How to Prep and Plan a Brand Photoshoot
If you run a service-based business, don’t underestimate the power of carefully curated photos to build your brand. But not just any photos: photos that reflect you and your business. If you’re relying on stock photos to grow your business, it is time to star in your very own brand photoshoot.
In a world of high-speed Internet, the stock photo options are endless. But, your audience wants to get to know YOU. Let them get to know you and your brand through brand photos. Photos are a powerful, versatile form of content and they can help you take your website and social media platforms to the next level.
Planning a photoshoot can be intimidating. And it can be expensive, too! But it doesn’t have to be.
In today’s vlog, I take you behind-the-scenes of my own shoot and walk you through how to prepare for a beautifully curated photoshoot that results in images you can use for years to come - on a very reasonable budget! Here’s everything you need to know to prep and plan a brand photoshoot.
Now that you’ve watched the video, let's break it down even further, shall we? Here are three essential steps for pulling off a photoshoot for your business that will make your brand shine. These tips will help you pull off a photoshoot that creates images that will last you a lot longer than just a few weeks on Instagram. Follow these tips and you’ll have images that last for years while creating cohesion in your branded materials like your website, digital workbooks, physical brochures, social media profile images, and more.
Brainstorm
The first step you need to take is planning the vision using Pinterest or Instagram as sources of inspiration. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
What do I want to communicate with these images? (reliable, fun, professional, etc.)
What is the goal of this shoot?
And where will these images be used? (website, social media, sales landing page, print collateral, etc.)
Pro Tip: When shooting for your website, you’ll most likely want landscape images with a clean background that won't interfere with text when laid on top of the images. So consider renting a studio or find a controlled environment with nice, even light and take photos in front of white or solid colored background. Too many distractions in the frame will make it hard to read any words you place on top of the image.
And ask your photographer to leave lots of whitespace in the frame for those images - you don’t want your head to be at the very top of the frame or your body to fill up the frame on both sides. Don’t be shy about asking to look at the back of the camera now and again, too. If you’re not on the same page about the framing of the image, it’s a whole lot easier to take another photo right then and there than it is to have to re-book a shoot.
2. Assemble Your Dream Team
If you have a specific photographer in mind, this part is easy! But if not, don’t worry. In this day and age of social media, finding the perfect photographer just takes a bit of research.
Instagram is a dream for finding creative talent! Search hashtags that will dial you in for your area (i.e. #NashvillePhotographer). Then look for a feed that represents your brand vibe. You can also follow their links and view their portfolio on their website. This helps you gauge their style and determine if it matches yours.
Next, you’ll want to ask for prices. Know what your budget is and what you can afford before you start this journey. Every photographer will be different, so if your budget is small, be patient. Eventually, you’ll find someone who can meet you where you are at or someone who is willing to work with you (they may be willing to work for your budget but it means they are slightly less experienced, or you’ll get fewer photos in return, etc).
If hair, makeup, and wardrobe aren’t your strong suit, splurge for a hair/makeup artist and/or an assistant who can help you with props and wardrobe options so you can move quickly from scene to scene. Remember, as CEOs, we want to be good stewards of our time and money, so consider what is a better investment: to spend a few hundred more dollars and have stunning photos you can use to promote your brand for years, or to DIY it and need to redo the shoot in 3 months because your outfit wasn’t flattering or your makeup wasn’t quite right for photos.
However, if hair, makeup, and wardrobe are something you love and excel at, then by all means save the money and take care of this yourself! It just means you’ll want to buffer in a little more time during prep mode so that you can throughly plan out every look, steam your wardrobe options, and deep condition your hair the night before. (Trust me, shiny hair is never a bad thing!)
Pro tip: Consider offering trade for your dream team members if budget is a concern. If you’re a social media manager, can you give them 30 days worth of content in exchange for a 3 hour shoot? Think outside the box!
3. Plan Everything
Now it’s time to start planning the actual photo shoot. This is the good stuff! You’ll need a shot list, a call sheet, and wardrobe options. Let’s dive into what that looks like in more detail.
1. Shot List
Using your vision board, plan your shot list. Not sure how to do this? Download my Photoshoot Shot + Call List Canva template to get started!
Include the various scenes you hope to shoot (as an example, your shot list could include: a coffee shop, at a desk in your office, in front of a white wall, and crossing a street). Think about what your job entails, what transformation or results you are selling, and how you can tie those scenes and vibes into your shot list.
