You know that personal brand photography is one of the best ways to make your small business stand out, but which photographer should you use for your photo session?

You could flip a coin or go with the first one that comes up in your search results, but photographers aren’t all the same, so those aren’t strategies I’d recommend. 

You’ll need to interview potential photographers as if you were hiring a full-time employee, because, in a way, that’s what you’re doing.

Your images will be pulling overtime for you once you’ve got them and begin using them in your branding materials, so it’s worth it to open up the check book for a personal brand photographer who will do the job well.

Find the one that you vibe with best by using these tips to interview them. You’ll be happy with the final results and you’ll see significant returns on your investment in branded collateral.

Experience

First and foremost, do they know what they are doing? You’d think this would be an easy one, but some photographers out there are still faking it ‘til they make it. Thankfully this interview question is an easy one.

“How long have you been helping small businesses with their personal branding photography needs?’

Notice it’s not just, “How long have you been a photographer?” Because they could be counting their high school art classes in their “experience.” That’s not what you’re looking to learn about them.

You want to ask a pointed question to get a detailed answer. Use this softball to learn exactly about the specialized kind of photography work they’ll be doing for you.

All photography is not created equal. You’re looking for someone who specifically has experience doing personal brand photography.

Portfolio

Ask to see their portfolio with resulting usages, not just the images they’ve captured. See if they can show you how their clients used the photos they took.

Do the photographer’s photos tell a good story about the company that commissioned them? Do you as a consumer think they are effective?

Seeing the photographs in context can tell you a lot about how a good photographer uses their creative brain to make effective artistic decisions, rather than just their index finger to press the shutter button.

You may find that photographers with a journalistic background do this well.

First of all, they’ve been professionally trained on how to use their camera to tell a story. And secondly, because the news is a hungry 24-hour-a-day content guzzler, these types of photographers tend to get really good at what they do really quickly. The beast must be fed!

Client Testimonials

Once you’ve weeded out the pretenders and have your list of contenders, check their references. What do former clients have to say about them? The things you might be worrying about — Will they make me feel comfortable? Can I be myself in front of their camera? — might have been addressed by previous clients in the Google reviews.

If a long list of testimonials mention the photographer’s great ability to put them at ease, then chances are they have a good rapport with their clients during their sessions.

Former clients will also give you great insight on how the photographs they received have been helpful or unhelpful.

If there are rave reviews about the success of their company thanks to the use of “Photographer Smith,” you can be assured that the images have actually made a positive impact on the clients’ bottom lines.

Style

Here’s where you’ve got to start making some decisions. These decisions should be based on the personal brand you’ve already established. Everyone who has made it this far on your list should know what they are doing. Now it’s time to find out if they know you and your customers and your brand.

For example, if your company is an automotive aftermarket specialty parts dealer, then you may not vibe with a photographer who preaches the virtue of public transportation and walks everywhere they go.

If they photograph a lot of earth-friendly companies, their portfolio may be filled with light, airy, whimsical photos and their style may not be for you.

On the other hand, if they have demonstrated use of a wide range of styles, you might be able to overlook your differences because you like their art.

In the sport of boxing, they say styles make fights. What this means is that you don’t want to be stepping on your opponent’s feet, and getting tangled in a mess when you should be landing blows. Nobody wants to pay $59.99 for HBO to watch that.

The same goes for choosing a good match in a personal brand photographer. No one wants to see a jumbled mess of styles.

Make sure your style can be complemented by theirs. Your styles don’t have to be exact copies. Remember, for every yin, there’s a yang and opposites do attract. Don’t dismiss a photographer whose style you like just because it’s out of your comfort zone. 

Share Reference Photos

Here’s where a little recon can get you closer to your target. Look for brand photography out in the wild and save examples of images you like. Share this collection with your personal brand photographer and see if they can do something similar. Make sure the techniques you like are in their bag of tricks.

This is another good opportunity to talk specifics. You’ll have a tangible image you found and should be able to tell them why you like it. Ask them if they can execute that shot, especially if it’s technically advanced.

You’ll know right away if they love it or hate it. And if they hate it then ask them why. They may have a very good reason for deterring you from trying to replicate your show-and-tell piece. If they can steer you in a better direction, even if it’s a different photographer, then you’ve asked a good question and are one step closer.

Using these techniques, tips and interview questions, you will be well on your way to finding the personal brand photographer that’s right for you.

