How to Prepare for a Brand Photography Session
A brand photography session should give you more than a handful of good photos.
Ideally, you walk away with a library of images you can use across your website, social media, marketing materials, presentations, press features, and anywhere else your business needs to show up.
The difference often comes down to preparation.
You don’t need to plan every photograph before the camera comes out, but thinking through a few key details ahead of time can help you get significantly more out of your session.
Start With What You Need the Photos to Do
Before building a shot list or choosing an outfit, think about why you’re scheduling the session in the first place.
Maybe you’re launching a new website. Maybe your team has grown. Maybe you need more consistent social media content. Or maybe the photos you’ve been using simply don’t reflect your business anymore.
Your goals should shape the session.
For example, a website-focused shoot may prioritize strong hero images, service imagery, team photos, and photographs with room for text. A content-focused session might include more casual working shots, details, behind-the-scenes moments, and a larger variety of compositions.
Knowing the purpose first makes the rest of the planning much easier.
Build a Shot List
A shot list doesn’t need to document every individual photograph you want. Think of it more as a checklist of what you don’t want to leave without.
Depending on your business, that could include:
Headshots and portraits
Team photos
You or your team working
Your workspace
Products or materials
Client interactions
Details of your process
Tools you use
Exterior and interior images
Lifestyle imagery
Horizontal and vertical variations
Images with negative space for text
Start with the must-haves, then add the images that would simply be helpful to have in your content library.
Think About Where the Photos Will Appear
This is one of the easiest things to overlook.
Where will you actually use these images?
If you know you need a new homepage banner, your photographer can intentionally capture wide horizontal images that work in that space. If Instagram is a priority, you’ll want plenty of vertical compositions. If you regularly create graphics, images with open space around the subject can make adding text much easier.
Think through your website pages, social platforms, email marketing, print collateral, proposals, presentations, advertisements, and any other places where your brand regularly needs imagery.
You’re not just planning photographs. You’re building assets for specific applications.
Choose Locations With Variety in Mind
You don’t necessarily need five different locations to create variety.
A well-planned office, studio, storefront, home, or outdoor location can often provide multiple backgrounds and setups within the same space.
Look for areas with different textures, furniture, lighting, and perspectives. Even moving from a desk to a conference table to an exterior wall can make the resulting images feel like they came from completely different moments.
Most importantly, choose locations that actually make sense for your brand.
Plan Your Wardrobe
Your clothing should feel like an extension of your existing brand rather than a costume created specifically for the photoshoot.
Consider your brand colors, the locations you’ll be using, and how formal or casual you typically appear when interacting with clients.
If you’re bringing multiple outfits, aim for enough variation to make the photos feel different without completely changing your visual identity.
It can also help to photograph your outfit options ahead of time. Seeing everything together makes it easier to spot colors or patterns that may compete with your surroundings.
Bring Props With a Purpose
Props can make photographs feel more natural, especially when you’re trying to capture what it actually looks like to work with your business.
But you probably don’t need to bring a car full of decorative objects.
Instead, focus on things you genuinely use: a laptop, notebook, product samples, packaging, tools, materials, books, coffee cups, sketches, fabric samples, or anything else that naturally belongs in your process.
The goal is context, not clutter.
Consider Image Orientation
One scene can often produce several completely different assets.
Ask for a mix of vertical, horizontal, close-up, and wider photographs throughout the session.
A horizontal photo may work perfectly across your website while a vertical version of the same setup becomes an Instagram post or Reel cover. A wider composition with negative space could later become an ad or graphic.
Capturing these variations while you’re already on set is much easier than trying to force one photograph into every format later.
Know How You Plan to Use the Images
It’s also helpful to discuss usage with your photographer before the session.
Will the images live primarily on your website and organic social media? Are you planning to use them in paid advertising? Print them on marketing materials? Send them to publications? Use them for a large campaign?
Knowing this upfront helps everyone understand what you’re creating and how the final photographs need to function.
A Little Planning Goes a Long Way
You don’t need to arrive at your brand photography session with every pose and frame mapped out.
You just need a clear understanding of what your business needs.
When your goals, locations, wardrobe, shot list, formats, and intended uses are considered ahead of time, your session can produce a much more useful collection of images — one that continues working for your business long after shoot day.
Ready to Update Your Brand Photography?
Duck Creative Co. helps businesses plan and create brand photography with the bigger picture in mind, from the images you need to where they’ll ultimately be used.