Everything you might want to ask
Pricing, turnaround, insurance, copyright, how an on-site team day actually runs, and what happens if you hate your photos. If something isn't answered here, ask Nick directly — he replies personally, usually within a business day.
About Nick Brand Photography
Who will actually photograph my session?
Nick Brand, personally. Every session on this site is photographed by Nick himself rather than by an associate or a contractor — which is the reason a team of fifty can be matched frame for frame, and the reason the person who quotes you is the person who turns up.
Is Nick Brand Photography insured?
Yes — $20 million public liability. A certificate of currency is supplied on request, which building managers and corporate procurement teams often require before an on-site shoot is approved. Ask for it when you book and it will not hold up the date.
Do your prices include GST?
There is no GST to include. Nick Brand Photography is not registered for GST, so every published price is the final price and nothing is added at invoice. This is worth checking against other quotes, because most Sydney studios advertise ex-GST figures that are 10% higher than they appear.
Where is the studio, and is there parking?
The studio is at 84 Centennial Avenue, Lane Cove NSW 2066, on Sydney's Lower North Shore. There is parking on site, and it is an easy drive from the CBD, North Sydney, Chatswood and St Leonards.
What are your opening hours?
Sessions run 07:00–19:00, Monday to Saturday. Early-morning and evening slots are genuinely available rather than nominal — a lot of corporate work happens before nine or after five, because that is when people can get away from their desks.
Do you travel outside Sydney?
Greater Sydney is included in the standard rates. Work further afield — the Central Coast, the Hunter, Wollongong or interstate — is quoted individually to cover travel time. Get in touch with the location and dates.
Who owns the copyright in the photographs?
Nick retains copyright in the photographs, which is standard practice. You receive full rights to use your images for business and personal promotion — website, social media, print, press and advertising — with no time limit and no per-use fee. The images are not licensed to anyone else.
How long does it take to get the images?
Standard delivery is within five business days for headshot and team sessions. A 48-hour express option is available for an additional $80, and actor sessions have a 24-hour rush option for submission deadlines. Personal branding libraries take a little longer because there are far more frames to edit.
What happens if I don't like my photos?
You review the session in a private online gallery and choose which frames get edited, so nothing is finished before you have seen it. If the session genuinely hasn't produced something you're happy with, Nick will reshoot it. That has been rare — mostly because the direction happens during the shoot rather than being discovered afterwards.
Can you match headshots to an existing set from another photographer?
Usually, yes. Send a few examples of the existing images before the session and the lighting, background and crop can be matched closely enough that new starters sit alongside the old set without standing out. Mention it at the enquiry stage rather than on the day.
Booking and scheduling
How far in advance should I book?
Individual headshot and personal branding sessions can often be booked within the same week. Team headshot days and corporate event coverage are best booked two to three weeks ahead so the date and crew can be locked in.
What happens after I book online?
You'll receive an instant confirmation, and Nick will follow up to confirm the shoot details — location, number of people, wardrobe and the look you're after. Nothing is left to guesswork on the day.
Can you photograph our team at our own office?
Yes. On-site days run across Greater Sydney with a full mobile studio set up in your workplace, so staff are photographed consistently with minimal disruption to the working day.
What if I need to reschedule?
Plans change — just let Nick know as early as you can and the session will be moved to a new time. You can reschedule directly from your booking confirmation email.
Do you prefer a quick chat before booking?
Absolutely. If you'd rather talk through your shoot first, call 0403 835 467 or email studio@nickbrandphotography.com and Nick will help you choose the right session before you reserve a time.
Corporate Headshots
Where do corporate headshot sessions take place?
Sessions run either at the Lane Cove studio or on-site at your Sydney office. For teams, an on-site mobile studio is set up so staff can be photographed with minimal disruption to the working day.
How long does a corporate headshot session take?
Individual sessions take 45 to 90 minutes depending on the package. For teams, allow roughly 10–15 minutes per person on a rolling schedule.
