Tips for Planning a Brand Shoot

You’ve decided to invest in a brand photoshoot for your biz. Now what?

Planning for one can be quite overwhelming. There is so much to think about and so many things to prepare! Here are a few tips that I found to be helpful.

PLANNING A BRAND PHOTOSHOOT

1. Know your brand. I cannot emphasize this enough. How do you want your brand to look and feel? What are your brand colors? What is your brand voice? What is your brand thesaurus? List down your keywords and summarize them. This will guide you in the next decisions you need to make.
2. Who is your audience? Who are you trying to reach with these images? How do you want them to react? Tailor the message to your intended audience.
3. What is the purpose of the shoot? Where will you use the images? Social media? Blog posts? Website pages? Sales page? This will help you plan the scenes and format for the images, and will inform your photographer what shots he/she needs to include.
4. Choose a good photographer, preferably one who understands brand photography, and not just a regular lifestyle or product photographer. Look at their work, talk to them, find out if your personalities are compatible. Yes, that’s also important – you don’t want to be tense throughout the shoot because you’re arguing all the time. A good photographer should make you feel at ease, and also know what your goals are and how to deliver on them. And also, very importantly, make sure their style fits your brand.
5. Make a list of scenes you want for the shoot. I find that it’s easier if you have a story in mind. e.g. celebrating a successful campaign with your biz besties, or settling down to relax after a full day’s creative work, and you have your favourite book and scented candle ready.
6. List down all of the props you need for each scene. Make sure they make sense, and that each one supports the story. Start shopping. “Shop” around your house first. It’s possible you might have most of them.
7. Make sure you have a checklist so you don’t forget anything. Scenes, props, must-have shots, outfits.
8. Prepare a staging area where you can organize all props and it will be easy to fetch what you need.
9. Don’t forget yourself. If you’re going to be in the photos, get a professional hair and makeup artist to make you look polished.

I hope that was helpful! How do you prepare for planning for a photoshoot?