Let us know what sort of personal brand photography session you need and we’ll be glad to help your small business shine. Connect with our team to get started today!

The infinitely quotable Ted Lasso once said, “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”

Like many of the Lasso-isms from the three season run of Apple TV’s hit show, this thought-provoking advice can make you a better person.

It’s also a good one to look to if you’re wondering how not to look awkward in your brand photo shoot. You can actually become quite comfortable in an otherwise uncomfortable situation, if you follow our tips.

Because we love Ted as much as everyone else on both sides of the pond, we’re presenting our tips via some of our favorite witticisms from the mind of Jason Sudeikis’s award winning character.

Finding a Photographer You Trust

“You could fill two internets with what I don’t know about football.”

Lasso, the failed American football coach, was certainly a fish out of water when he first hopped across the pond to be the soccer coach for AFC Richmond. But by trusting subject matter experts around him, he didn’t flounder forever.

When you find a photographer you can trust, you’ll be headed to the top of the league standings also.

Finding a photographer you trust can happen the same way you find any of the other professionals in your circle. Word of mouth is a big one.

Finding a trustworthy photographer is kind of like finding a real estate agent. There are a lot of people out there claiming to be one, but can you trust them? Have they just picked it up or have they cultivated professional skills through a years-long career? Do they have a portfolio you like?

Ask around at your next happy hour with co-workers — it’s likely they’ll have a few recommendations for you. A quick introduction from a mutual acquaintance can set your mind at ease before you agree to hire a photographer.

Or you can always take your search online. Find a few in your area using Google and take a look at their work. Is their portfolio diverse? Do their subjects look awkward or confident?

Then pick up the phone or drop them an email. Ask them about the things you’re nervous about and see if they can instill some confidence in you with their responses. If not, move on and find someone who does.

Planning Ahead with Inspiration and Ideas

“I do love a locker room. It smells like potential.”

There’s potential everywhere you look. Photo session ideas can come from many sources. Like a coach contemplating his locker room full of soccer players, you never know where the next game-winning goal, or a great image you wish to emulate, will come from. Seek out some inspiration to find a winning shot you’d like to replicate.

A good personal brand photographer won’t show up to a consultation empty-handed, and neither should you. Do a little bit of homework to see what kind of brand photography you’re drawn to.

Peruse everything from the free local magazines available on the racks inside the doors at the grocery store to the images on the pages of Forbes Magazine. People advertise their personal brands everywhere and inspiration can strike anywhere. Tear out a few things you like and have them ready for show-and-tell when you meet with your chosen photographer. 

Have you seen something interesting on an Instagram advertisement? Use the screenshot feature on your phone or computer and save it. 

Scrolled across an engaging video on Facebook? Rewatch it and take some notes.

Bring it all to the consultation so you can point to exactly the sort of thing you’re looking for. If you have your own unique ideas, even better.

Practicing a Lot

“Your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.”

Get warmed up for your photo session by practicing. If you’re generally a camera-shy person, then you may want to get in front of a practice camera before your scheduled session day in order to feel more at ease. Again, it’s all about building confidence. When it’s your camera, you’re in charge and can press delete on images you’re uncomfortable with.

Try this: Set up a camera in your work environment when no one is around — stay after hours if you have to — and use the timer to practice your pose. You can do it over and over and over until you feel happy with the results. There’s no shame in upping your posing game.

Do you like the way your smile looks with your mouth open or closed? Turn a few degrees to the side. Do you like the ¾ angle better?

You might also want to enlist a trusted friend or family member. They can encourage you and offer guidance in a low-pressure practice session so that you feel more confident on the actual day of your personal branding photography session.

Choosing Props That Are On-Brand and Help with Posing

“I think that you might be so sure that you’re one in a million, that sometimes you forget that out there you’re just 1 in 11.”

No small business owner can do it alone. You need role players, support staff, mentors…and that goes for your personal brand photography too. You and the props you choose to represent your brand need to work as a team to tell the right story.

Interacting with your products or appropriate props is brand photography gold! But make sure you choose the ones that improve your confidence and help with posing confidently, rather than trying to force something that doesn’t play well with others.

Everything in your photos that isn’t you is a prop. Maybe it’s a park bench where you’re holding an “impromptu” work chat with a colleague over coffee. Maybe it’s the cash register in the middle of a sale to your happy customer. Use your imagination, play act a little bit and have fun with it!

