Create your Branding Photography Shot List
Planning great branding photos is about more than putting together a shot list. I go into a deep dive with each and every full branding client. Even with that, I know that some of you are going to want time to brainstorm your brand session shot list on your own before we chat. Especially my mini session clients. I don’t include a call for mini sessions and I am offering more mini sessions now that I have my own studio! Inquire here for details. I'm really excited about it. Even though these are a much lower price point, I do want to acknowledge that they don't come with a branding strategy session.
Taking this into account, I want to give you the tools you need to do your part before we even meet. Trust me, this is something that you might not necessarily want to do (I know not everyone sits at home geeking out about branding photos like I do), but even a mini session is an investment for your business. You want to make sure your branding photos tell the right story. Here are five prompts to get you started thinking about exactly what kind of images you're going to need. We probably won't be able to cover all of these prompts in one session ( just trying to be realistic here), but this is a really good start.
What is your process?
This prompt is all about how you actually work. How do you work with your clients? How do you interact with them on a daily, weekly, monthly basis? I recently took photos of a client communicating with clients on voxer, which is her preferred method of communication. I'm also happy to take photos of you meeting clients in person (although consider you might need to bring a second person for these kinds of photos) or hopping on a fake zoom call. Showing photos of how you actually work with clients will give you photos that help you communicate the process with future clients in your marketing.
How do you work with your medium/execute the work?
If you create something, let’s take photos of the process. When you show behind the scenes, you showcase your process and justify your price without even needing to say a word. Don't discount your true, authentic process. When you're looking for branding pose ideas, if you don't sit out a computer all day, you don't need photos of them. Do you work from Dawn to dusk? If so, we can get a wide range of photos - from coffee in the morning to wine at night. All within a 30 minute photo session.
What does your workday really look like?
Are you constantly attending webinars or reading books to get better at your craft? What does your typical work day look like? More important, what parts of it would your ideal client want to see? Add those to your branding photo shot list.
Show your Customer Journey in your Branding Photos
What happens along the way that are important to showcase as part of your brand? Do you prepare client gifts? Do you have zoom calls often? Is there anything else you do along your customer journey that you're going to want shown in a photo? This ties into your process a little bit, but when I think about customer journey, I think about those milestone moments that are a significant part of working with your brand, but not necessarily part of the “work”.
Your PERSONAL brand / Lifestyle Branding Photography
Don’t forget photos of who you are as a person! Who are you outside of work? A lot of us have lives outside of work - not me really - but I've heard it's great. What hobbies do you have? Think about daily activities, home life, pets, cooking. What do you like to do when you are not working?
Despite the fact that I am literally always working, I like to think I walk the walk with showing off my personal life. I'm constantly sharing photos of Jinx and my clients LOVE her. In fact, most of my followers on Instagram are really there more for her. When I get inquiries for branding photos, I always get cute little Jink jokes like “I was referred by Jinx”. When thinking about your personal brand, it really doesn't need to be a huge thing to be impactful. It’s really important though - because who you are outside of work will help your clients relate to you on a human level. And once they do that, they're no longer looking at your competitors or wondering if you're really the right person for them. If you are a Harry Potter nerd, let's embrace that. If you are a plant mom (I mean, let's be honest, in 2021 who isn't) make sure to bring something like that to the photoshoot.
What’s NEW in your business?
What projects do you have in the works? What's going to be launching/introducing in the next three to six months? What captions are you wanting to write that you never seem to have the right images for? Where will you promote it is important to think about too! Instagram and Pinterest are going to require vertical photos but if you're planning on updating a new website or writing blogs, you're going to want a healthy dose of horizontal images. This is easily one of the biggest regrets businesses have when not walking into their branding photography session with a plan (and an idea of what is coming up next!).
Elevating your brand with new branding photos
A lot of times clients will come to me only thinking about their social media content. But in this post, I talk about eight places you can use your branding images. Your branding photos should be working harder for you than an Instagram post (although you are right - you want nice images for that too!). When you focus only on “tall” images, you’ll quickly become frustrated if they don't have the right size image to put on your new website. Your visual brand needs to be consistent across every visual touchpoint.
If you are in Calgary and you're ready to take these prompts and run with it, book a session here. More session options and dates have opened up now that I have my brand new studio opening. If you have questions about branding photography, or want more advice about running a small business in Calgary on the regular, follow me on Instagram. DM me, tell me that you found me from the blog and I'll add you to my close friends stories while I spill the tea about running a small business on the regular.