How to prepare your space for a commercial or promotional shoot

Five things to consider when getting your business ready for a photo session

Over the last couple of years, we have been doing quite a bit of work in our clients' spaces for their websites, brochures, and print advertisements. We love doing this because it helps to tell the story of the business and give the viewer a little bit more information about what to expect.

In order to create great photos in your business's space, we recommend that you take the following steps prior to your shoot:

1 - Schedule an onsite visit. It can be very helpful to us to see the location first, suggest areas that would make good backgrounds, assess the quality and color of light, and get a good idea of what your thoughts are.

2 - Tidy the areas we select for photos. There are so many things that we don't notice on a day-to-day basis that may end up being very distracting in photos and make the environment look cluttered. Keep an eye out for water bottles, stacks of paper, cords, containers of hand sanitizers, tissue boxes, sticky notes and cards posted on computers or walls, anything that is a bright color that doesn't *need* to be there, etc. It sometimes helps to have someone else help tidy the area who doesn't work in the space every day because they will be able to see it with fresh eyes.

3 - Ensure that surfaces, desks, windows, floors, and walls are clean. We can photoshop out some skid marks and stains, but we can't save everything!

4 - Open the blinds! We love natural light and are probably going to open up the blinds all the way!

5 - Note where nearby outlets are. In case we bring in additional lighting, we will need to plug it in. We always have extension cords, but it will be helpful if we know where the outlets are and don't have to go hunting for them.

Lastly, be sure that all team members know when to arrive and what to wear so that we can get started on time (if you are requiring team members to wear company shirts, it might not be a bad idea to have a few extras on hand just in case! Also, if some of your team routinely wears a hat, let them know ahead of time that they may have to remove it for the photo and should plan accordingly). We know it can be disruptive to everyone's day to do photos at your place of business, so the better prepared we are, the sooner we can get wrapped up and let you get back to doing what you do best!

For more information on what to wear for business photos, check out this post!