Brand Photoshoots: How We Determine Our Approach
Ready for a hard fact? You have less than 3 seconds to get someone’s attention online. That’s right, 3 whole seconds because the internet moves so quickly! And unfortunately, overstimulation can weaken one’s attention span.
Do we still have YOUR attention?! …okay, great! 😉
It’s absolutely essential that your business or brand stands out in a sea of sameness. If it doesn’t, the scroll is real and you’ll get lost in the feed of posts or the thousands upon thousands of Google search results.
You’re wondering how to stand out, then. Aren’t you?
Two words—brand photography.
If more than 30% of your photos are stock photos, then you might be struggling to stand out. Remember, other businesses and brands can use stock photos, too. So you really need your own personalized content. And they absolutely must reflect an authenticity that is uniquely YOU, YOUR business, or YOUR brand.
That’s what captures someone’s attention. That authenticity makes you stand out. And that’s what we capture in our brand photoshoots.
How? With a strategic process that starts with you, your business or your brand’s identity. Once we determine that, and once we know what the deliverables are, we put together a detailed production book.
Sure, it’s easy to point a camera and take a picture. Capturing the essence of who or what is in front of the camera? Well…that takes some forethought. And that’s what we put in the production book. Here’s what we mean by that:
It’s important to determine who or what will be in the pictures. If it’s a personal brand, we clearly want your face. If it’s a business, it might be the team. If it’s a product, of course we’ll need the product itself. We might also hire influencers or models that accurately portray target customers. And while hired talent comes with built-in comfort levels, we totally understand that not everyone is comfortable in front of the lens. So we take that into consideration when we put together a list of required photos. For example, simple photos of your hands typing on your keyboard can still generate the authenticity you seek.
Standard head and group shots are often included, but a bulk of the photos we take are predetermined by business or brand goals and content pillars. Do you need to promote something specific? What kind of content is your audience engaging with? Are you building a website, or designing brochures? The individual parts and pieces associated with any project help us navigate photographic needs.
We’ll need to determine where the photoshoot will take place, too. If it’s not at an office or store, we’ll scout studio locations (and bring props!) that accurately reflect the vibe of the business or brand we’re shooting. Every picture has a subject, but what envelopes that subject creates a scene, and that scene communicates the visual brand language.
All to say, our goal is to get you the biggest compliment you can receive from a potential client when you meet them in person:
"You're exactly as I imagined you to be when I looked at your website.”
…or your social media accounts. Maybe even that brochure they picked up. That’s a visual brand language in action. That’s you, standing out in that sea of sameness we talked about simply because you have photos that rock.
If you need photos that rock, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our talented team of photographers is ready to explain the LEO + LAINE difference when it comes to brand photoshoots. We can also deep dive your existing photography to help you understand what’s going well and what areas could use some improvement.