How quickly are the headshots delivered?
Standard delivery is within five business days. A 48-hour express option is available for an additional fee when you are working to a deadline.
What should I wear for a corporate headshot?
Solid, mid-to-dark colours photograph best. Bring one or two outfit options in the style your industry expects. You will receive wardrobe guidance before the shoot.
How much do corporate headshots cost in Sydney?
Individual corporate headshots start at $395, the most popular Professional package is $695, and team rates are $285 per person for groups of five or more.
$395 seems like a lot for one photograph.
It is not one photograph — it is a 45-minute session, five finished images, and a result you will use across a website, a LinkedIn profile, an email signature and every proposal you send for the next two or three years. Spread across that, it is one of the cheaper pieces of professional presentation you will buy. If the budget genuinely isn't there, say so when you enquire; it is better to be told what is possible than to be sold something that isn't right.
Can't we just use phone photos? The cameras are very good now.
Phone cameras are excellent, and for a casual profile they are often fine. What they cannot do is produce thirty portraits that match each other — same light, same distance, same background — because the variable isn't the sensor, it's the lighting and the consistency. For an individual, the difference shows mostly in how a short lens distorts a face at close range. For a team, it shows immediately.
What about AI headshots? They're a fraction of the price.
AI headshot generators are fast and cheap, and for a personal profile some people are perfectly happy with the result. The problems are that the output drifts from your actual likeness, that it is increasingly recognisable as AI to the people you are trying to impress, and that most tools give you no usable rights position for commercial use. If your photo is doing a job in a professional context — pitching, hiring, being trusted with money or health — a real photograph is still the safer choice.
What if I hate the results?
You see the images in a private gallery before anything is finished, and you choose which frames get edited. If the session genuinely hasn't produced something you are happy with, Nick will reshoot it. That has been rare, mostly because the direction happens during the shoot rather than being discovered afterwards.
I photograph terribly. I always look awkward.
Almost everyone says this, and it is the most predictable part of the job. The awkwardness is usually the first five minutes and it is planned for — you are told what to do with your hands, your jaw and your eyes rather than being asked to relax and be yourself in front of a stranger with a camera. Most people are surprised by how quickly it stops feeling strange.
Do you have insurance? Our building will ask.
Yes — $20 million public liability. A certificate of currency is supplied on request, which building managers and procurement teams usually want before an on-site day is approved. Ask for it when you book and it will not hold up the date.
LinkedIn Headshots
What makes a LinkedIn headshot different from a normal headshot?
A LinkedIn headshot is framed tighter and composed for a circular crop so it stays clear at small sizes. The expression is deliberately approachable, because LinkedIn is a networking platform rather than a formal directory.
Do professional LinkedIn headshots actually make a difference?
A clear, professional profile photo increases the likelihood that connection requests are accepted and messages are opened. Profiles with quality photos are consistently viewed and engaged with more often than those without.
Can I use my LinkedIn headshot elsewhere?
Yes. Every session is delivered in multiple crops so the same image works for LinkedIn, your email signature, speaker bios and company website.
How much does a LinkedIn headshot cost in Sydney?
LinkedIn headshots use the corporate headshot packages, starting at $395 for the Essential session, which includes a LinkedIn-ready crop.
Does a professional photo actually change anything on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn's own guidance is that profiles with a photo are viewed and contacted substantially more often than profiles without one, and it is not hard to see why — a blank avatar reads as an inactive account. What a professional photo adds beyond simply having one is harder to measure honestly, and anyone quoting you a precise percentage is guessing. The defensible claim is narrower: a clear, well-lit, correctly-cropped face reads better at thumbnail size than a cropped wedding photo, and that is the size LinkedIn actually shows it at.
Can't I just crop a photo I already have?
Often, yes — and if you have a good one, use it. The usual problems are that the light is behind you, the crop is too wide so your face is tiny in the circle, or there is a stranger's shoulder in frame. If none of those apply, you do not need to book anything.
