Branding Photoshoots for Hairstylists (Part 2)

Hello, friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. In this episode, we're gonna be continuing our conversation about branding photo shoots. So if you haven't listened to part one yet, in part one, we talked a lot about your mindset, about imposter syndrome, your investment and how much money you're spending, and what all the things you should be considering, um, w- as far as those things go, and how to find a photographer, what you should be looking for in a photographer, and all of that good stuff.

In this episode today, we're gonna be talking about where you should be using these photos. We're gonna be talking about, um, what you should be wearing to these photo shoots. Um, we're gonna talk about, a little bit about posing. We're gonna be talking about what props to bring, locations, ideas, and all of that fun, creative stuff.

So if you're ever like, "I don't know what the hell to get done with my photographer. I don't know if we should just do it in the salon or should we go on location or we sh- we should do something else," then this episode is for you, my friend. So let's get into it. Let's go.

Let me guess. You are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business, even when you're not behind the chair. My name's Hunter Donia, and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm.

And this is the Modern Hairstylist podcast. Hi, Caitlin. Hey, Hunty. Caitlin, do you struggle with figuring out, like, what to wear and, like, where to go and, like, what to do whenever you're doing a branding photo shoot?

'Cause I actually very much do struggle with this part of things. I mean, to a certain degree, yeah, I guess so. Um, for me, as far as, like, what to wear goes, I always am very, like, I, I, I'm such a matchy person. I'm like, okay, well, I'll only wear my brand colors, very much, like, make it fit with, like, what my brand colors are.

I'll, like, or I'll, like, contrast and, like, make sure that it, it's complementary to my brand colors. But actually, like, finding the right outfit, yeah, that's, that's a different story entirely, but um, uh, location is always interesting for me. I've done, I've done outdoor locations. I've done indoor locations.

I've done, like, forest-y versus, like, city locations. And it wasn't until pretty recently that I actually realized the importance of, like, making sure that whatever location I'm at fits my brand as well. But I might be getting a little bit ahead of myself here with all of this. Mm-hmm.

No, no, I, I thanks... Yeah, thanks for sharing. I just wanted to hear what your experience was. For me, I have actually a really hard time with this.

Believe it or not, like, I have a hard, I have a really hard time when it comes to creative things visually. I have really good creative, like, ideas and concepts. Like, I think that I'm good at that side of things, but, like, I'm don't, I have a really hard time, like, visualizing things, like, and planning things out visually. And so I have a little bit of a difficult time with this.

And that's where, like, if you have a difficult time with this, my friend listening to this, that's where you're gonna wanna find a photographer who can help you and guide you with ideas. So both of my photographers that I use right now definitely are pretty damn helpful in figuring out the location research for me and coming up with new places to go and all of those good things. And that is really beneficial for me personally. Maybe you are somebody who, like, you want to be in full control of the vision, and I completely love that, very much so.

Um, but m- but maybe you're like, okay, well, I've already done this, I've already done that. Or maybe you're not, and you just don't even fricking know, whatever. Hopefully, we'll be able to cover something in this episode for you and inspire you in one way or another, because regardless of what you do, it all has to, it does have to be intentional, right? So like Caitlin was saying, that she, i- it always goes back to the brand in one way or another.

It always goes back to, like, what am I trying to accomplish with these photos, right? And I think what we're, uh, trying to accomplish in these photos is selling yourself as a person and showing some personality. And relating to your clients, I think, is the biggest thing that we can possibly do, and also allowing your clients to see themselves in the photos. Okay?

So there's multiple ways that we can do all of that, and we'll talk about it, we'll talk about it here as we go through these different sections of what we're gonna talk about. So first and foremost, let's talk about, like, where your photos are gonna be actually used. Okay? The number one place that we wanna be thinking about our photos being used is our websites.

Our websites is gonna be, like, the main place that these photos are gonna be used. And I am a firm believer that your face should be pretty much all over your website. And if it's not gonna be just your face, it should also be your face with a client. So I know that getting a model, I know that having, like, that type of photo shoot experience might be a little bit more stressful and intimidating for you, in which I'm gonna give you some permission to possibly not do that your first time around if you feel like you just wanna get comfortable with just you first, you know?

It is s- I'm not gonna lie. It's much more stressful to figure out a model situation than it is to figure out your own self showing up s- for a photo shoot. Like, it just very much is. However, if you really wanna make the most out of your investment, highly recommend getting a model or two in there with you and getting photos done with a person.

