Planning Your Branding Photography Shoot
Having photos that you are proud of for your brand is so important. Let’s face it… It’s the first impression that counts and we are visual in so many ways.
So you’ve made the big leap and scheduled your Dallas/Fort Worth Branding Photography Shoot. It’s important to note that each session is totally unique to you and your brand goals. Below, I’ve compiled a list of suggestions and tips.
Pick and choose from the ideas below, and just know that these are compiled from my experience as a photographer and educator since 2005. They might not all resonate with you and they are not a hard line in the sand.
Planning Your Brand Photoshoot
1) Understand Your Brand Identity
Having clarity ensures that your photos align perfectly with your brand identity.
I provide my clients with a brand questionnaire before our website design project begins. This will help you gather information on your ideal clients. If you’ve worked with a brand strategist, logo illustrator, or business coach they should talk you through your ideal client avatar as well. All of this information can be useful. I will provide a brand questionnaire prior to your session to gather essential information about your brand and ideal client. Having this information can help us come up with a photography strategy.
What makes you stand out?
What unique value do you offer to your clients?
What message and personality traits should your images convey?
How do you want viewers to feel when they see your photos?
Are there brands that inspire you?
Answering these questions will help us create photos that truly represent your brand and resonate with your target audience.
2) Creating a Mood Board
I love using Pinterest for mood board inspiration. It's beneficial to pull together a visual mood board ahead of your session.
Creating a visual mood board with images and branding elements you adore is a fantastic idea. This helps me grasp the specific aesthetic you aim to achieve. The mood board will guide us in selecting appropriate locations for your branding shoot and assist you in planning your outfits and props. It definitely helps when you have a creative block to hop on Pinterest and search “brand photography for ______” and insert your industry.
Of course, you can let me determine what works best for your brand on the day of the shoot and that's perfectly fine!
3) Crafting A Shot List
Ensure we capture the images you need.
Think about where you'll use your branding images:
Are there specific spots on your website in need of these images? Banner images, About me page, Services, Contact, etc.
Do you want a LinkedIn header and a new profile image?
Providing me with a detailed list of required shots streamlines the shoot and guarantees that you receive precisely the images you need.
Love a strong white background for your website header? I’ll need to know that way we can get some shots with a lot of open solid space. Maybe you want your hands wrapped around a cozy mug or typing away on your laptop… all of these detail shots matter and will add to your brand personality.
Add in hobbies or personality bits that help you stand out. Meditate, yoga poses, working with a team of people, burn a candle at your desk, journal, or using your laptop to zoom in for client meetings… details that tell your unique story and help your uniqueness shine.
4) Shot List Examples
Level up your planning! By taking the time to plan your vision, we can capture exactly what you want.
Outfit #1 – Jeans, Favorite Heals, Green Dot Top
Banner image with white space
Zoom screen over the shoulder - even if it’s with a willing friend!
Taking a photo with your phone
Headshot for About Me page
Banner image looking to one side for the service page
Enjoying coffee or tea with a favorite mug
Working on a computer at your desk
Holding books, stacks of industry books
Journaling with fresh new notebook and favorite pen or pencil
Everyone is different! Maybe you don’t want to plan this much in detail and you’d rather have me photograph in the flow of the day… I gotcha!
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
5) Choosing a Location
Choosing where to take your photos is absolutely exciting!
Let’s pick the best location that will sing your brand identity from the rooftops. It could be your home or a rented studio space. We can even take the photo shoot outside to a local garden or urban environment.
6) At Home
Maybe you work from home and want to capture photos of you in your own environment. We can photograph you at your desk, having coffee in your kitchen, or relaxing and reading a book by your own pool.
If public photographs make you a tad bit nervous then this option is for you.
Plus you have YOUR ENTIRE CLOSET at your disposal. Pretty sweet changing room.
We can shoot at your desk, at your kitchen table, on your sofa, in your backyard, and in a local park down the street.
Send photos or videos of your home beforehand so I can see where the light is, how the windows work with that light, and where we can plan to shoot in your home. The best part of this strategy is that you don’t have to tidy up everywhere! Plus I have no judgment at all! You should see my desk right now 😉 Make those corner piles and be proud!
7) On Location
Local Dallas/Fort Worth Brand Photography Locations vary for all my clients. I’ve photographed all over the metroplex since 2005, and I can tell you that locations come and go in popularity and access.
For Studio Rentals — Right now I’m a big fan of The Tx Studio in Oakcliff and The Lumen Room with locations across the area. These tend to book up quickly for weekends and have different needs for lighting depending on the time of day we get started. They have a clean, usually white & minimal feel to them.
For Gardens & Outdoors — The Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, White Rock Lake, and I’ve even had some amazing backyard photoshoots. Think of your friends and family and what their personal homes can offer for your photo shoot and ask away!
8) What the heck do I wear?
Um, no pressure… the clothes you wear can make a big difference to the feel of your photos and your brand identity as a whole.
It has a major impact on the first impression you make to clients. The truth is that I can’t tell you what to wear. You have to be yourself and not a persona that you think people will like.
Maybe you have a nose ring, blue hair, and love to show off your vintage colorful clothes? I can’t tell you to wear all black because it’s slimming (classic photographer tip.) Be your true self!
If you want to share potential outfit choices with me I’d love to help you narrow things down and be helpful where I can.
9) What To Wear —The Dos & Don’ts
Dos:
Think about your brand colors (you should totally have this figured out first)
Make sure the colors, textures, and style of your clothes will work on your website.
Make sure that the colors that you wear actually suit you. Stitch Fix is fun if you have the time, and Nordstrom has personal in-store styling appointments. Take a friend with you to shop and remember that you can return the items that don’t work.
