People always ask me what my favorite kind of session is to shoot. What work do I enjoy most? For a long time, I could never really choose one over another. Recently, my heart has definitely been called more and more towards content sessions for local small business owners. Not only do I get to meet the people behind some amazing businesses and products I love and admire, but I get to witness firsthand the passion and fire driving it all onward!

Being a business owner requires an incredible amount of hard work, sacrifice, diligence, and planning. I am always so grateful for the opportunity to help provide brand specific images. The joy I get watching their confidence as well as their business grow following their shoot is beyond words! It is such an inspiring experience each and every time! Now that I’ve got you on my emotional level, let me offer you a few tips on how to prepare for a content session. Here’s how to get the maximum amount of unique and usable images for advertising , social media, products, and headshots! 

1. KNOW YOUR BRAND. If you haven’t worked on branding your business yet, now is the time to put in some work! Think about the message you want to communicate to your customers and clients in terms of colors, style, fonts, identifying features, palettes and the feelings they convey. Is your business/brand professional and chic? Maybe more on the down to Earth, casual, organic side? Give your business some words to identify with as a starting point. As an example, some of my brand words are “authentic, timeless, joyful, loving, warm, friendly, and exciting!” 
2. DO YOU. More likely than not, your brand is going to have a whole lot of YOU in it! That’s a beautiful thing! It actually helps make this next step much easier! Knowing how you want your brand and business expressed will be instrumental in helping you to decide on your outfits for your headshots! The most important thing is being true to yourself! Dress in a way that allows you to shine with confidence! Try not to wear something that would collect dust in the back of your closet. If you’d never wear it again, then it probably isn’t the one. Choose an outfit that gives you all the good feels! If you aren’t working it like a model down the runway, then you need to keep on searching for something that makes you wanna blow yourself a kiss in the mirror. I promise, you’ll know it when you see it!
3. ALL THE THINGS. This is probably the trickiest part, my friends. Most of my clients get hung up on “props” for their shoot. My advice is quit thinking of them as props and instead look around your office or workspace and observe what stands out to you as being instrumental for you to make your magic! The obvious choices for starters may include: your phone, laptop, camera (if you’re a photog), a coffee cup/mug, notepads, products, tools…do you see what I mean? When you can utilize items from your business like these to incorporate into your content session, it helps take your images to the next level with identifying features that allow your clients to know it YOU. These are the things that help you do what you do in the way only you can! 
4. PICK A SPOT. This piece of the puzzle falls in line with what we’ve already been discussing! When thinking of your brand, what kind of location would be a good fit? Have you created a workspace or office you love and want to have your clients experience through your images? Maybe you work downtown and so shooting there would make perfect sense! Location can seem like a burden to decide on but it should come to you much easier knowing the look and feel of your brand.
5. DON’T WORRY ABOUT A THING. Believe me, I mean it when I say do not stress!! It doesn’t help and will probably just make you breakout the morning of your shoot. Been there, done that. When you’ve got me in your corner, you better believe you’ve got me every step of the way! Start to finish, I’m happy to help and guide you through the preparation and the session itself to make sure this investment in your business is worth every penny. I can’t tell you how many times I’m told that my clients are going to need some extra direction and help in front of the camera because they’re so awkward…hey, awkward is funny, right!? I’m gonna giggle and joke about it. You’re gonna end up laughing at yourself for being so in your head. The next thing you know you’re smiling organically and bring nothing but good energy to your images! Woohoo!!! We can do it!

Til next time, cheers!