Tips for a Successful Branding Photoshoot | Denver Branding Photographer, Underexposed®
In today’s world of social media, distractions, and advertising fighting for our attention, a successful branding photoshoot can be a game-changer for your marketing. It’s important to understand that a great branding photoshoot is not just about capturing a pretty picture; it’s about telling your brand’s unique story and connecting with your ideal clients so they hire you. As a Denver-based professional branding photographer with a B.A. and Masters in Business and Marketing, I understand how a successful branding photoshoot can elevate a brand’s image to stand out and appeal to its ideal customers, making it an effective marketing asset that gives you direct ROI (return on investment). In this blog post, I’ll share my best tips to help you get the most of your branding photoshoot and avoid common mistakes.
What is a Branding Photoshoot?
A branding photoshoot is a professional photoshoot dedicated to helping corporations, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals create visual content reflecting their brand’s unique identity and story to help attract their ideal customers to work with them through branding photography or personal brand photography.
To learn more about Branding Photography, check out my other blog post: The Ultimate Branding Photography Guide: How to Find a Branding Photographer Near Me.
Branding Photoshoot Mistakes to Avoid
As a professional branding photographer, I’ve talked with various people who have invested in a branding photoshoot only to walk away only having 2 or 3 photos that they actually use. Unfortunately, this happens too often because most photographers think that it’s just another photoshoot with the goal to capture a pretty picture. But a great branding photoshoot requires so much more skill and understanding for branding than most photographers have.
If you’re a small business owner, solo entrepreneur, or influencer with a personal brand, don’t book a branding photoshoot shoot until you read my other article: Avoid These Top 5 Mistakes in Branding Photography.
How to Prepare for Your Branding Photoshoot
A lot of planning, coordinating, and designing goes into a branding photoshoot. While we will go over my best tips of how to design a successful branding photoshoot here in this article, there are also things to remember to help you prepare the day before your branding photoshoot as well so that you can feel as ready as possible.
Check out my other blog post: How to Prepare for Your Brand Photography Session.
Tips for a Successful Branding Photoshoot
Define Your Brand
Before your branding photoshoot, take the time to define your brand. This is so important to do BEFORE your branding photoshoot so that your photos align with your brand colors, tone, story, target audience, and key offers/products/services so you get all of the images you need to effectively market your business and brand. If you have a Branding Guidelines document for your business, it’s a great idea to share this share with your branding photoshoot photographer to get the most out of your session.
Make a Branding Photoshoot Checklist
To help you walk away from your branding photoshoot with the exact photos you need to help you market your business effectively, I encourage you to put together a branding photoshoot checklist of the types of images you need for your website pages, social media channels, newsletter, ads, and other marketing materials. This will help you and your branding photoshoot photographer get all of the photos you need so you can have a successful branding photoshoot.
To help you do this, download my Free Branding Photography Checklist here to help you understand the types of photos you need to effectively market your business, why they matter, and how they help increase your revenue!
Choose the Right Location
Choosing the right location for your branding photoshoot helps set the tone for your brand just as much as other brand elements. You want to talk with your branding photoshoot photographer to select a location that complements your brand. Whether it's an urban backdrop, a cozy coffee shop, a stunning natural landscape with greenery and flowers, or a tip-top co-working space, the right setting will enhance the visual narrative of your brand. The backdrop for your branding photoshoot needs to tie into your branding to set the right tone for your type of business and help speak to what you do.
Set the Branding Photoshoot Timing
The time of day for your branding photoshoot completely depends on the location you choose and the vibe you want for your photos. Most of the time, if you are doing your branding photoshoot indoors, choosing a morning through afternoon time is a great idea to help give you the natural light through windows, doors, and skylights. But, if you are doing your branding photoshoot outside in nature, you’ll want to consider the time of day more. Maybe you’re going for a soft, light and airy branded vibe, in which case, you’ll want to choose an early morning time just after sunrise. Or maybe you want a dark and moody vibe with artsy lighting, in which case, you’ll want to plan your branding photoshoot just after sunset or later. Plan your branding photoshoot at a time that aligns with the elements of your brand. The right timing can significantly impact the mood and aesthetic of your branding photos.
