3 Ways to create better brand photography for your small business
Want your small business to stand out online (and off)? Use these 3 tips to create better brand photography.
Creating great brand photography that sells and tells can be a challenge, right? It’s time-intensive, it’s challenging, and it’s another task on your never-ending to-do list.
I get it.
A lot of effort and work and planning goes into the process - it’s not always a snap and you’re done situation. As a photographer myself, I know exactly how taxing it can be, especially when you’re already running your business!
If you’re ready to improve the brand photography you’re using for your small business, put these into play 👇
1. Find a point of consistency
Do you love when a photo pops up on your feed and you know exactly who took it before you even look at their handle? Me, too!
That’s brand consistency. In fact:
“Consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33 percent.”
33%! That’s huge.
Start by finding one point of consistency to incorporate in all (or almost all) of your images. Here are a few examples to get you started:
Color - do you have a brand color that you can incorporate?
Prop - is there something that should be featured in all of your images without overdoing it?
Lighting - are you the queen of capturing shadows? Keep doing that!
Location - can you shoot in the same spot for most of your images?
Editing - how can you keep your editing consistent?
2. Experiment
One of my favorite ways to improve my brand photography is to experiment. It allows for creative flexibility in what I’m capturing and do you know what? I usually end up with better images after I experiment because I have a variety to compare and contrast. Here’s how I like to experiment and flex my creative muscle while capturing images for my business (and others’ businesses, too).
Move around! Take photographs while standing (or sitting) in different spots. This one movement can completely change the look and feel of an image.
Get a different angle. What you may think looks best at a flat-lay or eye-level angle, may look even better at a 45-degree angle (think food, cocktails, products, etc.)
Play around with editing to see what catches your eye. Then, select an editing style and stick to it as much as possible. Remember that brand consistency we talked about? That applies to editing, too.
3. Create lived-in scenes
This right here is one of my favorite pieces of advice. Create a lived-in scene, one that feels like you could jump right in. A scene that feels so enticing you feel an instant craving to buy that product, make that recipe, or hire that expert.
Creating a lived-in scene is the difference between these two:
See what I mean? The difference is quite stark, isn’t it? The one on the left is an okay product shot. It clearly shows what the product is - a charcuterie board - but does it have your mouth watering? Does it have you needing a charcuterie board right now? Most likely not.
New to the idea of lived-in scenes? Here’s how to start out:
Use props that make sense for your brand imagery, especially for that particular shot. For the charcuterie board, for example, props like a honey dipper and cheese knives make for perfect props because they make sense with the subject of the image and the subject of the piece.
Add life to your images. This could be by including your hand, movement in the background, or even a hint that someone had already interacted with that scene. For example, are you photographing a scene with coffee? Leave a few drops of coffee somewhere on your surface. Or, include a spoon that was clearly used to stir in your milk.
Now it’s your turn! Tell me in the comments below or over on Instagram how you’re going to use these tips in your next shoot. I can’t wait to see what you create!
- Gabriella