What about an AI-generated headshot?
For a personal profile some people are happy with them. The three practical issues are likeness drift, the fact that people are getting better at spotting them, and the murky rights position for commercial use. If you are job-hunting or business-developing — where the photo is doing real work — a photograph of you is still the safer bet.
How often should I update it?
Every two to three years, or sooner if your appearance, role or industry has changed noticeably. The test is simple: if someone met you off the back of your profile, would they recognise you?
Executive Portraits
What is the difference between an executive portrait and a corporate headshot?
A corporate headshot is a clean, consistent identification photo. An executive portrait is more considered — the lighting, environment and posing are designed to communicate seniority and are suited to annual reports, press and leadership pages.
Can executive portraits be taken at our office?
Yes. Executive portraits are regularly photographed on-location in boardrooms and offices across Sydney, which adds context and saves senior leaders time.
Can you photograph our whole leadership team?
Yes. Leadership teams are photographed with matched lighting and framing so the executive page of your website or report looks unified.
How much do executive portraits cost in Sydney?
Executive portraits use the corporate packages, with the Professional session at $695 the most common choice for individual leaders. Team and leadership-group rates are available on enquiry.
Why is this more than a corporate headshot?
Because it is a different job. A headshot identifies you clearly and consistently. An executive portrait is built to carry authority in contexts where the reader is forming a judgement about your competence — an annual report, an investor deck, a press profile. That means more time on lighting, more attention to posture and environment, and usually a location that says something about the organisation.
Our leadership team can't all be free on the same day.
That is normal, and it is the main reason leadership sets look mismatched. The setup is documented and repeatable, so directors can be photographed across two or three visits and still match. What does not work is photographing half now and the other half in a year with a different photographer.
Do we have to come to a studio?
No. A large share of executive work is shot in the client's own boardroom or office, which saves senior people time and gives the portrait context that a plain backdrop cannot. Where a clean, formal look is wanted, the Lane Cove studio is available.
Team Headshots
How does an on-site team headshot day work?
A mobile studio is set up in a room at your office. Staff come through on a pre-agreed schedule, each photographed with identical lighting and background, then return to work. A typical visit handles a large team in a few hours.
How much space is needed for the mobile studio?
A meeting room or a clear area roughly three metres by three metres is enough. Requirements are confirmed when the day is planned.
Can new staff be photographed later to match?
Yes. The setup is repeatable, so new starters can be photographed in the same style and added to your team page without reshooting everyone.
How much do team headshots cost in Sydney?
Team headshots are $285 per person for groups of five or more, including an on-site mobile studio setup, five edited images per person and invoice billing.
How much disruption is this actually going to cause?
Roughly ten minutes per person, on a schedule they are given in advance. The mobile studio is set up before the first slot and packed down after the last, so the only time anyone is away from their desk is their own ten minutes. For a thirty-person team that is five hours of photography and about five person-hours of lost work — considerably less than sending thirty people to a studio.
We don't have a big meeting room.
Three metres by three metres of clear floor is enough, and that is a fairly ordinary meeting room with the table pushed aside. Ceiling height matters more than floor area. If genuinely nothing suitable exists, tell Nick when you enquire — there are setups that work in tighter spaces, and it is better to know before the day.
What happens when we hire someone next month?
The setup is documented — lighting positions, background, distance, lens — so a new starter can be photographed in the same style and dropped straight into the team page. That is the whole point of running it as a system rather than a one-off. Individual sessions for new staff are booked at the standard rate.
Our procurement team will need paperwork.
$20 million public liability, certificate of currency on request, an ABN, written terms and invoice billing with standard payment terms. Everything a supplier onboarding form asks for is available before the date is confirmed — ask when you enquire and it will not delay anything.
What if someone is sick or away on the day?
It happens on almost every team day. Absentees are photographed at a later session in the same style, either at a follow-up visit or at the Lane Cove studio, so the team page stays consistent. There is no penalty for it.
