What is brand photography, why do you need it and what impact will it have on your business?
As a business owner, photography is one part of your overall brand identity and is part of your visual brand identity.
Your visual brand identity is made up of your:
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Colours
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Graphics
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Images and photography
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Layout and Design
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Logo
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Typography (font type, sizes, weight, spacing…)
The components of your overall brand identity work together to present your business as you want it to be seen by others, therefore, it’s important to understand your brand very deeply. Having a vague idea, simply opens you up to mixed messages, lack of coherence and a brand that fails to be memorable because there is nothing for your audience to latch onto.
Brands need to stand out, to be recognisable and this can’t happen if every time you are seen, you have been presented in a different light or with a different feel.
Visual brand identity is one of the tools you can use to help you do this.
One of the best illustrations of this is ridiculously simple.
Imagine you are driving through America, on Route 66...
You suddenly crave a can of Coca-Cola.
You pull into a gas station. (Yes, please imagine the dust which billows from your tyres as you screech to a halt, the air dry, parched.)
You eagerly head to the fridge of a huge selection of cans: some you're familiar with and some you’re not. The typography of the Coca-Cola can immediately grabs your attention (it’s familiar, it’s also what you were looking for) but as you go to pick it up you falter.
The colour red is not the same.
That sends your head into a spin. Is it the same as at home? Will it taste the same? Is this going to fulfil the craving I have?
Beside the Coca-Cola is a can of Pepsi. It’s appearance is exactly the same as it is at home.
Now, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually choose the Pepsi but the fact you faltered is enough to set you off your stride and notice something different.
Before you walked in, you were a sure fire win for the Coca-Cola brand. While standing with your head in a tizz, a space has opened for competitor brands.
Note: this would never happen.
Huge brands like Coca-Cola invest hundreds of thousands in research and design to ensure that the red on a can in the US is the same as a can in the UK which is the same as a can in Spain, as in Australia. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, that brand is the same. They work hard across their whole brand identity to ensure the message is always the same.
And it does matter. Massively.
Now, if you don’t know who your brand is, what it does, why it does it, you will have lots of gaps in your brand identity and these gaps are the perfect spaces for competitors to stand out.
For business owners, those types of gaps can be damaging.
How does professional brand photography work?
Professional brand photography will help you to close those gaps because before we even start thinking about a photo shoot or photographs we concentrate on your whole brand identity.
I’m often asked which order things should happen in and my advice is always:
Do the work on your brand before you do anything else.
It’s so common to dive into picking a name, designing a logo and setting up a website before considering pertinent questions around who, what, why and how. That part is fun but I promise, it’s way more exciting when you have the opportunity to make the decisions that will ensure you grow your business, especially when it all comes together, you step back and think, “Wow. This is who we are.”
Start with what you need.
If you haven’t done any work or are in the middle of a brand evaluation or rebrand, sign up for my free webinar here or sign up for reminder emails and keep reading:
When you work with me as your brand photographer, we go beyond pretty locations, coffee cups, mobile phones, laptops and brand colours. Instead, we examine in depth what your brand is and how your visuals are going to appeal to, attract and engage your audience.
Each brand photo will reveal a key aspect of your brand.
Professional brand photos aren't really about you. It’s about emphasising why your audience should choose you over someone else.
Hello! I’m Victoria.
I tell stories through photography.
Back in 2001, I started a degree in English Language and Literature. Fresh-faced and enthusiastic, I lost myself in words, stories and worlds and when I graduated in 2005, I stumbled straight into the ether of English teaching and bestowed words, stories and worlds onto hundreds of teenagers.
By 2018, stories were no longer enough and I found myself enthralled in photography. People fascinated me and before long I had a company specialising in wedding photography and headshots. In 2020, I was forced to return to teaching. By this point I was in my second year of a Fine Art Photography degree that I didn’t want to give up. So, I didn’t. I struggled through Covid, teaching and my degree.
Flaunt and Flourish was created and shaped to help entrepreneurs and companies tell their true stories. It’s my dream for everyone to be unveiled to the world as they are, not as they feel they should be.
And that’s how I got here.
My teaching career is now firmly behind me. I have a second degree. I have an eye for telling the stories that are easily missed but mean everything and the photography skills to bring you to life.
Your audience seeks access to your world and looks for ways to experience who you are and how you can serve them. With the right professional photography, you have the opportunity to attend to their needs and embrace their desire to experience.
The success of brand photography depends on your photographer knowing and understanding your brand and its nuances. Every photoshoot is unique and therefore fully tailored to you and your business.
The approach I use to ensure that your photography complements and enhances your visual brand identity is:
15-minute Consultation
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This is your opportunity to give me a summary of the purpose for arranging photography and your overall intention or target.
Research
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I’ll request links for your digital marketing materials and spend time researching the current visual imagery of the brand.
30-minute Planning Session
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Using your goal for booking a photoshoot and the information gleaned during research, we’ll generate a flexible plan of action and set a date.
Photography Session
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I will arrive with everything I need to carry out the plan discussed in our planning session and capture the images which meet your requirements.
Delivery
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Edited photographs will be completed within 2 weeks of the photoshoot and available for digital download.
Are you ready to explore your true brand identity and join my other clients in elevating your visual brand identity?
