Have you ever looked at an image of someone and felt motivated, charged, inspired or ready to do something? Well, congratulations! You stumbled upon an empowerment photo and may ask what is an empowerment photo?
Empowerment is defined as the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.
Translation: an empowerment photo makes you feel strong, confident and able to accomplish anything you set your mind to.
What makes an empowerment photo?
A true empowerment photo will make it’s subject look confident, strong, authentic, relatable, powerful, knowledgeable. It can create energy and give the subject a purpose, mission and/or cause. There’s a sparkle in the eyes of the subject boasting both wisdom and action. You see that they really know their stuff and are ready and able to do anything they set their minds to, and so you can too! The ‘can do’ and ‘I’m ready’ attitude in an empowerment photo can make the audience contagiously feel their empowering attitude and take action.
Empowerment Photo of Amanza Smith Brown CEO Kidterior Design
What does an empowerment photo look like?
The subject in an empowerment photo will often have their shoulders squared off to directly face the viewer. They’ll be looking directly at the viewer to fully engage and captivate their audience. Mouths are often closed, with a serious expression or slight grin. A full smile can also be very effective depending on the type of smile, overly wide and cheesy smiles aren’t very empowering, yet a bit cheeky and confident smile can work magic.
The eyes should have a concentrated look, with a hint of a soft smile in them. I often suggest my clients “smize” smile with their eyes to fully capture this power, wisdom, and radiance in their empowerment photo.
Empowerment Photo of Kelly Johnson Founder of Velatrio
How to pose for an empowerment photo:
Hands at the hips in a ‘Superman’ pose can also create a beautiful empowerment photo, especially when the final image is cropped so it doesn’t look cliché. Crossed arms can work well but caution must be taken with the intensity in which they are crossed as they can also close you off from your audience. A strong side stance can work beautifully, especially with a confident over the shoulder smile.
Hands are often left out of female empowerment photos as they can look clumsy and be a distraction. Save hands for beauty or lifestyle shots instead. For men, hands can be powerful in an empowerment photo but consideration must be taken with their position as they can make the photo look hard and standoffish. When in doubt, leave the hand out!
How does an empowerment photo relate to my world?
When I look at an empowerment photo I get a tickle in my chest, the kind that ignites anticipation, excitement, and a serious can-do attitude! I see the energy beam from the image and it speaks directly to me. Think of the times when you were about to purchase a product or service and the individual selling to you didn’t seem like they knew what they were doing. Did you make that purchase or hesitate, not exactly sure as to why?
Now think of a time when you were about to purchase a similar service or product and you felt the individual selling was really confident and on their game. That they knew exactly what to do or teach you to get you to the next level. Much easier to pull the trigger and make that purchase wasn’t it?
A strong empowerment photo can communicate your passion, knowledge, and confidence to your audience and sell you faster than words could!
Who needs and empowerment photo?
Entrepreneurs, professionals, executives, coaches, instructors, salespeople, speakers, athletes, medical professionals, anyone who has a leadership role or is an influencer, they all would directly benefit from an empowerment photo. The best part is even if you are not in these fields, an empowerment photo could be the perfect thing for you. Mothers, divorcées, graduates, people in new life stages or experiencing changes, a new look, or anyone just needing a confidence boost all would benefit from an empowerment photo as well.
Show the world your power, confidence, and radiance in an empowerment photo for professional reasons or simply any reason, it will change the way you feel about yourself each time you gaze upon it and may change the life of someone else too!
To see a variety of beautiful empowerment photos please view our Empowerment Portrait Portfolio.
If you are ready to produce an image that shows your best self and conveys your authentic brand.
Book a Call with Los Angeles Professional Brand Photographer Sandy Grigsby.