph you.

A great headshot is just the beginning.

What makes a photo actually work on a website?

This is something people don’t usually think about until their web designer asks for it.

A beautiful photograph and a useful website photograph are not always the same thing.

Website images have jobs to do.

Some need to leave room for text. Some need to survive a very wide crop. Others need to work vertically. Your headshot needs to survive a circle. And the same website has to rearrange all of those images when someone switches from a 27-inch monitor to an iPhone.

That’s why you’ll sometimes hear photographers talk about negative space.

Negative space is simply the empty part of the photograph. If you’re centered and filling the entire frame, there’s nowhere for your designer to put a headline. Put you intentionally to one side with room around you, and suddenly that same photograph can become a website hero, section header, ad or email banner.

Modern editing tools can sometimes extend backgrounds or manufacture additional space after the fact. But I’d much rather photograph the image correctly in the first place.

We’re not guessing what your designer might need later.

We’re planning for it.

Do I really need custom photography, or can I use stock photos?

You can certainly use stock photography in places, but I wouldn’t use it as a substitute for showing the actual people, services and experience behind your business.

There’s good research behind this.

In eye-tracking research published by Nielsen Norman Group, people paid significant attention to photographs of actual people connected to the organization while tending to ignore decorative or generic imagery.

That makes sense.

If I’m considering hiring you, I want to know who I’m hiring.

I want to see your office. I want to see what you do. I want to get some sense of what it might feel like to walk through your door or sit across the table from you.

This matters even more for businesses that operate largely online.

One of my clients put it beautifully: when everything is virtual, a blank digital storefront can make people wonder if you’re real.

Your photography helps answer that question before they ever contact you.

Should I plan my website first or my branding photos first?

Ideally, they happen together.

You don’t need a finished website before we photograph you. In fact, waiting until everything else is finished can create exactly the bottleneck we’re trying to avoid.

But if you’re already working with a designer, I want to see whatever exists.

That might be a finished design, wireframes, a template or even just a rough idea of the pages you’re building.

Before a website branding session, I want to understand things like:

• What pages are being built?
• What services need their own imagery?
• Where will headlines and buttons sit?
• What are your brand colors?
• Do you need images of your office, team or process?
• What other marketing will you need over the next six to twelve months?

Then we can build the photography around those needs.

I don’t want to start by asking, “What poses do you want?”

I want to start by asking, “What does your business need these photos to do?”

How far in advance should I book branding photos for a website launch?

If you’re planning a January 2027 website launch, September and October are the time to get the photography moving.

My branding sessions typically book about four to six weeks out, and the full edited gallery is delivered two to three weeks after your shoot.

So if you book in September, photograph in October and receive your images in early or mid-November, your designer has plenty of time to build the site with the actual photographs.

Wait until November to start the process and you may be photographing in December and receiving your finished gallery in January.

At that point, the photography can become the thing holding up the launch.

That’s not manufactured urgency. It’s just the calendar.

How much does branding photography cost in Chicago?

At Ann & Kam Photography, the Brand Foundation is $2,900 and is designed for one person, one location and a straightforward branding scope.

The Signature Brand Session is $4,000 and is designed for a more complex visual library: multiple setups, multiple looks and additional people or spaces when needed.

Both are all-inclusive and include professional hair and makeup on site for one person and the full edited gallery. There is no image-by-image selection process afterward.

Commercial usage rights are included, so you’re able to use the images on your website, social media, marketing materials and paid advertising.

We photograph branding sessions at our studio in Barrington and on location throughout the Chicago area.

I’ve also written a complete guide to what branding photography costs in Chicago, including what to look for when you’re comparing quotes.

What do I do with all the photos that don’t go on my website?

This is where a branding session starts to make a lot more sense as a business investment.

A Signature Brand Session typically delivers 60–80 edited images. Your website may only use 25 or 30 of them.

The others aren’t extras.

They’re your marketing library.

They can become your LinkedIn banner and profile image, Google Business Profile photos, Instagram and LinkedIn posts, email graphics, speaking and media bios, lead magnets, advertisements, proposals and the dozens of other places someone encounters your business before deciding whether to contact you.

That’s why I like to map those uses before the shoot.

The goal isn’t to hand you 80 images you love and hope you figure out what to do with them.

The goal is to create the images your business is actually going to use.

Planning a new website? Start with the photo list, not the shot list.

You don’t need to arrive at your branding session knowing how to pose, what photographs will look best or whether we should photograph you sitting at a desk.

That’s my job.

What I want to understand is your business.

What does your home page need to communicate? What are you selling? What do prospective clients need to see before they’ll trust you? Where will these images be used? And what else is your business going to need six months from now?

Then we build the photography around those answers.

Because the goal isn’t simply to create beautiful photographs.

It’s to create photographs that help your business do its job.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I wait until my website is designed before taking branding photos?

No. If you’re already working with a designer, it’s helpful to share wireframes, a template or other design direction, but the website does not need to be finished. Ideally, the photography and website planning happen together so the images are created for the layouts your designer needs.

Can my web designer send you a shot list?

Absolutely. I often want input from the designer because they know the specific layouts they’re building. I’ll combine those requirements with the other ways you need to use your images so we’re creating a complete visual library rather than only filling website placeholders.

What if I don’t know what photos my website needs?

That’s normal. You don’t need to create the photography plan yourself. We’ll talk through your website, services, audience and marketing needs before the session and determine what images we need to create.

Can you photograph images that match my website colors and brand?

Yes. Brand colors, website design, wardrobe, backgrounds, props and locations can all be considered during the planning process so the finished images feel like they belong to the same business.

Should we photograph at my office or at your studio?

It depends on what your business needs to communicate. Our Barrington studio gives us multiple lifestyle environments as well as clean studio backgrounds. For businesses where the physical space, team or client experience is important, photographing on location may make more sense.

Can you photograph my team during the same branding session?

Yes. Team members can be incorporated when we’re planning a larger branding session. We’ll determine what individual headshots, group photographs and working images the website needs before the shoot.

How far before my website launch should I schedule photography?

I recommend booking four to six weeks before your ideal shoot date and allowing another two to three weeks after the session for your edited gallery. Giving your designer several weeks with the final photographs before launch makes the process much easier.

Are commercial usage rights included?

Yes. Commercial usage rights are included with Ann & Kam branding sessions, including use on your website, marketing materials, social media and paid advertising.