Visual communication is more important than ever in today’s digitally-driven world! Companies stock their websites, social media platforms, and emails with photos because they capture attention and send important messages.
An established photography style allows you to broadcast your brand and its personality. The style, content, and consistency of your pictures express your values and increase outreach and business potential.
Not to mention, they also save you a great deal of time to check off other items on your to-do list!
A photography style guide is essentially a rule book to follow when curating photos that will ensure your branding is definite and distinct. Consistent imagery plays an important role in building customer trust and loyalty.
We’ve put together a four-step guide to help get you started on defining your very own brand photography style. Give it a read!
Define goals with your brand in mind
The first step to establishing your brand’s photography style is to determine what your mission is. Think about what you want to accomplish through your photos and how best to reflect this.
When it comes to branding, everything from your logo, icons, fonts, and colors, appeals to your target audience. The same is true for your photography!
To ensure your images are easily recognizable for your customers, take their unique styles into consideration. Your photography should coincide with your branding just as much as your logo or color scheme.
A clothing company, such as Lucky Brand, wants to reflect its simple and laid-back style; therefore, its photos will be much different from a luxury brand like Gucci.
Build a foundation that creates consistency
Before you begin snapping away, it’s important to do your research! Photographs are a visual representation of your brand, so take a look around, and get inspired!
Observing the work of other photographers or crafting Pinterest boards of your ideas will help you really hone the look and feel you want to achieve in your images. Once you have this under your belt, you’ll be able to set official guidelines for yourself.
Your images will undoubtedly have variety, but it’s your photography style that will allow them to tell one, cohesive story.
Consider the Following.
- Composition and Context: The people and objects you include in your photos provide your audience all the context it needs to understand your brand. Your audience will observe everything from what models are wearing to how props are positioned!
- Environment: Deciding the location(s) and lighting(s) of your photos will establish consistency and recognition. Although they don’t always have to be the same, establishing some sort of pattern is essential.
- Color Palette: Color is one of the most identifiable aspects of your brand, so it only makes sense that your photos fall in line with this! Using neutral backgrounds is a great way to make your accent colors pop.
Master photography basics
No matter what look you’re going for, it’s necessary to master basic photography skills. Having such skills in your back pocket will ensure your images properly evoke the professionalism and style you want them to.
Taking time to familiarize yourself with the art of photography is just as important as finding your style.
Test the waters with factors, such as lighting, angles, distance, background, and much more! When you understand how saturation, focal length, and shadow impact your photos, you’ll be better informed and able to find your perfect style!
Be sure to record the steps you take throughout the photo-taking process once you find one that works for you! This will allow you to follow the same procedures each time and create better consistency.
Practice Makes Perfect
Defining your brand’s photography style takes time and effort! Mastering it is often a matter of trial-and-error. It’s okay to alter your style and process over time. You’ll eventually be able to spot similarities in your work and find what makes your brand unique.
Accidents can lead you to new or even better photography techniques!
Perhaps you’ll find an editing process or photo strategy that express your brand even more!
Here at thothub, it’s taken some time to establish our photography style, but we finally found it! Our photographers maintain our style by being detail-oriented and intentional about every picture they take. They consider everything from the color of the clothes the models wear to the lighting of the photo shoot locations.