We as people not only buy into a product, but the story behind it. From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, every choice we make is an extension of us, showing the world who we are and what we stand for. As our consciousness is evolving, so is our desire to connect with the brands we’re purchasing from to ensure they are aligned with our personal values.
With this in mind, we partner with you to tell the story of your brand in an interesting and inspiring way, optimising the opportunities that each digital medium offers to connect you with your community on a deeper level.
“Stories are the most powerful form of human communication.”
– Peg C. Neuhauser
Photography is the key element to storytelling, we truly believe images are one of the most important investments in your sales funnel; high-quality lifestyle shots have the power to completely transform your website and your social media presence, alone – ultimately driving more sales. Once you imagine owning something, the purchase process has begun.
Most people think of a studio when considering product photography; a selection of shots against a plain background, perhaps with some close-ups of particular details that are worth extra attention, however, whilst these images are important for your customer to inspect the product in more detail before making a purchase, they are not the kind of alluring images that will get your product noticed.
“People do not buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories and magic.”
– Seth Godin
Lifestyle photos are important to invest in because they help your customer to visualise how it would look if they were to buy it. Illustrating how your customer may use your product is an all-important step in the purchasing decision process.
THE Plan
When planning a shoot, your challenge is to help your audience visualise your product in context. When it comes to shooting products, the context is just as important as the product. Almost like a sales pitch, show your customer why they need your product to create desire…
Photoshoots should begin way before the actual photographs are taken, the planning is absolutely essential to a successful shoot. Considering the product, how it will be used, who will use it, and where it will be used is paramount. We begin by brainstorming ideas of the situations your product might be used in. Where will the product be used? Who will use it? How will it be used? What other items might belong with this product? Is there a certain time of day that goes with this product?
The best location for an object is usually the object’s intended environment. This could be at home in the bedroom, bathroom or kitchen, or maybe at the gym, or the beach, the pool, even out on the streets. These images are designed to transform an object into an experience, because we all lust after great experiences don’t we?
THE DIRECTION
If you have any particular shots in mind make a list of them. We like to use Pinterest boards to collaborate as a team with our clients, pinning inspirational images to brainstorm ideas and share our visions.
We then meet and go through the pins discussing which images we believe will work best for the product, removing any that haven’t made the cut until we get until we have narrowed down the board to a defined style. There are different types of product photographs, and some may suit your product more than others.
THE List
Once we’ve gathered our ideas, it’s time to write out a shot list – a brief written list, very detailed with sketches of how we visualise the finished photos, or a numbered set of images that we would like to ‘recreate’ in some way or other which we use to create a day plan for the shoot.
Now is also the time to consider exactly how you plan to use these images; are they for your website, eCommerce site, for paid adverts, for Instagram, Facebook, Stories, Pinterest? Whatever they are for, the photographer needs to know so that they can ensure they have this in mind when taking the photos. As a rule, square and portrait are now best for social media, whilst landscape are better for your website.
THE PrEP
You’ll also need a list of what props you’ll need’ we use our shot list as a checklist to work through all the extras we’ll will be needing on the day. We go out and buy all the props, at least a day or two ahead of the shoot.
We also reconfirm any bookings we’ve made, including the shoot location(s), travel and accommodation. If there are models we contact them to confirm the date, time and location, and agree how they should come prepared for the shoot. We usually share our shoot vision board with the model(s) prior to the shoot too, so they are able to work with our ideas with ease.
Before the day of the shoot, we organise the products and make sure they are in peak condition for the shoot. Clean, steam, iron, etc. and make sure we have enough of each item so there are no delays or missing/broken item hiccups on the day.
THE EDIT
The shoot doesn’t end on the day for us, we firmly believe that the edit is where your brand imagery is elevated to the next level. From the creation of stunning scenes designed to boost brand awareness, to building desire through beautifully curated campaign imagery, we’ll create a bespoke edit for a strong presence in your market.
Content creation is an art form that we truly love. There is nothing that excites us more than to design a shoot that fluently tells the story of your brand and products.
During the social distancing, we also offer remote product photography. Simply send your products to us and we’ll shoot them for you.
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