Style Your Wardrobe
The clothing and accessories you choose for your branding photoshoot is a powerful part of the visual element for your brand and photos. Opt for outfits that align with your brand's color palette, brand identity, and that will resonate with your target audience. Are you the type of business or professional who wears suits or business professional attire when meeting with your clients? Or do you dress more casually or wear branded uniforms with your logo? You don’t want your potential clients to be confused meeting you in jeans and a t-shirt, when they saw you in a tailored suit in your branding photos on your website.
In addition, when it comes to the colors of your wardrobe for your branding photoshoot, ideally, you need to be “on-brand.” For example, if your branding colors include blue and purple, don’t choose to wear a red blazer, even if it’s your favorite. As a bonus tip, solid colors typically work best with minimal patterns. Patterns, unless intentional, are busy and can distract from the point and focus of your images. If you don’t have clothing in the colors of your branding color palette, then choose neutrals — white, black, tan/beige, gray, etc.
Gather Props & Elements
Much like your wardrobe, the props you choose for your branding photoshoot will help communicate to your target audience what you do, how you help them, and why they should hire you. Ask yourself how you work with your clients? Do you use specific tools or materials? Are there any special elements that make you YOU for your ideal clients to resonate with? (For example, my Minion coffee mug is something I included in my branding photoshoot.) It’s a good idea to pack a bag of your wardrobe and props for your branding photoshoot and bring more than you think you need. Sometimes adding a little extra flair to the background or a table setting makes all the difference to help your brand and photos stand out!
Explore Pinterest
Maybe this is uncommon advice, but as a branding photographer, I want to know what you like! So please, scroll Pinterest. Make a board called ‘Branding Photoshoot Inspiration.’ Fill it with outfits, colors, poses, props, ideas, and everything you like. This will help you and your photographer collaborate better on ideas to make your branding photoshoot unique and fit you, while pulling inspiration from images you like to better understand your style and preferences.
Prepare for the Unexpected
When you plan for your branding photoshoot to be outdoors, the weather can add an extra challenge for you so it's essential to be prepared. You might choose to have a backup plan for your branding photoshoot location, date, or timing in case of unexpected changes. Most of the time you can trust that your branding photoshoot photographer is equipped to adapt and capture stunning images regardless of the conditions.
In addition, you might also pack some extra make-up, a hair brush, hair spray, tissues, safety-pins, and anything else you can think you might need as an emergency kit for your branding photoshoot.
Relax and Enjoy the Process
Finally, remember that feeling relaxed and enjoying the process during your branding photoshoot will help translate into authentic and natural-looking brand photos. Get there early. Trust your photographer. Have fun. Let your personality shine.
Ready to Book Your Branding Photoshoot?
If you’re ready to book a Branding photoshoot, let’s chat!
I have had the honor to travel to and had clients fly to work with me from Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Iowa, Florida, Canada, Finland, and more!
Whether you’re near Denver, Colorado, traveling in, or interested in flying me in, I’d love to chat with you!
The best way to do a shoot — make a Mini Business Retreat out of it!
My out-of-state/country clients will take a weekend or few days to fly into Denver, have their photoshoot, and spend an extra day workshopping their business making the trip into a business retreat! (Plus, it’s a write off!)
I have a professional Hair & Makeup Artist and location recommendations to design your Branding Photography Session. In addition, before your session, I send you a questionnaire to design your session and we book a Zoom consultation call to discuss wardrobe and prop options, details for your shoot, and answer any questions you have.
Closing Notes
A successful branding photoshoot requires strategic planning, a clear understanding of your brand and effective marketing, and an eye for attention to detail. By following the tips shared in this article, your branding photoshoot will not only capture visually appealing, branded images but also communicate your brand’s unique identity and value proposition to effectively market your business. Remember, your branding photoshoot is an investment and you want to get the most ROI out of it.
Underexposed® is proud to be an LGBTQ Ally and Foster Friendly Business, so all identities, cultures, abilities & genders are welcome and supported.
Want to make sure you get all the photos you need during your branding photoshoot?
Get my Free Branding Photography Checklist here to help you understand the types of photos you need to effectively market your business, why they matter, how they help increase your revenue, plus bonus pro-tips!
