You've made the decision to invest in your business marketing, by having a personal brand photo shoot with a brand photographer, but amongst the many questions you may have, is where the heck are we gonna do this?
Hey there, hope you are all ok....me? I'm still recovering from a chocolate overload from Easter and I'm going to have to ban any more chocolate coming into the house, my children don't believe me, but I'm serious NO MORE CHOCOLATE...for at least a week or two anyway. How I will get through the day I'm not sure but its got to be done!
So on to more interesting subjects, if anything can be more interesting than chocolate - sorry just fixating a bit...anyway moving on...when business owners talk to me about having their branding shoot, they often have a few concerns and worries; will I look good in the photos? what will I wear? and where will we have the shoot? When I plan a shoot with my clients, we tackle all these issues and others. I thought today I would take a brief look at locations and share my thoughts on this. To give you a starting point I'm going to briefly look at five considerations when choosing you location.
So here are my 5 top tips to consider when choosing your branding photo shoot locations.
5 top tips for choosing your branding photo shoot location
1. Use a space that is congruent with your brand and your message. This is really important. If your brand voice doesn’t match your images, you may confuse your clients.
2. Consider how busy the space will be and choose a quiet time if possible to reduce the stress factor on the day of the shoot
3. Check out your intended location before the day of the shoot so you don’t waste time on the day working out the best shots.
4. If you are using a free public space like a café or restaurant, get permission from the owner/manager in advance – they may not appreciate you turning up to take photos without warning.
5. Consider hiring an appropriate location if you cannot find a free one – some are not as expensive as you might imagine.
Different Options for your Photo Shoot Location
1. Free private locations
The most obvious place for your branding photo shoot location is your normal place of work. However, if you are a small business running from your back bedroom, then this is may not the professional image you want to present, so you may have to look for alternatives. However it is important to be authentic and some images in your own workspace and home environment can work well showing a little more about who you are behind the scenes
increasing that know like and trust, although have a bit of a tidy up first, make sure you are showing your best side. If you are a company with premises, then it makes sense to use your offices, studios, restaurant or other workplace for the photo shoot. Your staff will be more relaxed in familiar surroundings and it keeps the costs down too.
2. Hired locations
Another option is to hire a location specifically for your brand photo shoot. This option is more expensive, but research shows that investing in unique branding photography can significantly increase sales, so don’t focus on the cost, think about the value. You could hire a room in a stunning hotel or private members club, private gardens, a private house or all sorts of other spaces such as a bar, school, therapy room, sports centre and so on – whatever makes most sense for your business. There are many companies that are online, where you can find photography locations for hire by the hour, or you can approach your desired location personally. If you are prepared to pay, you can create a very special and unique set of images for your business.
3. Iconic/picturesque locations
If you live near iconic buildings, tourist attractions or well-known picturesque locations, these could provide great backgrounds for your branding photo shoot. Imagine having your photo taken next to the Shard, The London Eye or St Paul’s Cathedral. There are thousands of potential locations that could work well for you, so think about your local Stately homes, Country Parks or public spaces. But be aware that lots of iconic London locations sit on
private land and this can be a big problem when it comes to photoshoots. The Royal Parks, Southbank and the new Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross amongst many others, all require permits and this can be expensive, so it is worth researching these locations in advance, if you still want to go ahead and they are out of your budget have a second choice close by incase you are moved on.
4. Free public locations
Great photo shoot locations that don’t charge such as a coffee shop, hotels or even a library or business centre could provide suitable backdrops for small business owners who don’t want to be photographed at home. Don’t forget outside locations such as parks, gardens or woods – these can also provide more interest to the photographs. These can be really good locations, check that they don't expect payment, but usually with the agreement of your
photographer (always ask your photographer first) the promise of a few images of the establishment and some positive social media mentions across your and your photographer's socials can be a nice gesturer and be a win win to all involved.
5. Travel Abroad
Finally for certain brands you may wish to do your brand shoot on foreign soil. This can result in fabulous images that match your brand objectives, if this is for you, research and planning is the key. You must also have the budget for this if you want to take your photographer with you, you will be paying all their travel costs, accommodation expenses as well as organising visa's. However in some circumstances this could be well worth it giving you an amazing treasure chest of imagery.
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....or if you want to chat through your options for professional photography for your business or find out more about some of the gorgeous or funky locations I’ve used in the past for photo shoots, I’d love you to get in touch.
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