How to get the most out of a Photoshoot

A photoshoot, although thought of as a singular event, is actually made up of so much more. It is a bit like the iceberg analogy - the actual shoot day and the final pictures are above the water and what people see, but the pre production and post production underneath are what takes up most of the work and are often forgotten.

Here are some of Jo’s top tips for getting the best shots:

Pre production

Pre production is a really important stage of a photoshoot and can help ensure you get exactly what you need out of it. We know that running a business can be busy, so you want to make the most out of the time you set aside for capturing images and get the best shots you can.

• Make a treatment. This is essentially a mood board where you can put together all of your ideas - from location and props to colours and patterns, it is important to think about the overall feel and impact that you want the images to have. This could be put together however you want. We like using different slides in Google Sheets to collage together images and words.

• Set aside a time to do your photoshoot and plan a list of shots to get done within this time period. You can tick this off as you go along on the day of the shoot.

• Make sure you try to think of everything that might go wrong and have back up plans! For example, what will you do if you want to photograph something outside and it’s raining? Or what if something you need doesn’t get delivered on time?

Shoot day

With all of the planning in place, the day of the shoot should run smoothly! You’ve already got your shot list and you’ve written down everything you need, so you can focus on thinking about how the photos look. Here’s a few things to consider…

• Do you need an assistant to help you on the day? You could ask a friend or family member to help out - even if they just hold a few things in place, it is always helpful to have an extra pair of hands and someone to have a laugh with!

• Lighting is arguably the most important factor and will make or break your photos. Lighting a photo successfully actually requires a lot of knowledge and practise, but you’ll be on the right track if you ensure there is plenty of natural light around. Also think about your background. If in doubt, keep it simple and uncluttered.

• Get creative. You’ve made your plan, but if time allows, go outside the box and try experimenting more. You are bound to think of new ideas whilst in the moment, so give them a go!

Post production

You will probably find you have taken far more photos than you need. Through editing, you can select your strongest shots and enhance them to make them stand out.

• Make a selection of your strongest photos and put these into a separate folder. We like to ‘star’ the images from 1 to 5 and gradually make a final cut this way.

• You can get the most out of your images by doing some basic edits such as adjusting contrast, colours and crop… and always make sure horizons are straight. Don’t overdo it! We like to use Photoshop for this, but there are some great free phone apps and online software you could use.

• Ensure your files are in the right format for their purpose. For web use they should be in JPEG format. The size will depend on where you are uploading them, so always check the upload guidelines for each platform.

A photoshoot with JV includes all of the above as well as a bank of the images taken for your unlimited usage. Where you will find some photographers charge per image on top of the photoshoot, we believe it is important to provide you with the full selection of photos at no additional cost so you get the best value out of it.

If you find yourself struggling to get high quality shots that accurately portray your business, we would be happy to help! Email us for a chat on hello@jvcommunications.co.uk.

Sunny wishes,

Jo & Vic