I couldn’t have done this photo shoot alone! My mom is one of the most creative people I know, so she made for the best brand stylist during my shoot! She would arrange some items while I shot another set, then we’d switch! It made the process go much faster since I didn’t have to style everything myself… and we could be working simultaneously! My mom also doubled as my assistant, holding poster boards up to block reflections on the iPad screen or to cast light onto shadows under my items. She was also moral support when I got tired and cranky. And if you’re shooting in a public place and need to use the ladies room, you can entrust your partner to watch over your equipment!
8. Fuel
I made the mistake of not packing and food or water besides the blueberries and rollos I’d be using for the shoot. Since it took much longer than expected to take all the photos I wanted, I lost steam half way through. My poor mom snuck a few blueberries and was a very good sport even on an empty stomach (which I later filled with pizza after the shoot)!
9. Camera Settings
I shoot “raw” so my images are not compressed and have much higher resolution and editing flexibility. It’s amazing how much color and lighting correction you can do on a raw photo compared to a JPG!
I also shoot in manual mode so I have full control over my images. The only alternative to that might be aperture priority, but it may not always deliver the exact result you’re desiring.
I like using a fixed lens (my fav. is my 35mm) — it has no zoom capabilities, but has a wider aperture, making it better for low-light situations and a softer focus. The wide aperture setting (something around 3.5) will allow you to shoot with the prominent item in focus and the background blurred, which creates a more realistic depth of field and professional look. It also allows for a faster shutter speed, so you won’t be battling motion blur. I kept my ISO around 200 so the photos wouldn’t be too grainy, though if you don’t have as much natural light, you could probably bump that up to 600.
And if you have no idea what ISO, aperture, manual or raw means, you may want to take a photography course first or hire a pro to take your photos. You’d hate to spend all this time planning and prepping, just to have so-so photos that hurt your brand rather than help it!
10. Post-Editing
I imported all of my photos into Lightroom straight from the camera and immediately deleted all of the obviously bad shots… the ones with poor angles, awkward setup or that were out of focus. Then I started editing the photos, saving my settings as a preset to easily apply all adjustments to other photos from the same batch. You’ll want all of your images to have consistent coloring, lighting & editing.
I exported any ready-to-go images as JPGs and any that needed further customization or deeper editing as Photoshop files. I grab the Photoshop images as-needed, to place screen shots of my work or quotes inside the computer/ipad/phone screens and the picture frames.
Bonus Tips
If taking pictures of your laptop, phone or other screen, open a blank white document so you can later Photoshop in various content. To get your camera to focus on the white screen, place a piece of painter’s tape or a sticky note where you want the focus to be. I also suggest taking a few angles of each styled setup so you can be sure to land a view you like — and if you like them all, you’ll just have extra pics to use! Make sure you take a variety of layouts – horizontal, vertical and plenty of shots that can be easily cropped to squares for Instagram!
Time to Shine!
Now you can show off your beautiful new custom photos on your website and social media platforms! Let your personality show and make a deep impression on your clients!
