How to Craft a Brand Photoshoot for a Gut Health and Hormone Coaching Business
Meet Ella - founder of AllGen Wellness
In today's wellness landscape, gut health and hormonal balance are more than just trending topics—they're genuinely essential parts of a vibrant life. This is the mission that Ella Filippi and her business, AllGen Wellness, embody: guiding women to overcome their hormonal imbalances, achieve balance, and uncover root causes of illness through personalized coaching rooted in functional nutrition. But how do you translate such a deeply personal and transformative journey while simultaneously capturing Ella’s energy and character into a visual brand?
In this blog post, we’re going behind the scenes of a branding photoshoot I did with Ella—a functional health and wellness coach specializing in gut health and hormonal wellness in the East Bay Area here in California. From conceptualization to execution, this shoot was all about creating visuals that reflect Ella’s expertise, passion, and commitment to holistic health.
Step 1: Understanding Ella’s Brand Vision
Before picking up a camera for any branding session, I always start with asking what a business owner wants to portray in their brand photos. In this case, it was essential to dive into Ella’s values, mission, and personality. I already had the chance to photograph Ella and her fiance’s engagement photos at Filoli Gardens (you can check out my blog post on that here), so I got to know Ella and a lot about her business before we brainstormed this branding session.
As a coach, Ella isn’t just offering advice—she’s providing a life-changing journey for her clients, helping them uncover and address the root causes of their health challenges. Her work is deeply empathetic and rooted in wellness. This rings extra important to me since I experienced gut and stomach pain issues for years due to undiagnosed stomach sensitivities to both gluten and legumes. I tried seeing a bunch of doctors complaining of severe stomach pain, brain fog, and more to no avail. Some doctors wanted me to try pills and others threw me into the depth of “restriction diets” without any guidance whatsoever. This was all while I struggled with an eating disorder of my own. It was genuinely frustrating and quite a hard time in my life to tell you the truth. So, long story short… hearing about Ella’s business and passion behind it genuinely made me all the happier to brainstorm a photoshoot that would help uplift her business and bring in clients looking for help she can provide.
A couple questions Ella and I covered as we talked about representing her brand were this:
What do you want your brand to represent? Ella’s response was clear—she wanted her brand and photos to feel warm (but not overly edited), approachable, and trustworthy, while conveying expertise in gut health and hormonal balance. This meant natural feeling photos with accurate representation of foods and exercise among other aspects.
What kind of emotions do you want your audience to feel when they see your photos? Trust, empowerment, and hope were emotions I felt like Ella wanted to evoke. She wanted her clients to feel like she and her brand would support them in their journey toward better health.
What makes your approach unique? Ella’s holistic approach combines science-backed strategies with a deep understanding of the emotional and psychological aspects of healing.
Step 2: Defining the Visual Style
We decided on a style that would feel fresh, clean, and modern, yet grounded and not overly edited — just like Ella’s approach to health. We chose to combine elements of the outdoors with a clean, minimalistic backdrop as well as some kitchen shots.
Key visual themes we focused on included:
Healthy lifestyle “props”: Supplements as well as ingredients like avocados, bell peppers, ginger, and leafy greens were included to emphasize Ella’s holistic approach.
Calm and approachable: Light, soft color editing—think not overly edited, low contrast, and true-to-life colors—gave a peaceful, welcoming vibe to the photos.
Step 3: Location, Lighting, and Mood
The location and lighting were crucial elements in shaping the photoshoot’s mood. Since Ella’s brand revolves around the idea of getting out for exercise and also functional nutrition in the kitchen, we chose several locations that fell into those topics—an outdoor walking area where you can exercise, walk and stretch; downtown Danville, California; and a beautiful kitchen with lots of natural light pouring in.
Location Choices:
Outdoor walking and exercise area: Ella really wanted to emphasize being outdoors and getting moving. You don’t have to be at a gym or run miles upon miles to be active for your body, and this was something Ella wanted to show in her photos.
Downtown Danville, California: Walking downtown was a great way to also emphasize being out and being active!
