How to Take Brand Photos at Home during Covid
With the pandemic shutting down many businesses, many of us are using this time to ready our brands for when things reopen.
I recently collaborated with massage therapist Elly on a mini brand photoshoot. Since her spa is currently shut down we had to get creative taking photos from home.
Follow along on our shoot as I share tips for taking your best photos no matter where you are.
01
Shoot near a window.
Hands down, lighting is the single most important element in a photo. But instead of getting into the weeds of photography lighting, I like to make it simple for my clients by just saying this: Go find a window in your home with natural lighting and set up your shoot there.
Observe where the light is coming in and go to it. In our case, at the time of day we were shooting, we noticed light was flooding in from a large window in the guest bedroom. While this wasn’t the room we originally planned on using, we made it work by moving out some nightstands and pushing the bed against the wall to make room for Elly’s massage table.
I know what you're thinking...
"But you're a professional photographer and you have a really good camera."
Here's a great example from one of my clients— a nutritionist, who is not a photographer and shoots all her own photos from her phone. The photo on the left is what her photos used to look like. She would shoot them all on her kitchen counter with the kitchen ceiling lights turned on. In the photo on the right, I asked her to only do one thing differently—to take the plate as close as she could to a window and use only natural light. This one small change made a huge difference in the quality of her images and made the food look much more appetizing.
02
Shoot from multiple points of view.
Taking photos of the same subject from different angles will give you a greater variety of content to pick from later and help you tell a more interesting visual story. Try shooting from up above (bird’s eye view) from the side and even from down below.
Whenever I do a photoshoot, you’ll find me climbing up on stools and tables or crouching down on the floor to get a diverse set of angles.
Even changing where you are shooting within the same location (or changing outfits and props) will allow you to create diverse content all in a day’s shoot. During Elly’s shoot, we did a partial shoot indoors and then moved outdoors as the sun set.
03
Shoot through things.
One of my favorite photo tricks is to shoot through an object to create a blurry element in the foreground and guide the viewer’s focus to the subject in the background. You can do this by placing a soft object like a leaf or lace in front of your lens or stand partially behind a door or curtain and shoot through that object.
In this shoot, I shot from behind a door to create a shot that feels as if we are passing by and peeking into the room from the hallway. In another, I shot through the smokey mist of Elly’s essential oil diffuser to create some interesting visual texture and another point of interest.
—Pro Tip:
Have your props (and outfits) set aside before your shoot. This way you'll be able to grab different items as you get inspired in the moment.
04
Capture micro-moments.
Think about the experience you’re trying to tell a story around. What do you see, hear, feel or even smell?
In Elly’s case, she creates a sensory experience for her clients using essential oils, so we made sure to stage some of her oils on the counter next to her cupping supplies. We also captured the cupping marks left on her client after the treatment.
As another example, if you’re doing food photography, think about all the fresh, raw ingredients that go into your recipe and consider shooting those or incorporating them with photos of the finished product.
—Pro Tip:
Create a shot list prior to the shoot detailing all of the steps, tools or sensory experiences you might want to capture.
As an example, a shot list for a recipe might include shots of:
the ingredients and tools (knives, spices, or fresh raw produce)
each step of the recipe (chopping, mixing, igniting a fire)
the final plating
facial expressions as people get to taste, smell or enjoy the food
05
Always edit.
When editing photos from this photoshoot, I wanted to enhance the warm, golden backlighting from the window and heighten the contrast created by the moody shadows and beaming rays of sunlight.
I use paid Lightroom software for all of my photo editing, but for non-photographers free apps like Tezza offer a great selection of filters to help take your photos to the next level.
There are a ton of other free and paid editing apps out there to choose from. Editing your photos can help your photos look more professional or allow you to create a specific mood (with warm vs. cool tones). Even if you just edit your photos a little using your phone’s editing settings or instagram’s editing feature, a few tweaks can make all the difference.
No matter where you are or what camera you have, if you know what to look for, you, too, can take eye-catching brand photos.
