While my business started off focusing primarily on headshots for fellow professionals, I'm finding that often businesses need more than photos from the neck up.
Simply put, sometimes a simple headshot session is just not enough.
Businesses have various needs. Yes, headshots are a wonderful tool for increasing trust with your customers. They're useful assets to have for your business cards, website, and even billboards. However, there's so much more potential when it comes to using photo and video assets to show off your business's unique services and personality.
Enter Full Branding Sessions
A Branding Session not only features more individualized portraits of you, but it also shows you in action doing what you do. It lets all of your personality shine through. A single (or even series) of these sessions can be a powerful way to show your audience specifically what your services and products are, as well as how you do it.
This was the case with Trista Stewart, owner of Mindful Intentions. We initially had a fantastic headshot session together. Her professional, approachable headshot was a great addition to her website (see the screenshot below):
She was so pleased that she then approached me asking for an additional branding session. Her goal was to show off the various aspects of her business so that potential clients could better understand what she offered. Her website was in the process of being designed, and while it was clear she offered various therapeutic massage services, she wanted to make it clear that she also offered a plethora of additional health solutions, such as craniosacral therapy, neuro-functional resets, and hypnosis.
The Planning Session
For Trista, we had an initial planning session at her studio. Our action plan was to do a series of photos directly illustrating her services, so we wrote down a very specific list. We included every single pose she wanted documented, and then we set a date for the actual branding session.
The Day of the Branding Session
On the day of Trista's branding session, she enlisted the help of her daughter as a model. Throughout the course of an afternoon, we set about methodically working through our shot list of poses that demonstrated her list of services. Because it's more involved and can take more creative juices and experimentation than a standard headshot, branding sessions understandably take more time and "elbow grease".
It was a fun time giving Trista's business the well-deserved attention it deserved! Below are highlights from the session:
As you can see, we had a very specific list of poses. Fun!
In addition to having image assets for print, advertising, social media and website in general, a number of her custom images were even incorporated as backgrounds into her website's visual menu grid of services. It was a nice additional touch:
Trista's Feedback from her session:
"Chamira was such a pleasure to work with. She is very professional, and her attention to detail is spot on! All of my photos turned out great! She was also straightforward to work with. I'm always nervous about having my pictures taken, and she made me feel so comfortable that my branding shoot was a breeze. I highly recommend her, and I give her five plus stars."
Wrapping It Up
Needless to say, I was thrilled that Trista was so pleased with her session! It always makes me do an internal happy dance.
The goal was to get to know and then document the inner workings of Trista's business: mission accomplished. As I add to my services, I'm finding that full branding sessions are a great way to better serve my clients.
Another Option:Retainer Packages as a Consistent Supply of Photo and Video Assets
Let me know if you'd like to talk about the possibility of branding sessions for your business, and we can figure out a plan that fits you. I'm here for your needs.