How to prepare for your business branding shoot
It’s really scary to book a branding photography shoot if you’ve not experienced one before so well done for even considering it.
Here are my three top tips to consider before your branding photography shoot. If you’ve booked a shoot with me, I’ll send you a full guide on how to best prepare with loads of information and hold your hand every step of the way so fret not!
1. Do your research
It’s important to know what you want out of your shoot so you don’t squander your investment. There is nothing worse than turning up to a shoot as a photographer to find that the person you’re there to photograph has no clear vision for their company, their brand or the time they’ve booked. It’s not so much that it’s my time isn’t being utilised well, but I know that the photos may end up disappointing if you don’t have clear ideas in mind for the end result.
Consider who your ideal client is, what message you are trying to portray to them, what launches you have coming up, where you are uniquely placed to help your customers at the moment and how we can best illustrate all of this throw photos.
2. Dream big and get creative!
OK, you may not be having your shoot on a Caribbean beach but us photographers can get a bit creative so why not dream a little, think about the feel of what you want to create and get pinning images you love. While most photographers won’t ever try and recreate a photo exactly, it’s always great to start a Pinterest board and put together some images that really talk to you.
While we may not be able to give you the exact same imagery (unless you want to smuggle me in your suitcase or take me with you to the fantasy island – I’m always up for the latter!) the general feeling of the photos can often be recreated.
For example, the fabulous Kate Davis who is a Business Yoda for creatives (believe me, if you’re a creative business you need her in your life to get you on track and keep you there!) came up with a Pinterest board (snapshot above) that really gave me a good idea of how she wanted her photos to feel. As well as the detailed questionnaire she sent back to me I walked into her shoot confident I could create exactly the photos she had in mind.
3. Plan it out
Don’t they always say the devil is in the details? That saying may be springing to mind because I’m watching Lucifer on Netflix at the moment – love a good boxset! Anyway… It’s so easy to book a shoot, think you’re done and leave it at that. But if you plan in advance you’ll get a lot more out of your time and investment.
Plan your locations. Make sure they will work with what you want to achieve and the look you want for your photos.
Plan your outfits. Ensure you’ll end up with the variation in your photos that you want and that will suit what you want to talk about.
Plan your accessories and props. Do they tie into any stories you want to tell about your personal life or anecdotes that work with email sequences?
As mentioned, when you work with me, I’ll be there to collaborate with you and plan out the shoot to ensure you end up with a gallery of photos that thrill you. I’ll walk you through every step of the way from the moment you book a shoot with me to the delivery of files. If that sounds good, get in touch and we’ll talk it from there.
