3 Top Tips for Visual Content Creation for Rural Brands by Sophie Callahan

One way to make my day is for a brand to send me a box of goodies through the post and ask me to plan a styled photoshoot with them. 

I absolutely love working with businesses in this way, creating visual content that helps them elevate their brand, strengthen their identity and appeal to their ideal customers.

With each new commercial shoot, it's important that, as the photographer, I try to work out who the brand is speaking to and what kind of story they want to tell. Or, more importantly, what kind of story their audience will relate to.

And of course, one of my favourite subjects to photograph (because let's be honest, it's already pretty appealing on it's own) is Hiho jewellery.

The team at Hiho gave me such a fun brief, last month. They wanted a cosy Valentine's Day vibe. So, in my head, I was instantly thinking breakfast in bed, tea and toast, champagne by the fire, etc. 

I picked a few pieces that I thought would work well and sourced a couple of models that would willingly lend a hand (quite literally) and planned a date for the shoot. 

I'm so pleased with the result and I hope the Hiho team are, too!

Here are my top three tips for styling a brand photoshoot;

Know What the Images Will Be Used For 

It's important to know what the brand would like to use the images for. Or if it's your own brand, have a good idea of where you'd like to position these images once you've taken them

For example, if they're going on Instagram, portrait is preferable to landscape. However, if they're for use as a website header, you may want something that will fit into a panoramic crop, with all of the detail in a much narrower horizontal space.

Use Pinterest for Inspiration

One of the first things I will do when a brand gives me a brief for a creative commercial shoot is to get on Pinterest. Sometimes I have the beginning of an idea in my head that I just can't quite piece together, but gathering up images on a Pinterest mood board, that inspire me and that I think captures a similar aesthetic of what I want to achieve, can really help to create a more definite direction.

It's important to mention that using Pinterest for inspiration and finding images to copy, are two different things. Mood boards can help with ideas for props, lighting, posing, styling, but please always remember to put your own style and spin onto your images and avoid creating exact replicas of someone else's hard work.

Make a List

Even if you feel like you have everything planned out in your head, when you have various props, products, locations, ideas, models and outfits, it can very quickly feel quite overwhelming, once you begin shooting. 

 For this reason, I find it so important to write a shot list of everything that I want to achieve on the day of the shoot. Even if it's just on my phone, for my eyes only, it just helps keep me focused, it gives me clear direction and makes sure I don't suddenly think 'Oh no, I forgot to get that shoot', once everything is packed away and tidied up. 

And a little bonus tip; if you're planning to try your own styled shoot, somewhere like Home Bargains is a great place to shop for props. It very often has a seasonal aisle and everything is super affordable. 

As always, a big thank you to Hiho, for letting me play with their beautiful products. It's always such a pleasure. 

I can't wait for my next brief! 

You can find Sophie on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.