And it should be somebody who, in one way or another, reflects your ideal client profile. Okay? Now, your ideal cli- client profile...... should be reflected in possibly their style, like the way that they dress, or the- their emotions, right?

Are they more- more of, like, an introverted person, not a- is not as much of an expressive person? Or are they somebody who, like, is gonna be laughing and having fun in the chair, right? Um, are they somebody who wants to come to the salon and relax or are they somebody who wants to come to the salon and have a big, massive conversation with you? Because those are the types of photos that you're gonna get based upon the model that you're working with and who is coming in.

So it's important that your model can reflect those same mannerisms so that way the photographer can get good shots of what that interaction would normally look like. 'Cause if that person who just wants to relax sees pictures of you with a client and you guys are laughing and talking and having this big-ass conversation, they're gonna be turned off, right? If this- if there's an expressive person, a really- a really talkative, social person who, like, wants to have fun, if they see that, they're gonna be like, "Hell yes, I wanna click the book buy-in." You know?

So make sure that you're taking into consideration that ideal client and their journey as they're looking at these photos. And so on your website, you're taking somebody through a journey, visually, with photos. And I truly think that your website should be, like, a 50/50 mix of visuals versus copy. I think that 50/50 is really, um, a healthy mix and I think that copy should not be taken for granted.

I think that copy is the magic that actually gets somebody to book an appointment, and I think that the visuals allow the person to come up with a bigger picture in their brain of what the experience is actually gonna look like, and it makes them more comfortable to actually go ahead and commit to wanting to book with you. And so both of those things are super important and you're just gonna- gonna wanna make sure that the photos that you have show your personality, that they relate to the person that you're trying to speak to in one way or another, or that you have people in them and you're showing yourself doing the work on them. I think those process pictures, those... Not- not process pictures, but like, the, um, the picture of you actually doing the hair, I th- with the client having a great experience, or your client at the very end of their experience, like when they turn you around and they're looking in the mirror and they love it.

Like, if you can get your client to do, like, a surprise amazing happy face, like, that shit is what converts new potential clients into butts in your chair because they're seeing the journey. They're seeing, like, the- the- what- the- what is possible for them if they come experience a service with you. So websites are definitely where we wanna think about where these photos are gonna be going. And then of course, on our social media, right?

So I think that we can get uber creative with how we plan what photos we're gonna get versus, um, what is gonna actually be posted and how you're gonna post them, and I think that what I want you to be thinking about is, like, if we're talking about Instagram, for example, think about, like, your story highlights. If you can, like, curate, like, a journey through your story highlights, what pictures would you want for that journey in your story highlights? So let's say that you're gonna have, like, a lo- like, like, the salon highlight, right? If some- if you wanna show off the salon and if you wanna show off the environment, not only are you gonna wanna get pictures of the entire salon, you might wanna get pictures of the fucking parking lot or the building, right?

You might- you might wanna get pictures of the hallway. Like, you- you want pictures of, like, the entire environment versus just inside of the salon so that way you can give that person that full picture, right? Let's say that you have, like, an About Me section. Obviously, a whole lot of pictures of you, but you're not just pictures of you where you're posing and looking pretty.

You might wanna have silly faces. You might wanna bring props that have to do with your personality, that relate to your hobbies. You might wanna bring your cat or your dog to the photo shoot, right? So that way, um, it's more relatable to the person.

You might wanna be laughing, you wi- might wanna be making silly faces, whatever it may be. Maybe you are a parent and maybe your ideal client is some sort of parent as well, too. Let's- let's say, I think this is a brilliant idea and I've never seen anybody freaking do it yet. Wh- how cool would it be if there was, like, a picture of you, like, wrangling your kids and, like, doing your own hair at the same time, right?

Like, saying, like... And- and, like, trying to juggle it all together. Like, something like that so that way you can really relate to the person that is getting into your chair, like, of the other parent, right? Who underst- like, they're like, "Oh my God, this stylist actually understands my struggle and isn't just gonna tell me something unrealistic."

You know what I mean? Like, the things- things that can show that you relate to that person and that you'll understand them. So I think it would be so fucking brilliant. And the guest experience, right?

So how can you exemplify all of the amazing things that you have in your guest experience? Do you have a coffee bar? Do you have a bunch of amenities? Do you have a hot towel warmer?

