Preparing for your Personal Branding photo shoot doesn't need to be stressful
If you’re like so many of us who weren’t born in the selfie era, you may feel apprehensive about “putting yourself out there”, being the face of your business, and being more visible online.
But believe me when I say this; your audience really does want to get to know you! They want to hear your stories, and confidently know they’re choosing the right person for the product or service they’re looking for.
To help make the process a little easier for you, I’m giving you 6 tips to ensure your lifestyle and branding photo shoot is a success.
1. Don't book a branding photo shoot until you've spoken to your photographer.
This is a big one!
Meet your photographer at least once, preferably twice, either on the phone, in person, or via zoom before your shoot. This gives you the opportunity to get any questions answered and it also helps to settle the nerves associated with stepping outside of your comfort zone. Knowing who’s going to be the one taking the photos is imperative when it comes to you having a great experience. The worst thing you can do, is book your photo shoot and turn up without ever having met your photographer.
Too often I hear from clients who had a photo shoot prior to coming to me, and they didn’t like it at all. They booked their photographer online, without having met them and got no guidance on what to do before, during or after their shoot.
This is certain to make you feel so uncomfortable and trying to look confident in front of the camera when you’re in that situation will be a huge ask.
It also gives you a chance to ensure you’re a good fit to work together. Your photographer should always want this as well, because let’s be honest, we aren’t always a good fit for everybody.
Don’t regret the photographer you choose!
2. Outfits.... this can make or break your shoot so let's make sure we get it right.
Choose clothes that are fitted! I know some of you may be thinking, “no way, I love baggy and flowy outfits” but even though they look beautiful in person, that’s not the case so much in camera. They tend to look like a big sack.
When you wear fitted clothing I can pose you in ways that show your curves and flatter your body, no matter your shape or size. My clients are always pleasantly surprised by how good I am at this!
This doesn’t mean you can’t wear a beautiful flowy dress for your photo shoot. That kind of dress is awesome for some shots at the beach, just ensure the style of clothing suits the location. Also, iron all of your outfits and hang them on hangers. The last thing you want is for your clothing to look creased in your photos.
I’m here if you need help or guidance when choosing the outfits you’ll wear for your photo shoot.
3. Your beauty regime....you don't want to skip this step
Make sure your hair and nail appointments are up to date. The last thing you want are images of you with the silver streak down your centre part, or your nails looking like they are in need of a good manicure.
Another thing to add to your list is to exfoliate and moisturise your skin. Don’t start doing this the day before your shoot. If you aren’t already doing this, start a skin routine as soon as you book your branding shoot. This is imperative as dry skin shows up in photos.
Making sure these three things are on your priority list will ensure you look and feel awesome during your photo shoot. Confidence shines through when we know we look good.
4. Props.... choosing the right props will help to add more variety to your photos
Props are a game changer for personal branding photos and sometimes you need to think outside the box.
One of the things I get my clients to do is go through a shoot planner with lots of different possibilities for their social media posts.
Let’s say you’re in the health and wellness industry and you want to write a blog and/or social media post about journaling and getting your thoughts and feelings on paper. You sitting on the bed with your journal is an awesome photo to add to that blog or social media post.
If you’re in the beauty industry, you may want to write about a skin routine you do, so you could bring products you use and get shots of you applying those products to your skin.
The list is endless for what props you can include.
5. Accessories.... have them already chosen for each outfit
When choosing accessories for each outfit, put these in a plastic zip lock bag and attach each bag to the hanger of the outfit you would like to wear them with.
This ensures you aren’t wasting time wondering what earrings to wear with a certain outfit, which gives you more time for shooting which is what we want!
6. Sleep.... get a good nights sleep
I can’t stress this enough. You want bright eyes and lots of energy for your photo shoot.
I know you’re probably excited and nervous all at the same time the night before your photo shoot, and it may be hard to sleep, so it might be a good idea to get a few early nights leading up to your shoot, just in case you’re like a kid on Christmas eve and too excited to sleep.
If you would like information on how a personal branding photo shoot could help you and your business take a look here.
