How to Plan a Unique and Evergreen Business Branding Photoshoot
When it comes to your business and your marketing, one of the best ways to stand out from your competitors is with a unique business branding photoshoot. Not only will you have photos created specifically for you, but you can also use these to showcase your personality!
As a brand photographer, I love working with business owners to build a photoshoot that is truly going to reflect them and their business, so that they are able to use it for years to come. And, over the years, I’ve picked up a few tips that can help turn your session from a way to get some photos to an investment that gives you content for years.
So, if you’re ready to have just that, here are some of my top tips for planning a unique business branding photoshoot!
How to Plan a Business Branding Photoshoot
Make sure you have a solid brand identity first.
Some of the first questions you’ll have when you start planning your session are going to revolve around locations, colors, and clothes. But, all of these become much harder to answer if you don’t have a solid brand presence and understanding of who you want to attract.
So, before you start planning anything, be sure to take some time and really dive into who your ideal clients are you want to target, and what your brand colors are to create consistency with all of your marketing.
Choose your location(s)
Once you have a good foundation for your brand, it’s time to start looking for locations to take your photos. The great thing about brand photos is that you can take them anywhere you want and can have as much fun with them as you want!
While a lot of people will just take a few headshots and call it a day, these photos are really a great opportunity to show off your personality and what you bring to your clients.
This can mean going around your area and finding unique locations that you can use as your backdrop. Or, it can mean styling a studio with fun accents and colors to make your photos pop.
This is exactly what we did with Jennifer from Joy of Work. For her studio session, we used bright pinks, blues, and yellows to add bright accents to her photos. We also had fun props scattered around the set to add unique touches that made the photos more on-brand and not feel so generic.
Choose outfits that match your brand colors
Outfits are one piece of your brand session that can elevate the photos and create visuals that can last for years to come. When it comes to your outfits, there are two major things to keep in mind.
First, you want to find clothes that compliment your brand colors and the environment in which you are taking your photos. With Jennifer, we had two different styles of outfits. With photos against a more neutral background, she had a bright pink jacket that stood out and made a statement.
But, when the background itself was brighter and had more going on, she went with a simpler black outfit so that the photo didn’t feel too overwhelming.
Having this balance is super important and creates photos that don’t feel too busy to actually use in your marketing.
The second crucial thing you want to consider is comfort. There is nothing worse than putting on an outfit that makes you feel uncomfortable and then stepping in front of the camera. That discomfort will come through on the camera and you may end up with a bunch of photos you don’t love and end up not using because of it.
Take a variety of photos
Your business branding photoshoot shouldn’t just include the same photo of you smiling in front of the same background. Having a variety of photos not only gives your website and marketing more visual interest, but it can also help you avoid using stock photos over the years.
It’s important to think about where you want to use these photos before your session so you can have a list of different types of photos you know you want to get. This also includes getting a variety of horizontal and vertical images (because trust me, you are going to need both!).
Here are a few photo types that you may want for your brand:
- Headshots of you and anyone else on your team
- Action shots of you working
- Personality photos of you laughing, talking, walking, etc
- “Stock” type photos of your working materials, flat lays, etc
Find unique props
Finally, one of the other ways you can really make your photos stand out and feel different is with fun props. What is great about these is that they don’t have to be anything you actually use in your business.
With Jennifer, we had a variety of different little statues and even an old school rotary phone in a brand color. These elements help to fill out the photos and add little pops while also making the photos feel more visually interesting.
Finding fun props is also a great way to make your photos feel less like stock photos or like photos you’ve seen a hundred times on other websites. Plus, these little touches really catch people’s attention and make them stop and look, which is exactly what we want people to do!
Ready to Create Your Own Business Branding Photoshoot?
I hope these tips help you as you start to plan your own business branding photoshoot. These photos really are a way to help you not only stand out, but also have content that you can use for years to come.
If you’re ready to create just that for your business, I’d love to help! You can reach out to me here, and I look forward to what we can create together!
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