So On Brand, Episode 2
TL;DR
- Brand photos usually go unused because they never had a specific place to go.
- Before a session, list every place your business shows up so the shot list covers each one.
- AI tools can handle the tedious resizing, editing and drafting. Start with real photos.
- Good Company: Cafe Patachou, and why consistency doesn’t have to mean sameness.
On this episode, I talked about making the most of the content from a brand session. For anyone new here, I’m a photographer and videographer in Indianapolis working mostly with brands. If you’ve been wondering how to plan a brand photoshoot so the images keep working long after your gallery is delivered, this one’s for you.
In this episode
- [01:07] Why brand photos end up sitting in a folder
- [02:36] Where your content is going, and why I follow a shot list
- [03:46] Website images come first
- [04:56] Social media images and video clips
- [05:53] Email, print, client guides and Google
- [07:49] AI-generated photos and why I start with real ones
- [09:24] AI tools that help: Canva, Descript and Claude
- [12:11] Good Company: Cafe Patachou
- [13:42] Putting your last brand session to work
Why brand photos end up sitting in a folder
A lot of times, brand photos land on Instagram once and then sit in a folder. Usually the photos are great. They just never had a specific need attached to them. That comes down to planning, which starts before you ever get in front of a camera.
I’ve seen it in my own work too. A gallery can be perfect for what a business needed eight months ago, and then something changes. It’s really hard to create content for an unknown destination, so the biggest thing is knowing where your content is going and how it’s going to serve your business.
Before the session: know where your content is going
Before any session, I look at where a business owner is showing up and will actually share content. The basics are always on the list (social media, email and a website), but I’ve also had brands need images for packaging or video for a specific ad.
Having a shot list ahead of time lets me shoot to the list and keeps the day efficient for everyone. Nobody shows up asking, “Okay, what’s the plan?” Everybody knows where we’re going to be from beginning to end, and I still leave room for creativity. Clients end up loving their images and know they have what they need for their marketing.
Try this before your next brand session
List every place your content needs to show up, including where you want to grow, and share it with your photographer.
What each destination needs from a brand session
Your website
Your website is the foundation of your business, so I always put a huge priority on it: horizontal shots with room for a headline, bigger hero images and photos of you working with clients. A first-time visitor is often deciding right there whether your business feels real and relatable.
Social media
For social, I look at where a business shows up now and where they might want to grow. This is where I capture vertical clips, personality shots and close-ups, so your feed has plenty of variety beyond headshots and still feels cohesive.
When a session includes video, I shoot it right alongside the stills. That gives you B-roll clips for text overlays or a trending audio, and the matching stills work on your website or as carousel covers. I love bouncing back and forth between the two!
Email, print and client guides
Photos of yourself make sending an email so much easier (Flodesk has so many templates with spots for them), and a real person makes it read like a note from a friend. Businesses with a physical location usually need images for flyers or event brochures too. And for client guides or internal documents, your own images beat reaching for stock photos and show your attention to detail.
Your Google Business Profile
Keeping your profile fresh tells Google (and now the AI tools recommending local businesses) that you’re active and real. My free AI search checklist covers this too.
Where AI fits into your brand content
A lot of people are using AI to create images of themselves. This one’s tough for me to stay neutral on, since I do this for a living! My real argument against AI brand photos is that they aren’t real. Picture meeting a service provider in person when you’ve only seen AI images of them. The skin is too polished, the lighting is too perfect, or the office isn’t really theirs. I wrote more in my post on AI headshots vs. real photos. For a quick headshot, you gotta do what you gotta do, but for all of your brand images, I’d really reconsider.
AI tools that help with the tedious stuff
Spreading even a perfectly planned gallery across multiple channels by hand takes time, and I 100% get that.
- Canva AI for design, resizing and repurposing. Start with real brand assets and photos, then let Canva’s AI handle the resizing.
- Descript for video editing. I use it all the time with Claude synced in. Claude can read the transcript right out of Descript and edit talk-to-camera videos for you.
- Claude for repurposing blogs and emails. I use it for a starting draft, and the time I’ve spent training it on my voice is what makes that draft usable.
Whatever AI helps you make, edit and quality check it before it goes anywhere.
See it in action: Solid Wellness
I did a full play-by-play with Solid Wellness in Westfield, Indiana. Where One Brand Session’s Content Actually Landed walks through the destinations and the inventory of what they had after their session. You can also read how they refreshed their visuals in the Solid Wellness case study.
Good Company: Cafe Patachou
I started something new on this episode! Every few weeks, I’ll close the show with a business doing something worth noticing, and I’m calling it Good Company.
The first feature is Cafe Patachou. It started as one cafe at 49th and Penn in Indianapolis in 1989, opened by Martha Hoover, a former deputy prosecutor with no restaurant background. Today there are Patachou locations in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
What I find super interesting is that their dining rooms don’t look alike. So often, restaurants stamp one template everywhere, and Patachou embraced the different neighborhoods they’re in. I’ve been to probably at least half of their locations, and in reading about them, I learned the coffee mug tree is actually a rack for drying champagne bottles. From what I’ve read, it shows up at every location.
Consistency doesn’t have to mean sameness
Pick the one or two things about your brand that never change, and let everything else get creative and evolve. If you’re in Indianapolis, go check them out at cafepatachou.com!
Know a business like this? Email me at hello@kelliwhitephotography.com with the subject line “Good Company,” and I’d love to feature them.
Put your next brand photoshoot to work
If a past brand session only ever reached one destination, pull that gallery back up this week and use the list above to find a few new places to share those images.
Before your next session, start with the destination list. That’s the simplest answer I have for how to plan a brand photoshoot, and I use the same habit with this podcast, thinking about how each episode flows into my emails, blog and social content.
Frequently asked questions
What is B-roll?
B-roll is supporting footage that plays under or around your main content, like hands at work or details of your space.
What is a Google Business Profile?
It’s the free listing that shows your business in Google Search and Maps, and Google says complete, accurate profiles are more likely to show up in local results.
What is So On Brand?
So On Brand is a podcast from Kelli White, an Indianapolis-based strategic content partner, all about branding and how your business shows up.
When do new episodes come out?
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Places and resources mentioned
- Where One Brand Session’s Content Actually Landed
- Solid Wellness case study
- AI headshots vs. real photos
- Free AI search checklist
- Cafe Patachou
- Canva, Descript, Claude and Flodesk
Listen and subscribe
Catch every episode of So On Brand on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Acast, and come say hi on Instagram at @kelliwhitecreative.
Want help planning your next brand session around where your content is going? Let’s plan your content.
Kelli White is an Indianapolis-based strategic content partner for women-owned businesses across the northside, including Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville and Zionsville. She creates photo, video and content strategy that helps businesses show up consistently, and So On Brand is her podcast about brands and the businesses behind them.
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