Can we see what a whole finished team set looks like?
Ask, and Nick will walk you through a complete delivered set on a call. Full team sets are not published on the website because they belong to the client and are not shared without permission — which is also the reason you will not see a wall of client logos here.
Personal Branding
What is personal branding photography?
Personal branding photography is a planned shoot that produces a varied library of images — headshots, lifestyle and at-work frames — built around your business and the platforms you publish on, rather than a single headshot.
How many images do I get from a personal branding session?
The Brand Starter half day delivers 20 edited images, the Brand Full Day delivers 50, and Brand Premium delivers 75 or more, all sized for multiple platforms.
Do you help plan the shoot?
Yes. Every package includes creative direction, and the Full Day and Premium packages include a pre-shoot strategy session to plan looks, locations and the specific shots you need.
How much does personal branding photography cost in Sydney?
Personal branding sessions start at $895 for the Brand Starter half day, $1,695 for the Brand Full Day, and $2,800 for Brand Premium including hair and makeup.
Why would I pay $895 when a headshot is $395?
Because they solve different problems. A headshot is one image of your face. A branding session produces a library — portraits, at-work frames, environmental shots, detail images — that keeps a website, a newsletter and a social presence supplied for months. If all you need is a profile photo, book the headshot; it is the honest answer and it is on this site for a reason.
There are only a few branding photographs on this page.
That is a fair observation and worth being straight about: the published personal branding portfolio here is small, because most branding work is commissioned by clients who would rather it lived on their own site than in someone else's gallery, and Nick does not publish client work without permission. If you want to see more before committing, ask — a fuller set can be walked through privately on a call.
Do I have to be good in front of a camera for this?
No, and most people booking a branding day are considerably less comfortable than they expect to be at the start. A half or full day helps rather than hurts here — the first hour absorbs the awkwardness, and the frames that end up being used are almost always from later in the day.
How long will the images stay current?
Twelve to eighteen months for most people, longer if your look and your business are stable. What dates a library fastest is not your face — it is a change of role, a rebrand, or a wardrobe that stops matching how you now present. Plan a refresh rather than a replacement.
Can I use these images for advertising?
Yes. Full usage rights for your own business and personal promotion are included on every package, across every platform, with no time limit and no per-use fee. Nick retains copyright in the photographs, which is standard, and the images are not licensed to anyone else.
Actor Headshots
What do actors get in a portfolio session?
The Portfolio Build is a two-hour session with dramatic and natural light setups, three to four look changes, 25 fully edited images at industry-standard sizing, and casting director guidance on selection.
Do you photograph models as well as actors?
Yes. Both the Actor Starter and the Portfolio Build suit actors and models. The shoot is planned around the work you are submitting for.
How quickly can I get my headshots?
Standard delivery applies to every session, and a 24-hour rush option is available when you have a submission deadline.
How much do actor headshots cost in Sydney?
The Actor Starter session is $450 for one hour in studio, with two looks and 10 fully edited images — enough for a first agency submission. The Portfolio Build is $750 for two hours in studio or on location, with three to four looks and 25 fully edited images.
There aren't many actor headshots in the gallery.
Correct, and worth stating plainly rather than padding the page: the published actor set here is small, and several of the images below are model portfolio work, which is why the page is titled for both. If actor headshots are your priority and you want to see more before booking, ask — and it is entirely reasonable to compare against photographers who shoot nothing but actors.
Will my agent accept these?
The files are delivered in the framing and sizing Australian agents and casting platforms expect. Agents do have individual preferences, though, so if yours has a brief — specific crop, background, number of looks — send it before the session and the shoot will be built around it.
How many looks do I actually need?
Two well-chosen looks beat four rushed ones. Most actors need one neutral, castable frame and one that leans towards the kind of role they are actually being submitted for. The Portfolio Build exists for people who need genuine range.
How often should I reshoot?
When you no longer look like the photo — a significant change in hair, weight, age or the roles you are going for. Every two years is a common rhythm; annually is usually unnecessary.
