How to Plan a Brand Photoshoot for Your Business
Most people think the only step to planning a branding shoot is to find and hire a professional photographer. However, if you want to get the absolute most out of your professional photo session, there are 3 simple things you can do before your shoot to help your shoot run smoothly and help you to see the biggest return on your investment.
Think about where you are needing the most content right now. Many brands and businesses constantly struggle with having enough content to post on social media, or fill their website with eye-catching and on-brand images. If you’re re-doing your website right now, for example, try to create a list before your shoot of exactly how many vertical and horizontal images you need to work with the layout you’ve chosen. This goes hand in hand with storyboarding your upcoming session with your photographer, which will focus the direction of your shoot and allow your photographer to work efficiently - providing you with the greatest number of useful images possible! Even a general direction shared with your photographer regarding where most of your photos will be used (Instagram, for example) will ensure you get the most bang for your buck.
👏Plan👏your👏wardrobe👏and👏props👏! Do not leave this important detail to the last minute! Everything that shows up in your photos, from your outfit choices, to the drink sitting on your desk, conveys a certain message to your audience. Since you’re investing your time and hard earned money in professional photos, make sure that every single object in your photos is conveying exactly the right message you want it to. Before all my shoots, I provide my clients with a pre-shoot branding questionnaire to help them narrow down what outfits and props they might need to gather for our session, but if this is something you either don’t have time for, or can’t narrow your direction on, I also provide full art direction - which means I create, plan and style an entire vision for you. This includes storyboarding your shoot, researching and sourcing wardrobes, props, locations and even models, and styling your entire shoot as well as photographing!
This is another important one! If you don’t feel confident in yourself as you look right now, you won’t love the images I create - no matter how beautiful I (or anyone else) thinks they may be. Investing in a hair cut or colour before your shoot, a professional stylist, a professional makeup artist on the day of your shoot, or even connecting with a therapist in the weeks leading up to your session could make a difference in how frequently you use your professional photos (and therefore, how hard your investment works for your brand). I want you to use the images I create for you again and again, and I want the photos to be something you are excited and super proud to share all over your website, social accounts and printed marketing material. This may seem like a super personal tip, but the truth is, the number one issue professional photographers battle against is our subjects self image - and unfortunately it’s not something that can be fixed post-shoot. We are all our worst critics, however, if you have struggled with body image or low self esteem in the past, this may be something worth looking into before you spend your hard earn dollars on a branding session. With the right mindset and sometimes some help from a team of professionals, it is something that you can address and work through before your shoot so that you end up with photos that you absolutely adore.
