You’re ready. It’s time to hire a brand photographer to level up your online presence. You know how important it is for your online image and reputation to share content that authentically portrays your personality and connects you to your ideal audience.
But before you pull the trigger and hire the first photographer you find, there are a few questions you should ask yourself. It’s necessary to understand your goals and have a baseline vision for your photo content before you start exploring your options. Here are the five questions we recommend asking before you hire a brand photographer:
1. What type of content do I need for my brand?
There is an abundance of micro-genres within the brand photography expertise. Are you looking for personal brand photography, which focuses more on you as an individual? Think headshots, lifestyle images, and photos that show off your work process and life behind the scenes (these are our specialty at The Branding Babe). Or are you looking for product photography? These brand photos capture the items you create or sell. If you design jewelry or have your own makeup line, an experienced product photographer will be someone you want to reach out to. Perhaps you need a combination of photography styles. Make sure to reach out to someone with a varied enough portfolio to meet all your needs.
2. How much content do I need?
Your variety and frequency of content matter! Are you super active on social media? A photographer that offers full-day or half-day brand shoots will be important for you to find. In order to capture enough content to fill up your feed throughout the year, you will need to have a few outfit changes and maybe even a location change or two during your shoot to capture a diverse enough set of images.
3. What is my budget for brand photography?
Ahhh, the infamous budget question. The reality is that quality brand photography is an investment in YOU! Many brand photography experiences include more than just the photo shoot, too. At The Branding Babe, we offer pre-session coaching to each of our clients, have free educational resources for our clients, and even create custom presets & editing styles unique to your brand.
Many brand photographers will also include a commercial photo use cause or contract in the investment of your experience, which will allow you to use your photos for various marketing purposes for life. Whatever your budget is, we recommend allowing a little wiggle room for when you find your ideal match!
4. Am I looking for a one-time session, or is this a long-term relationship I want to cultivate with my photographer?
Most brand photographers offer subscription-based models and perks to returning clients in addition to single photography sessions. A The Branding Babe, we like to grow and scale with our clients and view these relationships as instrumental to both the well-being of our business but also all of our client’s entrepreneurial ventures.
The best case scenario is to find a photographer whose portfolio of work you love, but who you also enjoy working with as an individual in order for the relationship to be sustainable and profitable.
5. What is my desired mood or aesthetic for my content?
Many photographers have a signature style and their own aesthetic which you should be able to get a good understanding of when looking through their portfolios. Some photographers and agencies create custom editing styles or edit photos differently depending on the shoot and the client’s desired results.
At The Branding Babe, we create custom Lightroom presets for each of our clients to use on their own personal photos and use this unique preset to edit their professional photos. Are you drawn to warmer, darker, and moodier images or bright, light, and airy images? Make sure to choose a photographer who can capture the style you are going for!
Are you ready to find your brand photographer after reading this post? If not, take a little extra time to do some research and dive deeper into your vision for your brand. Maybe even explore some of your competition’s photos to learn how you want to set yourself apart.