Corporate Events
What corporate events do you photograph?
Conferences, summits, award nights, gala dinners, product launches and corporate functions across Sydney. Coverage is scoped to your run sheet and the moments that matter most.
How quickly are event photos delivered?
A priority selection can be delivered same-day or next-day for social media and press, with the full edited gallery following shortly after.
How is event coverage priced?
Corporate event coverage is quoted per event based on hours, the run sheet and delivery requirements. Contact Nick with your event details for a quote.
Can you photograph headshots at our event?
Yes. A headshot station can be added to a conference or function so attendees can update their professional photo on the day. This pairs well with a team headshot day.
How do we know what we're getting if there's no gallery here?
Ask, and relevant work will be walked through with you directly. It is a reasonable thing to want before committing, and the alternative — showing studio headshots and calling them event coverage — would tell you nothing useful about what you would actually receive.
Will a photographer be intrusive during the speeches?
The brief agreed beforehand includes where the photographer will and will not be during key moments. Quiet lenses, available light wherever possible, and no flash during speeches unless you specifically want it.
We need images for a post the same night.
Say so in the brief and a priority selection is edited and delivered on the night or first thing the next morning, with the full gallery to follow. This is planned for rather than requested afterwards.
Can we add headshots to the day?
Yes, and it is one of the better-value things you can do with a conference. A headshot station set up beside registration lets attendees or staff update a professional photo while they are already in the room. It is quoted alongside the event coverage.
Family Sessions
Where do family sessions take place?
Family sessions are photographed outdoors at Sydney beaches, parks and harbourside locations, chosen with you and timed for the best natural light.
How many people can be in a family session?
The Family Basic session covers up to six people, and pets are welcome. For grandparents, cousins and larger extended-family groups, the Family Extended session covers up to ten people across two hours.
Do I get a print release?
Yes. Every family session includes a print release and an online gallery, so you are free to print and share your images.
How much does a family photography session cost in Sydney?
Family Basic is $550 for 90 minutes with up to six people and 20 fully edited images. Family Extended is $850 for two hours with up to ten people, two locations and 40 fully edited images. Both include an online gallery and a print release.
Our kids will not sit still.
They are not expected to. Sessions are outdoors, unhurried and directed loosely — the best frames from a family session are almost never the ones where everyone is looking at the camera on command.
What if the weather turns?
Outdoor sessions are rescheduled rather than pushed through in bad light or rain, at no cost. Overcast is fine, and often better than harsh sun.
Band & Musician
How much does a band photoshoot cost in Sydney?
The Solo Artist session is $595 for two hours at one Sydney location, with 20 fully edited images. The Band & Artist session is $995 for three hours across two locations, covering up to six members with 30 fully edited images.
Do you photograph solo musicians as well as full bands?
Yes. The Solo Artist session is built for singer-songwriters and solo performers, and the Band & Artist session covers groups of up to six members with both group and individual frames.
Where are band photos taken in Sydney?
On location — laneways, warehouses, rehearsal spaces, stages and harbourside spots across Sydney, chosen to match the project. The Lane Cove studio is available when a clean backdrop suits the release better.
What formats do I get for press and streaming?
Every session is delivered in press kit sizing, square cover art crops and vertical social formats, so the same images work for media, streaming platforms and social posts without recropping.
Can we shoot at a gig or rehearsal?
Yes. Live and rehearsal coverage can be added to either session, or arranged as its own shoot — get in touch with the dates and venue.
We don't have a budget like a label does.
Most of the artists booking these sessions are self-releasing. The packages are built around what an independent release actually needs — a press shot, a cover crop and enough social content to carry a campaign — rather than a full-day production.
Half the band is uncomfortable being photographed.
That is normal, and it is why the session is directed rather than left to everyone to work out. Musicians are used to performing, not modelling; being told what to do with hands and eyes fixes most of it inside twenty minutes.
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