Getting Ready for Branding Photos is a Big Deal!

Professional branding photos are a huge part of your brand promotion, no matter what your business is! I mean, you’re going to use them on your social media, on your website, for print ads, for digital ads – they’re everywhere your business is! And that means that preparing for your session is huge, and so is having a plan.

When you choose a photographer to work with for your branding photo session, you’re choosing the person who is going to help you get your work out there. Which is ALSO huge! And they’re very likely to have a shot list, based on the type of business you have. They might even include a brand consultation in their process with you, to help you feel comfortable with all of the images you’re going to capture together, and feel extra ready when the day of the shoot actually comes.

But one of the ways you can be extra prepared before your branding photo session, is to think about the kinds of images you want your photographer to capture! This can help them hone into the vision you have for your images, and it can even help you choose your photographer to begin with. If you know the kind of images you want to come away with, you’ll be better able to review their branding photo portfolio and know that the photographer you want to work with will be a good fit for you and your business!

Since you’re not a professional photographer though, you’re an expert at what YOU do – it may not feel straightforward to come up with a shot list to share with your photographer. So today, we’re going to go through a few things you can think about ahead of your branding session if you’re a service-based business owner!

Brand Photos for Service-Based Businesses

It might sound like it’s a little more difficult to come up with images for your service-based business, since you don’t necessarily sell a product. When people think “brand photography” a lot of the time they think about fashion images, featuring clothing in use. Or they think about images of candles, for a candle-maker. But those are product-based businesses, so they’re not exactly in line with your needs! And it’s not super thrilling to just post the same selfies all the time on your profiles. You need something to break it up! Thankfully, there are three categories of images you can lean into when it comes to putting together your shot list before your session.

Standard Headshots

Standard headshots are just what they sound like – the thing about your service-based business is… it’s all about what you DO. I mean… it’s in the name of the category, after all. “Service” based. Right? So you’re going to need headshots of you – the person who does the service!

In Action Images for Service-Based Businesses

The second category here is “in action” images. If you have a Yoga studio and your service is yoga classes… you’re going to want images of you teaching! You’re also going to want images of you working with clients if you teach privately, or behind the desk at your location if you have a physical studio location. It might sound like “in action” images are a little harder if you’re, for example, a realtor. However… not as much as you might think! In action photos can look like you walking through a property door, removing a set of keys from a lockbox, going through paperwork with a client, or standing in one of the gorgeous homes you help your clients buy! No matter what your service is, there are “in action” photos you can have taken, even if they’re more like “you sitting and talking on your phone” or “you looking through paperwork”. If I was putting together a shot list for the web designer I work with, for example, I’d probably include things like “putting mood board items on a cork board” because I know she does that with her clients. I’d also include things like “looking at the camera over her laptop” and “images from a mock online-meeting” because I know that’s how she meets with her clients. The key for these “in action” images is to get REAL. Think about the things that you really, actually do… and list those!

The Results of Your Service

The third and final category for your service based business is the results. I know that might sound a little less straight-forward, but no matter what you do, we can still illustrate the results through your images. If we go back to that Yoga Studio example… it’s happy clients, walking out of a class. Or clients being adjusted DURING a class. For the realtor? Popping a “sold” tag onto a sign on a gorgeous property. If the results of your service are physical things – like landscapers, or home design, as examples – then “the results” get a little easier to illustrate. Work with your photographer to set up times where they can document work you’ve completed! You might be surprised at your clients’ willingness to allow you to photograph their homes – of course, always make sure you ask!!

With images from all three of those categories… you’ll have more than enough social content to keep your profiles on social going for ages, and to revamp your website, and more!

Make sure you talk to your photographer!

Ultimately, what’s included in your branding photography package is going to be determined by you speaking with your photographer, and going through what they can include for you. You’ll need to talk to them about your needs, how you want to use your photos, and what elements of what you do can realistically be photographed, to achieve images you love.

Make sure you ask your photographer whether they include a shot list in their packages, whether you get a consultation with them ahead of your session, and otherwise how their sessions are formatted! It’ll help to make sure you know how much of this you’ll need to prepare on your side, and how much of it they make happen for you, with magic.

As always, I would be totally honored to capture the essence of what your business does for your clients through a branding photography package – so if you’re looking to upgrade the look and feel of your business online and in your advertizing… we should talk!