Brand Photos, Part Two: The Prep Was More Than I Expected. It Was Also Worth It.

Last month I wrote about why I'd been putting off my own brand photos for years and what finally got me to book the shoot. The shoot was yesterday. I won't see the actual photos for about two weeks, but I wanted to write this part now, while the prep is still fresh, because I think it's the part most providers underestimate.

When most of us think about a photoshoot, we think about deciding what to wear and showing up at the right location. If it's photos at your clinic, maybe you also think about cleaning up the space and making sure things are tidy. A brand shoot is a different category of thing. And even though I think a lot about brand and visual identity for my clients, being on the other side of it for my own business surprised me.

How the prep actually worked

She started with a brand discovery questionnaire — the same kind of questionnaire I send my own clients, just oriented toward photos instead of a website. That makes sense when you think about it: she needs to understand my business well enough to help communicate it through photos, the same way I need to understand a client's practice well enough to communicate it through their website, branding, and patient touchpoints. Same foundation, different output.

We met to talk through it. She took notes in a Google doc and put together a Pinterest board of visual references. She sent both to me and I edited and added to them, and she used everything to plan the shoot.

Then she sent the photoshoot planning guide. The guide laid out the shot list, composition notes, outfit ideas, and what I needed to bring.

That's when it shifted from "I'm finally getting photos done" to "okay, this is actually happening, and I have things to do."

The prep itself

Most of what I do for clients happens on a computer. That doesn't translate well into photography. So we planned for some shots that involved physical pieces of work — print collateral, brand documents, things you can hold. I printed out pages from a brand guide and other documents I'd made for past clients. I made a "photoshoot prop" version of another project that hadn't gotten a full brand guide. Tactile evidence of work that mostly lives on a screen.

The wardrobe problem

This one I genuinely didn't expect. I tend to wear stripes in everyday life, and stripes don't photograph as well for the kind of photos we were planning. They dominate the image and pull attention away from everything else. So I had to figure out what I actually wanted to wear, find some pieces I didn't already own, and acquire them in time for the shoot.

Standard photoshoot prep is usually "what shirt am I wearing." Brand shoot prep is "what visual identity am I building, and does my closet support that."

The unexpected benefit

The thing I didn't expect about the prep, beyond the practical stuff, was how much it forced me to clarify my own brand. Having to explain my work to someone else — what I do, who I do it for, what makes my approach mine — pulled things out of my head and into language. The last time I had to do that was a few years ago when I worked with a copywriter to help me write my website. Since I do my own design and website, I hadn't had to talk through it with someone since.

Talking it through with someone outside my own head made me articulate things I hadn't fully articulated, and notice things I hadn't realized were notable. That clarity is genuinely valuable, separate from the photos themselves.

It's also the same reason working with a designer is different from doing your website yourself. Not because you can't write your own copy or make design decisions — you can. But because the act of explaining your practice to someone who doesn't already live inside it forces a level of clarity that thinking by yourself rarely does. That clarity is what makes a website actually communicate.

The mental shift

The harder thing to describe is the weight of being the subject when you're usually the person making decisions about how a brand is communicated. When I'm working on a client's branding, website, collateral, or other touchpoints, I'm thinking carefully about what every detail communicates. Doing that for myself meant carrying that same level of attention while also being in front of the camera. There's a self-consciousness to it that doesn't come up when it's someone else's brand.

The planning guide helped — it was structured and thorough and meant I wasn't trying to remember everything from scratch. Having someone else doing the thinking about pacing, composition, and shot list meant I could focus on showing up.

Was it worth it?

The process itself was already worth it, even before the photos exist. Going through the prep forced me to articulate what I was trying to communicate visually in a way I hadn't pinned down before. That clarity will outlast the photos.

If you've been putting off your own brand photos because the prep feels like a lot — it is more than a regular shoot. It requires you to think about your business in a way most providers don't have a built-in time or place to think about. But that thinking is the point. The photos are the artifact. The clarity you build during the prep is the actual work.

If you've been waiting because it feels like too much to figure out alone, work with a photographer who specializes in brand shoots and let yourself lean on their process. I have a couple of photographers in the Birmingham area I'd be happy to recommend if you're local — just reach out. Mine sent me a guide that took the decisions I needed to make and laid them out clearly.

The shoot was yesterday. The photos will be ready in two weeks. I'll write about that part next.