Can you show the model, like, relaxing as you're doing their scalp massage? All of that stuff is what will be effective in all of your marketing. So let's ju- let's think a little bit further out of the box versus just, like, let's get a couple of pictures of me smiling with scissors in my hands, and let's think about, like, what is actually gonna be conducive for the success of my business when a new potential client is looking at these visuals. What are your thoughts, Caitlin?

I'm just like, "Ugh. So good." So many, so many, like, golden nuggets. I'm obsessed.

I don't think I have anything creative to add to, like, what kind of pictures. I loved your your analogy of wrangling the children though. That was great. Yeah.

I will say, as far as, like, types of pictures go, as opposed to, like, what could be in the picture, I will say something that I've found lately that I've actually been really wanting for my s- my own branding photos.... is, especially on website photos, definitely make sure that you have just as many horizontal, like, landscape photos versus portrait photos. Makes a huge difference. Also, typically, I feel like a lot of branding photos are very close up and in your face, which is great.

But I've actually really been wanting some photos lately that are actually of me further back so that I can overlay text over the photos in my website. It just, it gives you a little bit more wiggle room when it comes to trying to create, like, a really, like, fun and unique website. So just, like, that's my little, like, snippet there. I totally agree.

How annoying is it when you're having to crop a picture that you really want to use and you just can't figure out how to crop it in a way that's gonna be, like, aesthetically pleasing, right? Um, one hot, such great tips, I completely agree. I remember the w- one photo shoot that I did recently. I told her, I was like, "I want some really wide shots where there's a lot of blank space that's not me."

Because of that exact same situation. And being very clear with your photographer about, um, horizontal versus vertical is super important as well. I remember I got videos done, which is a whole other episode, I got videos done, um, for my story highlights on my Instagram and for my website. And I remember everything was horizontal because that's what we normally do with video.

But in today's day and age, that's not the case, you know? And it was great to have the horizontal video for my website, but what we had to do was we had to, like, really creatively, like, chop it down and crop it for social and make it vertical. And it was j- It w- It, it worked, but my, my videographer was like, "Next time, I'm definitely gonna have to remember to take more vid- more vertical shots." So don't make that mistake the first time.

Make sure that you're very clear with your photographer that you want to get versions of both, and a lot of diversified shots as far as the angles go and stuff like that. Think about how you're going to be using these photos. Like, think about, like, the different things that you wish you would have done last time and make sure that you make the changes the next time, you know? Thank you so much for bringing that up.

That was a really, really good point. I do have one more thing that I wanna add too, uh, just to kind of piggyback off of what you said. Knowing how you want to use a lot of the photos is going to play so much to your advantage. Like, don't just go into a photo shoot and be like, "I'm gonna have these pictures to do with whatever I wanna do with."

Have intention for them, so that way, like, if you have, like, captions, like caption ideas that you're wanting to use on social media, like, that, having a very specific curated photo for, like, these caption ideas that you have will help you to know how you wanna pose, help you to explain it to your photographer, stuff like that. And same with, like, on your website. Like, if you have a certain page on your website, like your services page or your About Me, whatever, um, knowing that you want a very specific photo for a certain part of your website is gonna make such a big difference in how that photo actually, like, what it will be. Yeah, I love that so much.

Thank you. Uh, yeah, and I think that's, like, the benefit of, like, maybe batching things out, right, or taking into consideration, like, what's the copy on your website too, and, like, how can I get a picture that's more in alignment with what they're reading at the same time? Like, like, where there's also gonna be a visual, and planning ahead. You know, planning ahead as much as possible I think is super smart.

As far as, like, what you're gonna wear, going back to what you're gonna wear, I think that, you know, you should 100% show your personality in what you're gonna be wearing. I think that, you know, even though it might not be relatable to who your ideal client is, I think that, uh, you know, people, people, yes, they wanna find themselves in other people that they're gonna get services done with, but they also will fall in love with a brand that isn't necessarily them all the time, you know? I know that I, like, look up to and follow people who are, like, completely do not have my style, but, like, I love how they dress and stuff like that. It's the same goes for you and your clients, you know?

So show your personality, be yourself, be some- Do, wear something that you are semi-comfortable in. I know sometimes you gotta sacrifice a little bit of comfort to be cute. But, like, feel s- Like, wear something that you're not gonna regret being in because you feel stiff or you feel not like yourself, right? Be your damn self with the way that you're showing up with your style.

