I’ve been a brand photographer for many years now and I’ve seen firsthand how the right images can completely transform a business owner’s confidence and how easily they can connect with their ideal clients.
But sometimes the best way to showcase the power of professional brand photography is through real results from real businesses.
Today I’m excited to share the story of Kate Brisland, an online fitness coach based in Gloucester, who came to me wanting to set her new business off on the right foot. This case study will take you behind the scenes of our consultation – from our initial discovery call right through to the incredible results she’s achieved using her new brand images across her marketing.
Whether you’re a small business owner wondering if brand photography is worth the investment, or you’re simply curious about what goes into creating images that work hard for your business, this story will show you exactly how strategic brand photography can become your most powerful marketing tool.
Let’s dive in…
Introduction to Kate Brisland Fitness
Kate approached me in the early days of setting up Kate Brisland Fitness, an online coaching service designed to support busy mums. Kate was no stranger to entrepreneurship, having previously run an in-person fitness franchise, but she struggled to find a work-life balance that allowed her to spend enough time with her young daughters while they were still so small.
After a (short!) break, Kate soon realised she missed running her business and helping others progress on their fitness journey, so founded a coaching business in the online space that worked for both her and her family.
Kate really wanted her new branding needed to look smart and professional; and after meeting several years ago, I was (thankfully!) the natural choice. She said that I’d always stuck in her mind after I’d introduced my services by saying ‘I’m not cheap, but I am very good!’ (That was the first time I’d ever said that by the way! 😂) It clearly resonated and we’ve shared many moments together during photoshoots now – although I may have spent most of that time dressed as an elf. Perhaps that’s a story for another day….
How to get started: The Discovery Call
The Discovery Call is a friendly and informal way for me to get to know potential brand photography clients and understand exactly what they need from their visual content. Rather than diving straight into packages and pricing, I take time to learn about their business journey, current challenges and their goals. During our chat, we’ll explore what they want their photos to convey – for example: trust, professionalism, or personality – and how they plan to use the images across their marketing. It isn’t a sales pitch – it’s designed to work out whether brand photography is the answer to their challenges right now and, if so, which package would serve them best. The call also gives clients a chance to get to know me and the way I work, so we know we’re a good fit before moving forward.
Kate and I already knew each other quite well by this point, so it was more of a chat about the vision she had for her new business and how many photos she’d need at this point. She came armed with ideas of images that she liked the feel of and although we don’t tend to dive into the specific imagery we’re going to take at this stage (we’ll work that out during the consultation process), the conversation sparked some key ideas that we planned to use during the session. Like most business owners I work with, Kate opted for a package that would not only give her a good baseline of images to use on her website and social media profile pictures, but also offered a variety of imagery that could be shared regularly on social media platforms without it feeling too repetitive.
A key thing Discovery Calls are designed to address are the concerns you have about going investing in brand photography. Whether that’s the hesitation of working with someone new, not knowing if brand photography is actually going to help you – or perhaps the whole idea is really quite scary because you don’t like being in front of the camera (that’s really common by the way!). Sometimes it’s a case of there being other things that need to slot into place first and it’s figuring out logistically how to fit it all in. Talking it all through can be really helpful, giving you the confidence and clarity to just go for it!
Kate’s only hesitation about the process was the fact she wanted to lose a bit more weight before the session, but she decided it was more important to push towards her goals rather than wait for the perfect moment. She (metaphorically) signed on the dotted line with me that day!
Curious about what a discovery call could reveal for your business? Book your free discovery call here to explore your brand photography needs.
The Booking and Consultation Phase
Once a client has decided to work with me, it’s a simple case of paying a deposit, signing the obligatory T&Cs – and then we can get to the fun part of planning your session! When Kate booked in with me, she was given a guide to get her primed for her consultation and to help her prepare for the actual session, with practical advice on what to wear, what to include and things to do before the session – many of which you might not have thought of. The consultation process helps us both work out what we’re aiming to achieve during the session, work out any must-have shots and figure out the logistics for the day itself.
The consultation is an informal conversation where we’ll cover questions like:
- What emotions and feelings do you want your audience to experience when seeing your photographs?
- What photos of yourself do you love?
- Where are you going to be using your photos? Are there any specific requirements when it comes to size or orientation?
When it came to Kate’s consultation, we brainstormed the shots she wanted for her business by going through each step of her customer journey and what that looked like for her clients. With Kate’s fitness business being based online, we needed to showcase both how she works in her business – on her laptop and using her coaching app – as well as capturing fitness-related content for her how-to guides and social media. We also discussed important things about how she wanted to come across in her business and what message she was trying to get across – in her case, appealing to other busy mums like her who struggle to prioritise their health and wellbeing. Read on to find out how we achieved this!
Ready to see how brand photography could transform your business confidence? Get in touch today to start your journey.
The Brand Photoshoot Experience
As with lots of brand photography sessions, we had other people involved in the photoshoot to help showcase Kate’s personal brand. Usually it’s someone to pose as a client during a consultation or for an action shot of their service in action. In this instance, Kate wanted to show that keeping fit with young kids in tow is entirely possible – so we enlisted her three year old twins to take part in exercise with her! We knew this would likely be the most challenging part of the session, so we planned to do this part first, so we could capture the twins and then send them off for the morning while we got on with the rest of the photoshoot.
