5 Keys to Pulling off a Great Brand Photo Shoot!
5 Keys to Pulling off a Great Brand Photo Shoot!
If you own a business, you have likely heard of branding photo shoots. Branding photo shoots are centered around marketing your business in the best way possible to your ideal clients and customers. After you have done a brand photo shoot, you should have an array of images that truly show what your business is all about and why people should work with or purchase from you.
Before you hire a brand photographer, here are 5 key things you need to know in order to pull of a great brand photo shoot!
1. Have an understanding of what your brand visuals are/what you want them to be. We all know that first impressions are crucial in doing business online. That’s why many business owners work with a brand designer/strategist when they first get started so that they have an understanding of what they want their brand to look like. This includes your logo, color palette, fonts, and overall brand mood. When you know this information, it is really easy for you to be able to visualize what your brand images will look like, and you can therefore hire the right photographer. Brand photographers have different styles when it comes to editing and overall feel. Having an understanding of what YOUR brand visuals are going to look like will help you choose the best photographer. It will also give you a good starting point when it comes to what types of images you need.
2. Know who your ideal customer is. You would be surprised as to how many business don’t know who their ideal clients are! This plays a vital role in the brand photo shoot process when coming up with a shot list for your photo shoot. Your brand photos will look very different if your ideal client is a stay at home mom in her 40s versus a 20-something year old who is right out of college and entering into the workforce. We always suggest having this figured out before you reach out to a brand photographer because it will determine almost everything in relation to your images!
3. Collect example images for inspiration. We highly encourage you to compile a collage of images that you have seen online and love! While we can’t promise that we will take the exact same photo (that would be copying another brand and photographer), we will try our best to create something that is similar. It also helps us as the photographer to understand what you are wanting your images to look like. This results in both a happy client and a happy photographer! There are plenty of ways to collect image inspiration - making a board on Pinterest, saving an Instagram image, screenshotting a website, etc. Talk to your photographer about how they would like you to do this.
4. Know your body and what looks good on it! Believe it or not, outfits can make or break a branding photo shoot. If you are wearing an outfit that you either don’t feel good in or aren’t 100% sure about, then that will reflect in your brand image. Get to know your body and what outfits look great on you! Browse a few stores for clothes, Google what pieces look good on your body type, and familiarize yourself with what colors look good with your skin tone. We promise that this will make all the difference in not only how confident you feel on photo shoot day, but also how confident you feel about your branding images once you get them back from your photographer!
5. Explore location options for your brand photo shoot. Just like outfits, locations play a very important role in the success of your brand photo shoot. You want to make sure you choose a location that goes with your brand visuals and compliments your outfits. For example, if you are a web designer that has more of an edgy/moody feel and loves the color black, then maybe doing your brand photos in a dark bar setting would be ideal. If you are a cake baker/decorator who has a very feminine and soothing brand, then a bright kitchen with pink countertop chairs (or something like that) would be ideal for you. We recommend chatting with your photographer about location options in the city where your branding photo shoot will take place.