I would get creative with your wardrobe as well too. Like same with thinking out of the box as far as, like, what kind of, uh, photos you want. Think about, like, how is what you're wearing, like, in alignment with what you're going to be posting and how you're gonna be using these pictures later. Definitely a whole lot of layering and accessorizing, and maybe, like, different jackets and different cardigans and different, different, um, different things, like earrings, different jewelry, different hats, right?

So that way you, it looks like you have, like, a million photo shoots done and you're, you're, can really diversify your, um, your, all your pictures without you having to actually diversify them, right? And in my part one of this episode, we talked about making sure that you know the package that you're signing up for and that you know how many outfit changes are normally included, because sometimes photographers will have that clearly on their package. If you are not gonna have an outfit change, then at least try to have a little bit of accessories that you can throw off and then throw back on really quickly, and hopefully that's okay with your photographer. I'd make sure to talk with them f- about that first.

But if it's just, like, a cardigan or a jacket or something like that, you shouldn't have any issue. Scarves, whatever it may be. Blazers, love me a good blazer. So, that's my tea with wardrobe.

And then with posing. Okay, listen. All right. I know posing sucks, okay?

It takes a lot to ... It takes a lot of experience and work with with getting your pictures done to really understand what your angles are and, like, what looks good and what doesn't. Your photographer should be coaching you, okay? They should be coaching you in tilt your head up, tilt your head down, uh, turn this way, turn that way.

The majority of the time, the photographer will help you carry out that vision. If you are, if you are very concerned about what the photos are looking like as you're doing them, what I'm gonna suggest is that you just ask how, ask the photographer, and I'm saying before you even get to the photo shoot..Ask them if they're comfortable with you seeing how y- how things are looking, just so that you know what your body looks like as you're going through the photo shoot. Not s- c- photographers get annoyed when you do this, I'm just gonna tell you straight up.

They're annoyed when you do it because they just wanna work and get their shit done. But that's why I'm saying, set your expectations from the very beginning, because if you're somebody who is going to be very conscious of your body and you wanna make sure that things look a certain way, you w- you wanna make sure that you set the expectation from the very beginning, because you don't wanna go through, like, three hours of photo shoots f- what, $500, $600 later, whatever it may be, and then hate how you look, and hate how you pose, and hate how you were turning and looking, and all those things. So, just a little quick tip for you. Just- just relax.

Just relax, and, like, it's okay if you wanna get some fierce photos in there where you're, like, not smiling. But it's also completely okay if you just wanna smile and if you just wanna be yourself. It's okay if you just wanna act natural and candid and, like, just ke- like, just ask your photographer, like, "Can I just be candid?" But again, going back to the photographer.

The photographer should be coaching you with how to pose and you'll be okay for the most part, okay? That's my two cents on that. What do you think, Caitlin? I have just a couple of things to add on that.

So, as far as, like, being, like, self-conscious about, like, how your body might be looking during your photos, definitely talk to your photographer about that. Um, as a female who, like, I have PMS, so I have, like, bloat every other week, or, like, my weight fluctuates, all of those things, I get it. So, like, just be like, "Hey, like, I'm super bloated today, like, just, like, if you wouldn't mind, just, like, making sure that all this is looking good." Like, be super upfront about it.

Or, like, myself personally, um, I, when I laugh, like, very, like, genuinely, I ha- I have, like, double chins. It just happens. Yeah. So, like, I wanna, like, make sure that they know that, like, "Hey, if I'm laughing super hard, will you just, like, make sure to tell me, like, tilt my chin up or something like that?"

Like, just little things like that makes such a big difference. Yeah, no, I love that. I have this thing where if I smile too big and if I'm wearing too much makeup on my eyes, my eyes completely disappear. So I have to be very aware of, with my sp- with my eyes, I have to be really aware of not wearing too heavy of- of, uh, like, lashes or anything like that, because I like to smile in my photos and my eyes will completely be gone.

So, like, if I'm gonna be doing a photo shoot where I want to wear lashes, I make sure that I don't go too heavy on eyeliner and on, like, black eyeliner, and I'll actually, like, I love wearing, like, a white eyeliner in there because it opens up my eyes. So, like, makeup, going back to m- going t- into makeup too, which we didn't even talk about, makeup is important. You wanna wear more makeup than you think you're gon- that you should wear, or more makeup that you normally wear on a daily basis. And definitely put some color on your face as far as blush goes, um, if that applies to you, if you feel good about that, because it's super easy for camera, and cert- cameras and certain lighting, um, to wash you out.

