Execute Your Brand's Visuals

So you have taken the leap, had your branding designed and a website ready to launch, now you need photos of your products or services and don’t know where to start.

Here is my guide which will will fulfil the answers to the top ten questions I get asked from new business owners.

1. What do I need?

The first thing I do with new clients is work through a creative brief template I have designed. This helps both of us work out your brand’s lifestyle and direction and exactly what is needed to be executed from a photoshoot to save time and money. We have a breakdown of your website and put together a list wether it be e-commerce photography to sell your products, campaign imagery to market your service and or social media images and in most cases all of the above.

2. Size

Once we know what images you need, we have to make sure that we shoot them to the right size. Early on in my career when banner images became big on websites I made the mistake of not checking this before the shoot and having to crop them image awkwardly.

So if we have the dimensions of what the shot needs to be before the day of the shoot we can make sure the composition works live from lightroom as I’m shooting.

You may need square images for your product page, portrait image for your about page, and landscape banner images for the home page.

Reference images for Her Wardobe Editorial Shoot

3. References

Once the list is created we need to have reference images or illustrations for the direction of the shoot especially for campaign and social media images. You may have already collected a bunch of ideas before you even started your business on your vision board or have a pinterest board or instagram account you love.

4. Styling

Here is what I find the fun part - As I use to be a stylist I love working out  what other elements are needed for the shoot to bring it to life. Put together a list of other items. If you are time poor like most other entrepreneurs I have a team of stylists who specialise in different areas that you can take on board.

5. Talent

All products look much better when they are in action by being used or worn by a model or talent. There are a few options here you can go down the road of a modelling agency, or there is a new business The Right Fit a quick and easy way to find models and talent who have built a brand around what they do. Could also be a great opportunity for cross promotion and marketing. Investing in good talent is a must, it can seem expensive in the beginning but their experience can make or break a shoot, the more experienced they are the more you can achieve on the day.

6. Location

Do you need a studio? Or outdoor area, bar, snowy mountains? Finding the perfect location for a shoot can be quite tricky which is why there are professional location scouts for this. I can help you in finding the perfect location, but you may also only need a studio to achieve what you are going for.

7. Hair and Makeup

Hair and Makeup is just as important as the styling and the talent, even if your brand is a relaxed casual lifestyle brand it’s important that your talent is well groomed and has a clean fresh face. Or if you have smaller products such as jewellery the makeup can determine the whole style of the shoot. I organise the H&MU artist for the shoot, but it’s also a good idea to have a reference image for the style on the day.

8. Timing

If it’s your first ever shoot you want to book something in for minimum 4 weeks in advance - I first have a phone consultation to work out what it is you need to achieve and get you started on the client brief. The following week we would meet up to go through and flesh out any ideas or what we may have missing. Then work with you to find the location, book the studio and put the team together. That way you have plenty of lead time and also don’t miss locking in a date.

9. The bottom line

By now you might be shaking in your boots worried about what the costs are involved in putting a shoot together. I have a minimum call out for two hours which I can achieve a social media shoot to put together a library of images for your social media. For any e-commerce and campaign images you will be a looking at a half to full day shoot. I work my best at putting together a team to suit your budget but there a a few things you just can’t cut corners on, and in the long run you will be glad you didn’t.

10. The Shoot

All the planning pays off once the shoot comes around we have the perfect team of creatives together with all the styling elements we need to work efficiently through the shot list ticking off everything as we go.

I always shoot live to my laptop so you can view the images and make sure we are hitting targets, while selecting the best of the best. Within a week I have my retoucher polish the shots ready to deliver in the perfect size, colour profile ready for you to upload and launch your business to the world!

For a copy of my creative brief template and detailed price list get in touch below, I’d love to hear from you.