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When and How to Find Your Ideal Brand Photographer

How to prepare for this collaborative process and what to expect

Along with good web design, a stylish brand kit and great copy, a set of relevant photos are another important piece of the brand identity puzzle. So if you’re thinking about investing in professional photos for your business, rest assured you’re making a wise decision!

They’ll be a fantastic resource to take your website, social media, online profiles, course material or even free pdfs to the next level. The overall aim, of course, is for you to attract more of your ideal audience and convert them to paying clients with the know, like and trust factors.

But when is the right time to hire a brand photographer, what should you be looking for and what can you expect from them? Here is a brief guide on the entire process so you can feel confident that you’re investing in the right person.

When is the right time to work with a photographer?

Now, let’s look at how to choose your ideal photographer.

When you’re creating a website or social media presence, it’s helpful to work on all the supporting elements in a certain order before you work with the web designer. The biggest mistake I made with my first photo shoot was to book it before I’d completed my website copy. This meant I sometimes had to adapt the content to the image. That’s okay, I’m a pro copywriter and it wasn’t that hard. But next time I’d make it easier on myself and here’s why.

Having your web copy completely written will help you and your photographer define subjects, poses and settings that serve a purpose by supporting the content. Similarly, if you post on social media, you probably won’t have all the copy written out but defining your main content pillars up front will have the same effect.

It’s also advisable to choose your brand colours beforehand. The subtle or even bold use of this palette in your pictures will consolidate your brand image, making it more cohesive and recognisable. So even if you aren’t paying for a professional brand kit, think about which colours you’d like to use in your website design and use them in your photos.

Here’s a suggested order for creating your content before you develop your website.

You want photos that reflect your offers, your messaging and your branding.

Find a few experienced brand photographers whose work you love

The photographer may think creatively but they may not be experts in brand photography and certainly not in your business. Search for local photographers who have experience with brand shoots, not necessarily with the same types of products or services, but along the same lines.

When you look at their portfolio, can you imagine similar images being applied to your business? Choose someone with a portfolio you love and an aesthetic that could easily adapt to your brand.

If you want to go a step further, look at other websites that have used the same photographer to see how their photos were used.

Think about the following questions:

Do the pictures tie in well with the products or services on offer?
Do they make you feel a connection to the business or the people?
Do they seem random and unrelated to the written content or the overall brand image?
Are there any unsightly items in the photos that detract from the main subject?

Pay attention to these details on the clients’ sites; the photographer will have selected only the best for their own web page.

Choose a professional who makes you feel at ease

Compare two or three of your favourites and have a brief chat with them as well. It’s important to have a good feeling about them personally. The photo shoot should be a pleasant experience but you might be nervous. It will really help if they can put you at ease with a reassuring manner.

Also, as with any other service provider, contacting them directly gives you the chance to see how they treat prospective customers. Their speed of response and attitude may be the deciding factors if you’re torn between similar packages and aesthetics.

Select the right package for you

Most photographers offer different packages so you should be able to find some that suit your budget. The details for each package should include:

How many final images you will receive
How long the shoot will last
The number of locations
The total cost, including travel and other expenses.

The photographer may also include how many times you can change outfits as this impacts the overall time.

And don’t worry if you have to choose the option with fewer photos. If you plan well, you should be able to use most of them and they can be repurposed across different platforms.

Define the creative brief

Once you’ve chosen your preferred photographer and package, you’ll probably have another conversation to go over the creative brief. You may have outlined your business on the first call, but this is your chance to explain the specifics of what you need.

Be clear about your vision for certain shots and where they will most likely appear. For instance, what do you have in mind for each website page or your content pillars on social media? It helps to have this written down so you can convey your ideas clearly and perhaps even send the photographer your notes and inspirational images.

Search for ideas. You don’t necessarily have to look for businesses like yours but that might be a good place to start. Stock image sites can be a useful resource to find inspiration for product displays or professional poses.

Be open to input from the professional

This is a collaborative process so be receptive to your photographer’s creative ideas as well. Someone with experience in brand shoots will have valuable input on how to promote your business and values with powerful visual nuances.

After the creative brief discussion, you might want to ask to see their notes before the shoot to make sure they’ve interpreted your guidelines correctly. This can be very helpful for you both to finalise and clarify ideas for specific shots that work well for your products or services and your brand story.

These ideas aren’t set in stone but will make the shoot more focused and productive. This preparation will allow you to guide the photographer in the direction you intend rather than the other way around.

Book the session for a time and season that suits you

Which time of year would work well for you? You might want your images to suggest a particular season in alignment with your brand. The milder months are a good option if you want to wear different seasonal outfits to show variety. Be sure to ask your photographer what happens if it’s a rainy day: will you have to the option to reschedule?

Consider which time of day works best for you. The photographer may be thinking artistically about the light, but you probably need to think more practically. Does morning or afternoon fit in better with family life? When do your energy levels peak and slump? If you’re shooting in summer, will it be too hot at certain times?

And if you’re shooting on location, you might want to choose a time with fewer people around. If you have a shop, when is your busiest time or is it better to shoot when you’re closed? Do you want customers to appear in the photos and will they consent to their image being used?

Prepare for shoot day

There is lots to think about in advance and on the day itself, so I’ve written another blog post all about how to prepare for your first brand shoot.

It covers organising your schedule, personal grooming, outfits, props and much more. 12 points to make sure you feel your best and get the most out of your investment.

A summary of the points covered so far…

When to expect the photos and how to store them

Once the photo shoot is over, your photographer will tell you when to expect the final images. In my case, the editing took around two weeks. Then I received the photos via WeTransfer in large format. They had such high definition that my photographer told me they would be fine to blow up if I ever needed to paste my face on a billboard. (Highly improbable but good to know.)

Store the unedited originals somewhere safe and make copies in another folder to manipulate the images. You’ll have to resize them to make them web and social media friendly and you may want to crop some of them for different purposes. I recommend naming these versions in a way that’s meaningful to you. And you might want to start a spreadsheet so you can easily track where you’ve used each image.

This is the first session but not the last

When I did my first photo shoot in November 2023, it felt like a such a momentous decision and significant investment that I never even thought about the possibility of future shoots. But once you’ve seen the value of having brand photos, you’ll want to make it a regular feature of your long-term business plan. How often you update your photos depends on your budget and business needs.

For now though, just be reassured that it is almost guaranteed that you’ll have some usable photos from your first shoot, no matter what your experience is with the photographer. You can always go with someone different next time round or this might be the start of a beautiful long-term collaboration.

And perhaps you don’t feel you or your business are photo-ready, but this is a snapshot of who and where you are right now. That’s good enough and you’re doing this to build a brighter future for yourself!

Clarity and purpose of content are key

So remember, before finding your photographer, it helps to be clear about your vision for your brand and where exactly you will use the photos. Have your website content written first and if you’re going to post on social media, at least identify your content pillars.

Once you have your copy, your brand kit and your photographs ready, your website designer will have everything they need to create a beautiful online home for your business.

And of course, if you want great written content to set you up for more impactful photos, I’m here for you!

I can help:

define and refine your brand messaging
write purposeful content in your unique brand voice
make it easier for you to connect with your ideal clients
explain how your products or services are just what they need
save you time and energy so you can focus on you core business.