A prop could also be part of your uniform or one of your tools.

Lift those dumbbells like a boss, Personal Trainer. Sport that blazer with a little fire, Young Professional. Lean into that mic like you were born behind it, Pod Caster. 

It doesn’t have to be elaborate…just enough to get to the essence of the story you want to tell about your brand.

Choose Clothes That Fit You and That You Feel Confident In

“Ice cream is the best. It’s kinda like seeing Billy Joel perform live. Never disappoints.”

And like a Billy Joel concert, ice cream makes everyone scream. It’s a go-to favorite for a reason. Reach into your wardrobe, grab your go-tos and get to it. 

Ill-fitting clothes that you used to feel confident in won’t cut it. Step up to the plate — or, more accurately, the cash register — if you have to, and treat yourself to a new outfit that can be your new go-to. 

Classic pieces always look good; that’s why they call them classics. They’ll never be dated or be the victim of the latest trend, and you’ll love wearing them. Start with a simple, timeless piece and build upon it.

Some advice from real life American football coach Deion Sanders is appropriate here: “When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you play good. When you play good, they pay good.” Coach Prime has been preaching this mantra for decades.

The University of Colorado football coach is onto something. You don’t have to shop at Louis Vuitton like Neon Deion to subscribe to this philosophy. Look good, feel good and photograph well in a second-hand item from a thrift store, if that’s what you can afford. The point is, confidence will take you where you want to go. Confidence makes Goodwill look like Gucci. 

Plan the Makeup and Hair Looks — and Practice Them

“This woman is strong, confident, and powerful. Boss, I tell you, I’d hate to see you and Michelle Obama arm wrestle, but I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off of it either.”

To feel good you gotta look good, and you’ve been making yourself look good most of your life. Stick to your routine and you’ll feel like you could win an arm wrestling match with Michelle Obama.

Chances are you already have your hair and makeup routine down-pat and can do them pretty well in the vanity mirror on the way to work in the morning. But if you’re more likely to slap on a hat or hide your face with big sunglasses until you get to your corner office, then it’s time to break out the product and practice your looks. 

Don’t go overboard — just work at looking effortlessly fabulous.

If you want to try something new, give it a trial run for a few weeks before your branding photography session. No coach ever throws something into the playbook on game day without running it in practice.

The last thing you want to do is try something new on the morning of your shoot and then show up all overdone or frizzy after fiddling with it in front of the mirror or under the hair dryer for an hour. You’ll be flustered, you’ll make excuses and you’ll give yourself a reason to look (and feel) less than your best. 

Remember, practice makes perfect.

Consider hiring a professional. It’s common practice to hire a hair and makeup artist on your wedding day, so it makes total sense to get professional stylist help on your brand photo session day as well. An easy investment that goes a long way and one your photographer will appreciate. 

Get Rest Beforehand

“There’s two buttons I never like to hit: that’s panic and snooze.”

You won’t have to hit either if you’re well prepared and well rested.

Treat your photo session like a big exam at school. Do your homework, study up early and often and then give yourself time to relax and ease into it on test day. Cramming is a recipe for disaster.

Go to bed the night before confident that you’ve put in the work and are ready for your photography session.

There’s an added bonus here: if you get a good night’s sleep, you won’t wake up cranky or miss your alarm and get out of the wrong side of the bed. You’ll be able to take your time getting ready and still show appreciation for your photographer by showing up on time.

Have a Drink Ahead of Time to Loosen Up

“Little tip for y’all. Fries are called chips. Chips are called crisps. And bangers aren’t great songs, but they do make you feel like dancing because they’re so darn tasty.”

Heading to the pub to loosen up a bit can make you feel better before your photo session.

But like a good tequila shot, this piece of advice should be taken with salt. If you’re not a drinker, don’t suddenly turn yourself into one just because some blog on the internet says so.

To you, “having a drink” could just as easily manifest itself in your favorite cup of coffee. Or it might mean eating a well-balanced meal and squeezing in some yoga. Whatever makes you feel good.

The point is that you want to be relaxed so that your positive energy and happy vibes come through in your images.

Have confidence in yourself and you’ll naturally make it easier on your chosen personal branding photographer. Sometimes we can work miracles, but we do appreciate some help.

Schedule a Session Now

If you’re looking for a personal brand photographer and found these tips helpful, consider reaching out! Inquire about our personal branding photography packages. We’re all about helping you and your brand shine.

