After two years without professional business photos, I knew it was time to hire a branding photographer for new photos. I had put it off long enough and knew it was time!
Here are the top 10 things I learned from my own branding photo shoot:
- It is an investment of time, energy, and money but it will pay off with new business.
- Work with a photographer you trust and feel comfortable with. If the shoot is fun, you will feel more comfortable and your photos will turn out better.
- Hire a makeup and hair stylist! At first, I was not going to hire a makeup and hair stylist but again, this is an investment of your time, energy, and money. I wanted these photos to turn out the best possible.
- Makeup artists can make you look natural. The thing with pictures is that they don’t pick up makeup unless you have more on than you would typically wear. So yes, you will look like your normal self in the photos even though you might be wearing more makeup than you do in real life.
- Hire a wardrobe stylist. The more people you have on the shoot to help you, the better. I am a fashion stylist so I did not need to hire one; but I will admit, I still felt the pressure of picking out my own clothes for my shoot. A fashion stylist will help you plan your looks ahead of time so you know exactly what you are wearing for each shot.
- Laugh. We are our own worst critics. Have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously. Some of my favorite photos were the candid shots!
- Use an extra person to pose as a client. Often times you can use your makeup artist or fashion stylist to pose as an extra. If you don’t have them on the shoot with you then ask a friend to fill in. As soon as I knew my bestie Danica would be in town, I scheduled my branding shoot!!
- Get creative. If you have an idea for a pose, location, or shot, feel free to share this idea with your photographer. You never know which photo you’re going to like.
- If you are worried you aren’t getting the right shot, ask the photographer to see what they’ve got so far. Sometimes they can even tether their camera to a laptop so you can see the photos on a bigger screen as they are taken!
- Share the final photos with the team that helped you on your shoot! It’s an investment of their time as well and they would love to see them!
If you need photos taken and have any questions, let me know!
Here are some of my favorite candids below!
Photo credits: Ranjith Kankanala