Kitchen: Photos in Ella’s kitchen were my favorite portion of the shoot since so much of your health (physical AND mental) depends on what you put into your body! We took a variety of photos in her kitchen: some involving food. and some with her working on her laptop as one way she engages with clients.
Backdrop Headshots (indoor): Home Studio or Office: Outdoor Elements: For any branding photoshoot, I really encourage a couple standard “headshots” with a clean background or backdrop. While you might not use it lots on social media, a clean headshot is useful in so many other ways: networking platforms like LinkedIn; if you ever need a clean cutout of your face, body, or head for branding; and email signatures just as a few to mention.
Lighting:
We used soft, natural lighting throughout the shoot to create a warm and welcoming vibe. We started the shoot with the outdoors portion early in the morning to capture soft, glowing tones before the sun became harsher midday. The only time we utilized flash was indoors during the headshot portion to light Ella just well enough without it being overwhelming or looking super processed. This helped avoid shadows to maintain the soft, calm look.
Step 4: Styling Ella and the Scene
Styling for a wellness brand photoshoot needs to be understated yet impactful—something that feels authentic to the individual while also resonating with the brand’s message. Ella already had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to wear to represent her business but there were a couple things we talked about for final decisions.
Ella picked out some great activewear clothes that complimented her but weren’t distracting in the photos. During planning portions for any shoot (brand or otherwise), I always give clients a couple pointers on dressing, especially when it comes to patterns. I also include a “What to Wear” guide as well for clients that do better with visuals for planning outfits. Ella has incredible style in literally all aspects of life (I was obsessed with the outfit she chose for her engagement session we did together), so she picked great outfits from the start. The only thing we really talked about was deciding on shirts/outfits for the headshot portion and what would be most flattering for photos in the kitchen and sitting down.
Step 5: Capturing the Core Message
Throughout the photoshoot, we made sure to highlight the unique aspects of Ella’s business and brand:
Empowerment and holistic health: Many of the shots depicted Ella in moments of prepping food, drinking supplements, walking, or stretching. All of these actions are things that the clients are empowered to do for holistic health, especially with Ella’s guidance on details regarding food.
Authenticity and Approachability: Through genuine, candid shots of Ella laughing, smiling, and even goofing around with food at times, I aimed to show that she is a friendly, approachable expert who truly cares about her clients' well-being.
Step 6: Post-Processing to Enhance the Brand Feel
Once the shoot was complete, the next step was the editing process. The goal was to maintain the natural feel of the photos, something Ella and I talked about in the planning stage and a little in post-processing as I showed her starting edits. She had previous brand photos from a while back and purposefully wanted something with a little less contrast and stark colors at this point in time for her business. The editing included:
Brightening the images to keep them light and fresh but not being afraid of shadows and rich colors especially in the outdoors portions.
Softening the tones and decreasing contrast to evoke a sense of calm and peace.
The final set of images was carefully curated for different uses—on her website, social media, and marketing materials. During photoshoots, I purposefully take photos with orientation in mind and “blank space” in different corners of the photos to leave room for text or other branding elements. All branding clients have free reign in terms of putting overlays on the photos (although not editing colors or adding presets) and cropping the photos how they need for any company materials.
The Outcome: A Brand Story Told Through Photos
The final result? -> A stunning collection of photos that fully encapsulate Ella’s philosophy, personality, and the transformative work she does with her clients. The images show her as an approachable, knowledgeable coach who is passionate about helping women achieve balance in their health and their lives.
Ella now has a visual story that matches the story of her business—a brand identity that speaks to her target audience on an emotional level, helping her connect with clients who need her guidance to restore their health and vitality. If you want to check out her business, you can follow Ella on Instagram @ellafilippi_.
Ready to Elevate Your Brand?
Let’s get you some brand photos!
Whether you’re a wellness coach like Ella or a purpose-driven entrepreneur, your photos should tell a story that connects with your audience and builds trust. If you're looking for a photographer to capture authentic visuals that represent the heart of your business, let’s chat!!!
