How to prepare for your personal branding photo shoot
Posted on 9th January 2020 at 14:37
Businesses need photography to promote what they do, and the key is to tie in your brand identity and marketing strategy with the photos you create. That takes some preparation and I help with that by asking lots of question and putting your business under the magnifying glass....just a bit!
Most people hate the thought of having their photos taken and I find the key to helping alleviate this feeling is to engage my clients in the process. So in advance of our shoot I will always have a discussion around you and your business. My questions will range from what is your business's USP and what are your brand values, through to what do you like to do in your spare time or to relax. We explore lots of different areas and I start to mentally build a picture of you and your business. I will usually share some of these visions with you and we begin to collaborate on how the shape of the images will unfold. It becomes an exciting proposition once you have a vision in your mind!
The idea is that the photos we create will be images that underpin your brand identity and speak volumes about you and your business. I can only create this with your input. You also need to give yourself the space and time to prepare and for the photo session itself.
You know how important the digital image is for website photography, social media campaigns or printed marketing material, so we take the time to get it right!
What you need to think about for a personal branding photo shoot
Location for photoshoot?
Location can be a key part of a business photo shoot as it sets the backdrop and tone for the images. Sometimes your working environment is perfect for it, but sometimes we need to find a place that will help you shine.
Where you take the photos really sets the scene. Think about what it says of you and your business.
For example, are you appealing to a very local audience and therefore want to visually pin point your location to local landmarks?
Or is your target market a very corporate one and your home office just doesn't set the right tone? Would a smart hotel environment be more appropriate?
We talk all these things through and come up with ideas on where it would be suitable to take your business photographs and then find the right place, hiring it out if necessary, like with these financial advisers who I photographed at Cliveden House because that is where they hold there client conferences.
What do you wear?
It may be as simple as you are a yoga teacher, running instructor or a tradesman and so you will wear the clothes of your trade. However, clothes say a lot about a person and so I always probe a bit further to say that we might also consider doing images of you that says who you are as an individual.
It may be that you are the proprietor of the business and therefore for example you might go to meet clients in smarter clothes or even a suit. Equally it may be that you are passionate about the outdoors as an antidote to your work and this is a big part of who you are so we photograph you in walking gear with your dog!
Whatever we conclude, I always encourage you to have a selection of things to wear that give different looks so that we can create a variety of 'feels' to the photos. This may be a few tops/jackets with different colours/necklines/patterns, with or with out a tie, etc.
You can see from the image below that a plain top would have had a very different impact to this colourful patterned one for this creative interior designer.
Do we need props or people?
If you are selling a lifestyle product then it is obvious that we need to take photos of this, and location may be the key consideration. However, even then, there may be subsidiary props that are needed, like the food to put in these beeswax wraps and the setting to place them in.
Businesses that are connected to the trades are relatively straightforwards in terms of props but they may need people to be in the picture, operating machinery or in action.
It is the professional services that find this more challenging a question. Sometimes the answer is as simple as being a people business, the photos should have clients or patients in them.
However, where my creative juices really flow is were I get under the skin of a business and start to generate ideas on how to visually represent a business through inanimate objects, often taking key words or phrases my clients have given me and thinking of how to create an image that represents that. For example, here I used a swiss army knife to represent that this project manager has many tools in her kitbox that she uses to help her clients.
You may not yet have concluded that you need a professional photographer, so to explore that further see my blogpost on why it might be a good idea. If you are at the point of wanting to chat about how I can help, do contact me via the website or on the phone 07793 205155...I'm always happy to chat through ideas and queries.
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