So, if you're gonna be wearing foundation, you need to add the dimension and the color back into your face, because if you just completely, like- like, come from a blank canvas with your face and you're not adding back in those dimensions, you will look f- like, it'll just be flat and it won't look natural and you won't look h- like how you look. So make sure that you, I think, I s- always say, like, wear more makeup than you think that you should wear, in my opinion. A- a- and that's never failed me. I've only ever regretted not wearing enough makeup.

And then, of course, my, like, a- l- eyelashes with my, like, super dark eyeshadow and my eyes disappearing. That's the only time I've- that I've ever regretted that. So that's my two cents with makeup personally, like, in my own personal experience. That's the advice that I would give.

And then if you are wearing sunscreen or anything that has SPF in it, just be mindful of that because, like, sometimes the reflection, um, if they are gonna be using flash, a lot of times your photographer is not gonna be using flash, but if they do e- end up using flash, SPF can very much reflect in a really weird way and you'll, like, have, like, a crazy, crazy reflection off of your face, um, and that's not cute. And then props. So, props goes back to the type of things that you're going to be doing, the type of pictures that you're gonna be getting, and how you wanna be using these pictures, right? So, I love props as far as your, like, your job goes, but I don't want them to be any props that your client can't relate with.

So, like, I'm okay with the shears, I'm okay with the blow dryer, I'm okay with the curling iron. A color brush, meh, a bowl of color, meh. Your clients are a little scared about that stuff. Like, the, like, if your client sees, like, a bowl of lightener, they're gonna be like, "Why is that blue?"

Like, that's literally what your clients think. Like, your clients literally, I know every single person listening to this have- has had a client look at the color bowl and be like, "Why is that purple?" And it's like, "No, girl. Like, it's not gonna be purple.

Like, you're okay." Like, "Why is that blue?" "Girl, no, it's not gonna be blue. You're fine."

You know? So make sure, so again, like, these are other things. Like, little things that you would not think about. Put yourself in your client's shoes and think about what they could possibly think when they see these types of things.

So, things that just will make sense, uh, right off the bat to your client and won't turn them off I think is super important as f- far as props go. And then j- again, just get creative, like get super creative. Like, think about your ideal client's day-to-day and, like, what they normally like to do. Let's say your cli- your, um, your ideal client is somebody who's super adventure- adventurous and travels a lot.

You could just, like, bring, and y- if you like to travel a lot too, bring your passport. And, I mean, don't show your passport, like, but show just, like, the front of the book, you know? And just, like, have, like, or, like, maybe, like, flight tickets or something like that And you can come up with, like, a cute little caption. Or you could be, this could be something that stays on your website if you really are speaking to somebody who's on the go all the time.

You could say, "Are you on the go and do you love to explore and adventure just like me? I help you with low maintenance color that helps, that- that allows you to go do those things without having to maintain it all the time." Like, things like, like get creative. Like, you can do really cool shit with this stuff if you get out of the box and if you really understand who your ideal client is.

And what I find all too often is that we do not have a very, super specific, clear vision of who that person is and all of their attributes and all of their objections and all of their pain points and what their daily life actually looks like. And I'm really excited over the next couple weeks, we're gonna be talking a lot about really understanding what an ideal client profile actually looks like, 'cause I guarantee you the one that you have now is not what is- what it needs to be if you really wanna be successful in understanding who that person is. And, um, we're gonna be talking a whole lot about marketing over the next couple weeks. So, I hope that you enjoyed this part two, this whole s- part one, part two series of branding photo shoots.

Um, I hope that it was helpful for you. I know things like this can be intimidating. I know things like this can be a little bit of an investment, but I promise you, it is so freaking worth it. It was 100% worth it for me and my business, Behind the Chair.

And I know Caitlin can agree with me, and I know hundreds of other stylists can as well too. So, have so much freaking fun, get so excited to get these beautiful new photos back. We are rooting you on. And if you do get a branding photo shoot and you wanna share it with me, please post it on your story or put it on your feed and tag me in it so I can see how they turned out and I can congratulate you for your hard work and your investment in doing that.

All right. So much love to you, my friend. Peace out, girl scout. See you in the next one.

Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2023 Hunter Donia LLC.