Instagram is a powerhouse of a social media platform for your business to exist on. With so many active users and potential customers of yours, you have to leave a lasting impression.

The best way to do that is constantly reminding them of your brand through engaging content. That could be through pictures and videos, creating reels from scratch, and posting every day to get attention.

When there are other things to focus on in your business, Instagram can be difficult to balance if you don’t know the right hacks to shoot and schedule content over a long period. In this article today, we’ll share with you secrets on the easiest way to create content for up to 90 days. 

Ready? Let’s get started to build your brand on Instagram! 

How is 90 days possible? 

The best way to get content to cover a 90-day period is by organizing one branding photo session. 

A good branding photo session can allow you to post for up to 3 months with a range of different content. On average, for 5 days a week, across 4 weeks, you’ll need 20 videos or images per month.

Our mini session branding photo package the ultimate solution to score a whopping 90 days’ worth of top-notch content.

Then you just schedule the posts using a social media management tool, like Buffer or Hootsuite, for a 3-month period. It’s simple. 

How to get the content? 

First things first, before anything gets started, you have to organize a branding photo session. Leading up to or on the day of your photo session, you should let your photographer know what you need the photos for. 

It’s also worthwhile planning in advance typical themes or topics you want to feature on your Instagram posts. The posts could be related to your products, services, brand, lifestyle, or anything else. 

To gain inspiration, you might want to check out Pinterest boards or see what your competitors are doing. Then before the photo session goes ahead, briefly create a content calendar for the next 90 days with a rough outline of what type of photos will be posted on a certain date. 

Top Tip:  To ensure you have a good variety of content, you should aim to get your photographer to take shots and videos from different angles and locations. 

Top tips for creating 90 days of content with Canva 

Canva is a great software; there are multiple ways you can utilize it to help create top content for 90 days. 

Here are some ideas: 

1. Learn Canva’s features 

Before creating any Instagram content, you might want to learn about all the different design types Canva has. Instagram, in particular, has various options from posts, stories, ads, squares, and animations! 

2. Use templates 

One great way to extend your content across 90 days is by making the most of Canva templates. Once you’ve decided on your post type, Canva has a bunch of templates that allow you to add your photo in. For instance, they have a range of promotions, holidays, invites, and more; the options are endless. With Canva having so many templates, a lot of time can be saved allowing you to create content quicker!

Tip: You can easily create bulk images on Canva in up to 5 minutes.

3. Try out their designs 

Another way to change the post type is by experimenting with Canva’s design elements. When using Canva, you’ll find various design images like illustrations, shapes, icons, lines, borders, and more. Try playing around with them on your image and template to make each post look different. Doing this will allow your posts to look visually appealing.

4. Include your brand elements 

When designing your posts, one thing you must include and not forget is your branding. If you have a specific color scheme or brand guideline, don’t forget to add them to your photos. Use similar fonts, colors, and layouts that resemble your brand. Remember to add your logo when appropriate.

5. Grids and alignments

Normally when creating content for Instagram, you must resize it often to get it right. If you don’t use Canva, you must use resizer tools. However, if you plan on using Canva, it contains built in grids and alignments. These tools help you maintain the right size for the post, the spacing, alignments, and proportions, helping you make your content look professional.

6. Add animations and effects 

If you like the same photo and want to reuse it, you can make it look different by adding animations and special effects. On Canva, you can add graphics, stickers, and videos to a post. So try to play around and see what different content you can create to make each post look unique.

8. Invite others to collaborate 

Finally, if you’re stuck with ideas and have other team members, you can always invite them to collaborate. When creating content, in the right-hand side of Canva in the corner, there’s an option to share with other people in your team and edit and create.!

Final thoughts 

Overall, planning 90 days of content for Instagram is relatively straightforward and can allow you to focus on other aspects of your business. Just remember to have your content creation calender, a good scheduling app and a brand photoshoot. Once all of these are in place, watch your engagement rates begin to soar! 

Remember, if you’re creating content for Instagram, try and vary your content. Don’t just send static images for posting; add different graphics, videos, reels, and more using editing software like Canva to generate the most engagement.

If you’re stuck for content ideas, we can help you with a brand photo session. On the other hand, if you’ve shot it and are ready to schedule it across a 90 day period, follow these tips to streamline your posting.