(See an example below of a photo on my vision board and the shot we captured! I knew I wanted to capture a unique image of a creative entrepreneur who is in the zone in a scene that represents the opposite of a 9-5 corporate job. What do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!)
2. Wardrobe
For each scene on your vision board, plan what you'll be wearing and how you will change your hair and makeup to keep things looking fresh. Keep your branding and your brand color palette in mind when selecting your wardrobe to create cohesiveness in all of your touchpoints. (I talk about this in more detail in the vlog.)
This color cohesiveness will make a huge difference as you implement the photos into your website and social media platforms. The results will be an online brand presence that is polished and a notch above the rest, so don’t skip this part! I rent clothing from Nuuly (use my link for $10 off your first rental) when I’m planning a shoot, and mix those standout pieces in with my tried and true staples like a white button down blouse and my favorite Madewell jeans.
That white blazer you see below? It’s rented. That floral shirt with all of my brand colors? It’s rented.
Hot tip: it's always easy to throw on a jacket or add a scarf to an outfit, so keep accessories handy and you can get EXTRA mileage out of each scene. Simply stand in one place, pose with the jacket. Move your body a bit, take off the jacket, and boom, you just doubled your photo diversity in barely any time!
3. Call Sheet
Your shot list should be accompanied by a call sheet, which includes the phone numbers of everyone on the shoot and your meeting locations, the date and time of the shoot, and any other pertinent details that will keep the team aligned and the day streamlined.
This is going to give you peace of mind and save you from having to answer the phone mid-mascara application to remind someone of the address!
Now that we've prepped and planned, let's talk about some of the logistics and ways you can make the photoshoot feel effortless and fun.
The day before…
Take time to pamper yourself! Being the center of attention on camera may not be something you are used to, so do what you need to do to ease your stress so you can feel as confident as Beyonce walking out on stage in the morning.
For that Beyonce glow: take a bubble bath, paint your nails, prep and prime your skin with a face mask and a moisturizing eye cream. Nourish your body, too: a cup of tea, a nutrient-dense salad, or bowl of soup… treat yourself like the queen that you are.
For that Beyonce poise: Steam your clothes, pull all of your accessories and props, pack your bags, and print out your shot list. Practice poses in the mirror. Do whatever you need to do to lessen your stress in the morning.
Pro tip: I put all of my supplies (wardrobe, props, etc.) by the front door the night before the shoot. I basically like to sashay my way into my photoshoot.
The day of …
On the day of the shoot, buffer an extra 30 minutes into your routine. The time will slip by faster than you can imagine, and I can't tell you the number of times I've ended up taking care of unexpected things the morning of a shoot: the photographer is lost on the way to the venue so you are talking her through the streets over the phone, there is traffic on the interstate, you spill your coffee, the door code they gave you to the studio space isn't working, the security alarm accidentally goes off ... the list goes on.
As hard as we try, we can’t account for everything! So give yourself extra time to get out the door, and plan to be at the designated first location 30 minutes before anyone else.
Even if that means you're sitting in your car because you're paying for a rented location by the hour, I promise it's better to be sitting in your car, looking over your vision board one last time, practicing your poses, or listening to happy music than to be racing out the door, cursing at red lights because you're running late.
You're the talent AND the boss, so set the tone by arriving early and being in a jolly good mood. If you’re frazzled and tense, that will show in your images.
The Days after…
Hopefully, you clarified with your photographer beforehand when to expect deliverables (aka your photos!), how many you will get, and if they would be edited or not. So now, you sit back and wait for them to arrive per your agreement. (Pro tip: look for a photographer who will give you edited photos. It’s a huge time saver and ensures all the photos are cohesively edited.)
Once you receive the photos, store them in a cloud folder, and I suggest naming your subfolders by the date and name of the photographer (12.05.20_Joanna_Ford). That way as the years go by, you'll always know where to find the photos and who took them so you can credit the photographer accordingly on socials. Or you can call them up to work with them again!
Bonus tip: Once I get my new photos in, I dedicate a few hours to freshen up my website and online presence, even if it's just a subtle change of a photo on the home page or a new photo on the about page.
This is also a great time to update your social media profile images (consistency across all platforms is key!). Then get ready to watch your online presence look hella fresh and professional.
Now your entire online brand presence tells the same, polished, intentional story, and you can rest assured you’ll be able to attract your dream clients with more ease because you’ve created a trustworthy brand presence that aligns with the transformations you bring to the table.
And that, is how we Uplevel our brand presence and our business through a branded photoshoot.
