BTS of our Recent Shoot
Content is king. Whether you run a glam squad or are operating as an independent artist, the content you post—on your website and your social feeds—helps clients get a sense of who you are and if they want to work with you. Today, our portfolios are digital and require constant updating.
Creating content that is on brand is a key ingredient to successfully connecting with the very people you serve. That’s why we wanted to take you behind the scenes and offer some of our tried and true tips for running a fruitful photo shoot. Here are our takeaways:
Content Concepting
Know who you’re creating content for. What do they want? What are they responding to online and in social media channels? How does that align with your brand or services?
Create a list of deliverables. Do you want one main image for a campaign or ad you want to run? Or are you looking to create lots of images for your social media feed?
Get inspired. Make a Pinterest board (a sneak peek at ours here) with images you admire and feel are congruent with your brand or offering. Notice if some of the images go together while others don’t and separate them into two different boards. That will likely lead to two separate shoots and help you create content that is consistent within each shoot.
Create a story for your models. A story makes everything come together in a more fluid and cohesive way. You can see it in the images and it also helps make the shoot run more smoothly when everyone is on the same page and flowing through the storyline.
Shoot Prep
Decide on outfit looks ahead of time as much as possible, and group items for each look together and in order of how you think you will shoot them.
Scout location and backdrops for your looks. Decide ahead of time what backdrops you want to use and prepare them (tidy up, move items you don’t want in the shot, etc).
Use your Pinterest board as a guide and print it off with notes on any alternate shots you want to get while you are shooting. You can use this as a check list while you are shooting, which will help keep you on track.
Stock up on snacks and drinks. Everyone works hard when on set, so make sure they have lots of fuel to keep going. I like to set out hummus and chips, carrots, sliced cucumbers, grapes, cheesy puffs, cookies, and lots of La Croix!
If you don’t have the budget to hire a photographer or model, try to connect with those you know and ask if they are up for doing a ‘test shoot’ to build everyone’s portfolio. Another tip—ask them to do it in the off season when they have down time.
We can’t wait to share our new content with you and see what you’ve created too!