Finding a commercial photography partner to create photos for your company’s identity can be challenging for many businesses and employers.
The vast majority of astute marketers know that stock images undermine trust and cause prospective customers to reject marketing materials. However, the alternative strategy of employing a commercial photographer might appear intimidating and expensive.
According to our observations, most businesses are capable of making significant strides in the quality of the marketing images they use, which will result in fewer problems and a higher return on investment. All that is required is that the appropriate procedure is in place.
Step One: Create a Shot List for Commercial Photography
Think intelligently about your target demographic and the places on your website that will generate the highest return on investment for your company. This can take the shape of increased trust with potential consumers and investors, or it could even refer to how future employees perceive your company.
The following are some impactful places to place your photographs:
- Home Page – This is the main page of your website and arguably the most important one since it sets the tone for visitors. Use this space to showcase your best work and your products, services, or company culture.
- About Us Page – This should include images that capture who you are as a company – your mission statement, values, team members, and other defining characteristics.
- Product Pages – These photographs should represent the quality of the product and help customers get an idea of what they’re buying. They can be used to highlight product features or even demonstrate use cases.
- Blog Posts – Taking pictures related to blog posts will give readers more insight into the topics discussed and create a more engaging experience.
Once you’ve identified which pages need photographs, write a detailed shot list of all the images you’ll need. This will help keep you organized and ensure that each photograph helps cohesively tell your story.
Finally, decide on the style and aesthetic that best represents your company. When creating commercial photography, it’s essential to be consistent and ensure that all photos match your brand identity. Consider colors, angles, perspectives, and other elements to find what works best. With these steps in place, it should be much easier to start planning where your photographs will go and how they will fit into your website design.
Step Two: Find Your “Models”
When you have finished creating your shot list, it is time to start looking for “models” to represent your brand.
Although you could utilize professional models, using actual team members would appear more authentic, save money, and be more persuasive.
First, you need to make sure that they know how important the project is, and then you should encourage them to participate! No matter what you decide to do, there will always be some individuals who have no interest in participating in the activity. That’s not a problem at all. You want to avoid taking folks by surprise and then end up with several images in which those people are upset about the surprise.
But there are always one or two people on the squad who are up for the challenge. Because hiring professional models will cost you more than $800 per person on average for a corporate branding shoot, you should show them as much gratitude and appreciation as possible.
Two helpful ideas for finding the ideal people to join your team:
Get the Right People: You wouldn’t want to hire a bookkeeper to run a machine designed by biomedical engineers, would you? In most cases, it is advisable to use the most relevant individual for each shot and the most cooperative.
Prepare the reader by saying, “It will take __ minutes. However, if you pay attention to what the photographer says, we will finish up in less time, and then you will be free to go. In addition to this, we are going to award you with .”
If all else fails, you can get affordable models from amateurs or regular clients.
Step Three: Determine Your Locations
Be sure to consult our on-site office photography checklist before beginning any on-site office environment session.
Depending on the event’s location, alternate lighting configurations may need to be utilized. Make sure to coordinate with your commercial photographer to discuss potential settings as well as the equipment that will be required to capture excellent photos in a specific place.
During the course of your branding session, you should do everything in your power to minimize the amount of time spent traveling between different sites.
The lighting configuration required for a kitchen may be pretty different from the lighting configuration necessary for a conference room. You should be aware that if you have the commercial photographer dismantle their equipment in the conference room in order to move it to the kitchen and then plan to have them move back later, they may not be able to replicate the quality of the lighting or the photos the second time around. This is something that you should be aware of.
It’s possible that you don’t care if the initial set of images taken in the conference room is the same as the second set taken later on; nevertheless, if you do care, you shouldn’t disrupt the shoot while it’s taking place in that room. Models and photos should only be planned around one area at a time, and you should avoid returning to that spot afterward.
As part of the client intake process for commercial photography services that we provide at Capturely, we walk our customers through spreadsheets that assist us in the planning and execution of perfect branding shoots. These spreadsheets are helpful.
On a particular day, you and your professional photographer may be able to inadvertently spot opportunities to get a few unique images that do not come under the list. However, it is typically recommended not to depart your plan because it will ensure you get the most out of the day. Only permit other people to throw off your timetable by asking the photographer to take a spur-of-the-moment group photo. This will necessitate relocating equipment, which will either delay or prevent you from taking another shot.
Remembering to take quality images for your business regularly will save you from having to schedule larger (and more stressful) shoots in the future. Call us today!