It’s likely that you don’t have many pictures of yourself if you take pictures of other people. Showing yourself on social media will help your clients feel more connected to you and trust you, so take the risk and stand on the other side of the camera.

Taking pictures of your own brand for your photography business is a tactic that will benefit you in many ways. However, preplanning content might be challenging. How can you determine which pictures you’ll need? You’ll always have a ton of pictures if you prepare a little.

Organizing the necessary personal brand assets:

Creating material in bulk saves a ton of time for your photography business. I follow three steps when working with clients to lay out material ahead of time.

Step 1: Write your company’s brand script or evaluate it.

A brand script makes it easier to communicate with your customers by outlining your message and special selling point. It isn’t a script in the sense of a movie script, meaning you don’t have to learn any lines! but rather a framework founded on traditional storytelling ideas. It puts you in the role of your client’s “hero journey” guide.

When your client comes to you, consider what they want. Which issues do you resolve? What concerns do you allay? How did you first become sympathetic to your client’s situation? Make use of this to generate ideas for subjects that will appeal to and engage your audience enough to keep them returning to your material and eventually hiring you.

Step 2: Create a schedule for your content:

After deciding what you want to discuss, the next step is to schedule the time and location of your conversation. Make a list of all the things you require material for:

  • Social media
  • Posts on blogs
  • Email advertising
  • Website advertisements in print and online
  • Internet directories
  • Google My Business

Determine the number of photographs required for each post, the frequency of posting on each site, and the topics you want to cover from your brand script.

Consider alternating content from client photo shoots with images from your personal brand. One personal brand post for every three or four client posts is a good starting point, though you’ll find the optimal ratio for your ideal customer. For postings that feature client photographs, you can (and should) continue to employ your brand script ideas.

Step 3: Condense everything into a list of pictures for your session:

To get a comprehensive overview of everything you’ve done, zoom out. How can images be blocked into locations or shooting sessions? Which subjects are more flexible, and which images are absolutely necessary?

You don’t need to be overly specific or prescriptive at this point. Compared to 10 to 20 fundamentals and a few generic location, action, and emotion concepts, capturing a list of two hundred precise images will be an absolute pain in the ass.

The next step after determining what you need is to arrange for its acquisition!

Setting up a reciprocal picture session with another photographer

You can receive the assets you need for your business by doing an exchange shoot with another photographer. You may undertake quarterly, six-monthly, or annual photo shoots, depending on your marketing requirements.

You should talk about the following when organizing your exchange shoots:

  1. What is the duration of the shoot—one hour, two hours, etc.? Are you able to visit more than one place?
  2. Will you use JPG or RAW for your photos?
  3. Will your friend or you modify the pictures? Think about if the ultimate user will find the edits to be on-brand. For instance, you should edit your personal brand photographs to fit the style of your signature edit if it is very styled.
  4. Will you receive only edited photos or the unprocessed RAW?
  5. Will you receive all of the pictures or will some be removed? What number of pictures will you each give each other?
  6. There is no right or wrong; just make sure that everyone is aware of what to expect by agreeing beforehand.

Purchasing images for your photography business that reflect your unique brand:

It is imperative that you hire a photographer to create the necessary assets if you do not have a friend with whom you can collaborate in a mutually beneficial way.

With the exception of the fact that it’s highly unlikely you’ll be provided the RAW images without a sizable expenditure that reflects the worth of these assets, the questions you should ask when making a reservation are the same as those you would ask when organizing a friend’s swap picture session.

In general, it’s a good idea to request a real, natural color correction that will be adaptable and not look antiquated. This will allow you to utilize your photographs for years to come, even if you decide to change your brand or focus on a different business.

You will be ahead of the game because you have done the work here, but your personal brand photographer will probably have their own system for assisting you with shoot planning!