How best to photograph a brand.

Brand NarrativeCommercial Photography

Do I really know the best way to photograph a brand? No, not really. I do know what I think is important to me. Maybe I should have made the title: How best I photograph a Brand.

For me this brings up a good question, does a business have a soul? That has a lot to do with how I think it is best to approach photographing a business. Something I have learned while photographing brands and business owners is, if you are open, the business will show you what it's about.

A brand is like a person, trust the business to guide you.

You got to come into any photo shoot with a plan, that is very important, but I always try to be open. Oftentimes I have very little time with my clients prior to the day of the shoot. It's usually during the shoot that I begin to learn things about them that change my original perception of them and their business.

I had an experience like that recently. I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph the team at Dana Campbell Attorney at Law. They are at: https://www.danacampbelllaw.com and you should really check them out of you are in need of any legal help related to estate planning, trusts, special needs trusts, and things like that. What is interesting is I had known Dana through my marketing group for nearly a year. We had met outside the group to learn about each other's businesses, and I felt I had a good idea about her and her business when she asked me to photograph her team for their new website. Fast forward to the day of the photo shoot and I'm now learning things about Dana and her business that made me change direction a bit.

Photographing a mother and daughter team.

I knew her daughter Tara worked with her and was getting her law degree, but seeing how they interacted really spoke to me. The way they worked together I could best describe as professional compassion.

Together, with their team, create an energy you would expect from a law office. The way the team interacts is very much like a family, and when you are there, you are treated as a part of that. I had a strong sense that this is a law firm that would handle delicate legal matters with sensitivity and compassion.

I hoped to photograph that professionalism, and family connection. If I were a client, this is a team that I know would be in my corner, and be not only professional and competent, but would sincerely care about me. That's what their business showed me.

In closing.

Getting to know a business is not much different than getting to know a person. There is a persona that each business has and that persona is going to help guide us when we are creating images. That is very important to me in my work. I want my clients to come away with images that feel authentic to them and their businesses. Being open to what each business shows me is what helps me create work that is authentic and true to them.