Let me guess… you know the benefits of professional brand photos, but you have no idea where to start with planning a photoshoot. These 9 ideas for your brand photography shot list will make planning a brand photoshoot as easy as 1-2-3. The most important thing you can do when planning a photoshoot for your business is to focus on the shotlist.

A well-planned shot list helps maximize your photoshoot time, sets the intention and goals for your brand photos, and allows you to walk away with impactful and compelling brand imagery that will actually stop the scroll when you post.

Now you might be asking, “what do I even include in a shot list?” I answered this in a recent Instagram post that was very popular, so I wanted to share it here too. These are my 9 must have pictures to add to your brand photography shot list. Every photoshoot should create imagery that can tell a full story. Whether it’s through your website or social media… brand photography is a way to visually share your brand and transformation.

Photo Ideas and Inspiration For Your Next Brand Photography Shot List

What’s the most important part of planning a brand photoshoot? The brand photoshoot shot list… hands down! A well-planned shot list is an incredible guiding point. Use these 9 must have pictures to add to your own brand photography shot list to create content that is needed instead of just stuffy headshots and generic lifestyle photos. This will help you think of unique and creative photos you can use to market your business, instead of just taking pictures with a laptop or phone.

Photos Of Your Workspace

Show off where the magic happens! By sharing your workspace and the setting where you meet your clients, you’re establishing trust. Build trust and establish credibility by inviting others into your space. The workspace is oftentimes a reflection of the brand or business owner’s personality. This makes it a great place to get detail photos that can be used for Pinterest, social media and branded PDFs.

Headshot (Picture of your smiling and looking at the camera)

Whether standing, sitting, or flaunting a power pose… remember to request at least 1 headshot smiling directly at the camera. This warm and inviting image can be used for interview promos, email signatures, social media profile photos, “about me” sections of a website, lead magnets and other digital or print marketing materials. Too often I see business owners plan a full brand photoshoot and fail to walk away with a headshot. The lifestyle and candid photos are essential as well, but you’ll always need a headshot where you’re making eye contact.

Lifestyle Personal Branding Portraits

This is a casual spin on the traditional headshot. Lifestyle brand photos are more candid and showcase your personality naturally. It’s an effective way for you to have imagery of yourself that isn’t as stuffy or direct as a traditional headshot.

These images are the best for social media posts because they facilitate storytelling well. It’s always helpful to have candid and lifestyle brand photos of yourself, because it allows you to pair those images with any caption. Lifestyle brand photos also work great for introductions in emails, the “contact” page on a website and for “all about you” pinned posts.

Tools of the Trade (Industry Specific Props)

Don’t forget to showcase your go-to supplies in your brand photos. Think of the items you use every day with your clients. This can include different products that are industry specific, or props that would help you stand out and tell your story. As a photographer, I would obviously include a camera or tripod as my tool of the trade. A painter would include canvases and paint brushes. Try to think of the tools that help support your visual brand story. These types of photos are great for breaking up promotional posts on social media.

This blog post about how to make your brand photos stand out online has more insights about choosing the right props for your brand photos.

Showcase What You Sell

Highlight the products or services you offer with brand photography. For service-based businesses, this might be staged client interactions and pictures that depict you serving your ideal client. The goal is to highlight your client experience and showcase the transformation you offer. For product-based businesses, this might look like lifestyle product photos or shots of the product alone on a backdrop.

These images are perfect for home pages on websites and in welcome emails/nurture sequences.

Personal Element (Your Story)

Make an authentic and personal connection through your brand photos. As the human behind the brand, you have hobbies, quirks and things that make you unique. This photo opp helps share a glimpse of your life outside of the office.

This humanizes your brand, allows room for personal connections to be made, and works well to break up promotional posts on social media. These images work best to break up promotional posts on social media or in connection-driven emails.

The Process (Behind The Scenes)

Pull the curtain back in your business and show the behind the scenes of the job or the process of the work being done. What happens behind the scenes that your client may be surprised to learn?

Pictures of your process are great for website pages dedicated to showcasing client experience and for social media. People LOVE a good BTS moment.

On-Brand Flatlays and Detail Photos

Stock and filler photos custom-styled for your brand. Instead of investing in generic stock photography, you can create on-brand, custom stock photos that are unique to you and your business. These images are perfect for banners on your website, and do a great job of breaking up content on your social platforms.

Celebratory Brand Photos

Because everyone has something to celebrate in their business! Skip posting a generic photo of balloons or champagne next time you’re making a big announcement, having a sale, celebrating a business anniversary or launching something new. Request a fun photo of you with your favorite celebratory prop and you’ll be ready to post next time you have a big win to share! Most of my clients opt for balloons, confetti, champagne, poms poms, cake or sparklers.

 

Ready to plan your own brand photography shot list?

See real brand photography results from other Nashville personal brand photoshoots! Click here to view the Client Showcase!

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Read this blog post for tips on what to wear for your personal brand photoshoot.