Wear solid colors for some of the session. Reference the all-black comment above. I’m a big fan of patterns, but they tend to distract from the subject, and that’s you! Definitely don’t wear type, words, or a top that has a brand front and center. The viewer will go straight to it instead of you. Feel free to wear a print for part of your shoot as it’s great to mix it up!
Wear fitted clothes. Avoid too tight, or too loose, or slouchy. These tend to make you look bigger than you are.
Try layers if we’re shooting out on location so you can take off layers without having to go to a changing room.
Wear shoes that you feel comfortable in. If we’re photographing in a studio or at your home then you can be comfortable between outfits. But we all know heels elongate your body and make your legs look longer. These won’t work in an outdoor setting where we’re traipsing through the woods. If you’re a barefoot girl through and through, don’t feel like you have to put on a pair of shoes you hate. Be you!
Bring different options. Sometimes the light or background might not work with a top. It’s always smart to bring a few other tops along, and we might have more time to change a few times in one setup.
Things to Avoid:
Wearing something you wouldn’t normally wear or something you feel uncomfortable in. It will show in every photo.
Wearing clothes that are old, stained, or creased. They’ll likely show in your photos causing excessive retouching.
Logos, neon colors, or small fussy prints. Thin strips either vertical or horizontal are also difficult in photographs.
Lots of skin. I’ll have you moving around a lot in different positions and we don’t want anything showing that might be a surprise.
Collared neck tops. Especially dark ones as these can sometimes make you look like you have a floating head and no neck.
Solid white or jet black tops. Black blazers with different color tops underneath are okay, or a black or white top (not collared neck) with a nice neckline is fine. But if you can, other neutrals are better than white or black.
10) Hair & Makeup
Let’s talk makeup.
This can get personal, right? For me, I’m a tinted moisturizer-on-a-good day kinda gal. “Dressing up” includes some quick mascara and some brow gel. Not everyone is like me! Some of my clients love to get their make-up done professionally. It’s a self-care spa kinda day for them and they include it so that their confidence is boosted.
Have you ever had your makeup professionally done and hated it? It can happen. You don’t want to end up with an entire photo shoot that you don’t like. I suggest you go with someone you trust and have practiced a test run with. Get the makeup artist to take a few phone shots so that you can think about the look before the big day. You can even opt for a makeup lesson to recreate the look.
Wear your Night Out makeup for our photoshoot. This could be a lot or a little. The important thing is to be yourself and not try anything wild and new for the shoot.
Let's talk about hair.
Being a curly girl is a wild ride. My hair is never the same! A photoshoot can be a great excuse to get your hair professionally cut and styled or head to a dry bar and get a blowout. Hair down is generally more flattering, but we all know we walk around with our hair up in the Texas heat! Do what you and your clients will be seeing on a day-to-day basis.
Let’s talk glasses.
If you wear them all the time then stick with them for your shoot. If they are readers we can pop them on and off during the setups. Most of the time glasses cause issues with reflections and even the best shot can be difficult to retouch. Anti-reflective coating is always recommended, but even so it can be a challenge. Transitions lenses are a wonderful thing, but terrible for outdoor photographs. Think ahead and bring a regular pair of glasses if transitions are your main pair.
11) Props Please
Let’s plan for props during your photoshoot. This is an important part of the process and you definitely need to plan in advance. If we’re doing a shoot at your home then it’s easier to grab what we need, but otherwise, you’ll need to start collecting as soon as possible.
Take a box or basket and put it in the corner of your room. Every time you walk around your house and see something that could be a prop go ahead and toss it into the box. Keep this going for a few weeks, and you’ll have a lot to work with.
What props will tell your story? What will your ideal client connect with?
Maybe you write in a notebook during client sessions.
Maybe you love fresh flowers and having one or two bundles in brand-color vases will soften your laptop view or make your desk interesting. PS. I love fresh flowers for all brand photography. Tip: Trader Joe’s has beautiful and affordable flowers to mix and match.
Think of things that show your personality. A mug with a sassy phrase, handbags that you love, business books, candles, ring light for zoom meetings, etc.
Anything that can tell your brand story.
Babies, dogs, cats, a willing friend/relative who can be a model for a couch conversation, holding a cup of coffee, and generally being a stand-in client.
Be sure to add your props to the shot list you’ve started!
12) Counting Down The Days
What you do before the shoot is your choice, so please take the suggestions below as just that…suggestions.
2 weeks before our shoot:
complete the brand identity questionnaire in our shared Google Drive Folder
set up a Pinterest board and start pinning to your mood board
shop for new clothes and makeup if you need them
have a practice session with your makeup artist at least 2 weeks before the shoot
Book a haircut if you need it. This will give it time to settle.
A few days before the shoot
Treat yourself to a gel manicure or take some time to give yourself a manicure. We are likely to take some photos of your hands doing things so it helps if you are confident about your nails!
Get your eyebrows shaped or your lashes done if this is something you normally do
Avoid drinking alcohol and eating salty foods a few days before your session so your skin doesn’t look tired
Drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep so that your skin is glowing for the shoot
Photo shoot day
Don’t rush. Allow enough time for you to get ready without feeling rushed. If we are shooting on location I might suggest an early start time! Getting ready for photos can be stressful. I totally understand!
Bring everything! Outfits, shoes, jewelry, and the props. If you’re not sure about something… Bring It. Bring pressed powder, a hair brush, hair spray, and anything that might need touching up.
Think of your favorite playlist, artists, or era of music. I’ll provide the speaker and music. Try and stay relaxed. I promise we will have fun!
Remind yourself that you are a person who is building a dream, and this is just one step in that reality. You’ve made this leap, and it’s a big step. I’m so excited to be a part of your journey.