As you can see, our plan for the two kids exercising with mum didn’t quite go to plan, so we got what we could: natural shots that authentically showcase life as a twin mum – which, in fact, help to reiterate Kate’s message that imperfect action is better than none at all. Family life is unpredictable, so working with that by doing whatever you can, when you can, will help you chip away at those health and fitness goals.
Once the kids had headed off, Kate was able to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee while we captured some shots of her on her own, with her laptop, phone and other props that helped to tell a story about what Kate’s business actually looks like. Some clients struggle with the idea of being in front of the camera, so these shots can be an easy way to settle into the session as you don’t necessarily need to be looking at the camera. And for those clients who are feeling extra nervous, I have some fun tricks up my sleeve to get you feeling more relaxed – and banish the awkwardness everyone fears!
Kate was fairly confident in front of the camera – I’ve photographed her a bunch of times by now with her kids – so the session itself was easy and free-flowing as we moved through our must-have shots both indoors and outdoors – including some action shots of Kate running and exercising too. We’re not restricted to the must-have shots we agreed to in the consultation – we’ll spend lots of our time together trying out new ideas and spotting other creative shots on the day too. We even got shots of Kate in her ice bath (in January!) – this was an important part of the session where I reeeeallly had to take my time here to create the perfect photograph for her…. you can’t rush these things, can you Kate? 😉
The End Result
In business, time is money, and so it’s really important to me to keep the whole brand photography process as efficient as possible. As soon as a brand photoshoot is over, I’ll head home to sort through the photographs to get rid of any that don’t meet my quality standards, and prepare a gallery of unedited proofs to choose from – then send them over that same day. My clients already know the standard of my end-product photographs when they book with me, so presenting unedited photos at this stage means I can keep the process slick for you and avoid charging for work editing photos that you’re never going to use.
This is probably the part of the process that I love the most – as I usually get a message along the lines of Kate’s below, with delight (and perhaps relief!) at how good their (ahem..completely unedited!) photos are! It just goes to show that it’s nothing to do with fancy editing, and all about having someone that knows what they’re doing who can get you to relax into the session – because that’s when you’ll capture natural, authentic and just really nice photographs of you that you’ll actually like. Or love in Kate’s case!
Kate received a gallery of a few hundred images to choose from – within that, clients will have a wide variety of shots with different angles, expressions and variations to choose from. This is often the part of the process that clients find the most difficult, having to whittle down so many photos to the package that they’ve purchased! Many end up buying more than they originally planned because they love them so much! I do offer the ability to keep your gallery open long after your session so that you can always come back and get extras at a later date if you’d like.
Once you’ve confirmed your selections with me (via a really easy ‘favourite’ system in the online gallery), that’s when I’ll send over an invoice for the final balance and I’ll get to work as soon as that’s been paid. You’ll have your photos within seven days. Not bad eh!
Kate got her photos and in no time at all I could see her putting them to good use – straight away updating her profile images online. Her Instagram grid got a glow up!
The Impact
Following her experience and her resulting photos, Kate left me a lovely review:
“I wanted to upgrade the photos on my website and make my brand look more professional than the photos I’d taken on my iPhone. Katie was fantastic from the start to finish. She helped me come up with ideas for the photos, some tips to bring in my brand colours and a post session guide on how to use my photos including some social media ideas. I was a little nervous but Katie put me at ease and the photo shoot was so much fun. I loved it and the photos are amazing! They’ve really upgraded my website and social media content. I would recommend Katie to anyone looking to give the their business an upgrade.”
I followed up with Kate a few months later to find out how her perception of her brand has changed since investing in brand photographer, and I’m pleased to report that she’s found that engagement with her social media content has improved and she’s had an increase in new client enquiries! Fantastic news! When we looked at how she felt both before and after her session, we also noted:
- She felt the quality of her visual content has improved
- She’s found having professional photographs have made creating content easier
- She felt her brand was truly professional
And perhaps best of all, her pride in her business had transformed from ‘average’ (5/10) to ‘outstanding’ (9/10)!
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Key Takeaways
Knowing Kate previously made the process easier, but this doesn’t mean that clients who I haven’t worked with before don’t feel the same about their sessions or resulting photos. In fact the most common piece of feedback I get from brand photography clients is that I was able to put them at ease and that they love their resulting photos. Our relationship starts from that very first Discovery Call, where we’ll start to get to know each other – and build your trust and confidence in how your photoshoot will go and what your photos will look like – as we go through the process. I won’t say there won’t be nerves before the photoshoot – because that’s totally normal (look at Kate’s message from the night before hers!) – but you’ll feel ready and have the faith that I can get you where you want to be, both in terms of feeling comfortable during the photoshoot itself but also where you can see photographs of yourself and feel truly proud of your brand.
Still have questions about the brand photography process? Get in touch and I’ll answer all of your questions! Or if you’re ready to get started on your brand photography journey, book your discovery call today. I can’t wait to see your transformation – and hopefully feature you and your business’ wins in a few months’ time!
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