202. Rebrand Series: Official Brand Session Guide: Do’s and Don’ts

In this episode, Alora shares her comprehensive guide on planning and executing a successful brand session. Reflecting on her recent brand shoot, she covers the challenges and lessons learned, providing practical tips and strategies to make the most of your session.

00:00 Introduction and Rebrand Exhaustion

02:17 Lessons from Past Brand Sessions

04:22 Planning Your Brand Session

08:53 Execution and Time Management

17:46 Weather and Unexpected Challenges

22:57 Final Tips and Self-Care

26:45 Conclusion and Upcoming Launches

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Transcript

0:06

Hello. Welcome or welcome back to the podcast. I am coming at you a week after my brain shoot and that's how long it's taking me to recover. Like it takes so much time, brain, space, and effort to put on a brand shoot. And to be honest, that was probably the most exhausting part of this rebrand was actually physically having to show up. Planning, ideating. Strategizing, like that stuff is easy to me. I do it every single day, but getting behind the camera, constantly modeling for five hours straight, running around Detroit, running around to locations, changing really quick, changing back, and then, making sure I had the right props, made sure we had the right pose list for this location in this particular area with the right outfit. That was exhausting. That was a full-time job. I came home deceased, honestly. As I was driving home from my shoe and the exhaustion and honestly the overall high, that it was just getting back into the swing of things running around in my favorite city. Realizing how easy it is like riding a bike, to get back into posing and being behind the camera. I don't necessarily love it, I don't know. As long as you are constantly moving from post to post naturally, and then eventually the photographer will shift you like as long as you have some kind of a cadence behind the camera. It really does go by really fast. I think we were at a point where I was like, oh my gosh, we're three hours in and having her switch through the mediums of shooting film and then shooting video in multiple different formats of film. I think it was needless to say, like we both were like, okay, it felt like a wedding day. It wasn't, but it felt like one, so I actually was driving home and I was like, okay. I think a really great episode to end this rebrand series. As I really dive into the next step, which is. The website and wrapping everything up, like by the time that wraps up, it's time to open the doors to the new Wedding X program. And I was like, okay, what better episode to leave it off with than, a brand session guide on do's and don't, and you know how to make sure that you're getting the most out of your brand session, not wasting your time, your money, and your efforts. Because in the past, I feel like I used to planned a brand session. Let's see, what did I do? I feel like I've always, my official brand session was before the pandemic. I rented a studio and I had a photographer and I think I had two outfits and that was it. And I just said, okay, I have. The cool girl version, the relaxed version with my hat I always loved hats. And then I had another version that was a little more dressed up and that's when I realized, okay, with brand sessions you need to be really prepared. But even then I wasn't as prepared as obviously, fast forward to six years later where I'm super prepared for this one actually felt like a run through the city kind of production. But in the past, I wasn't as efficient with my time and intentional with the shoot. I just said, oh, this is the vibe. This is cool, and these are my outfits. Great. And I'll just smile and wave and be myself and bring a laptop and a coffee mug. Those were the days. And so every six months I was always doing a brand shoot because I felt like I just didn't, I never got the material I needed to last me at least 12 months. And so I would do headshot exchanges or like with a friend, you'd always say, okay look like, let's show up, dressed up. I shoot you, you shoot me. It was perfect, right? And essentially free. But there was no written out plan. There was no style guide. There wasn't a pose list, there wasn't props. It was just like a great headshot where I'm smiling in a fancy outfit, boom, brand session, and it's really not the same. It's actually much more layered than that. And I don't know, it's been fun evolving and changing and realizing like the more structured that you are, the more you can get out of one experience. And I am a huge advocate for. Saving time, batching, I'd rather dedicate hours and hours to something and doing it once every three years than having to do an hour of a brand shoot every six to 12 months because I didn't get what I needed in the first place. With that being said, the first tip is really deciding your overall vibe of the shoe, and if you already have a really good brand voice and signature brand in general, like maybe you've gotten a rebrand and so you have an idea or maybe you don't, but. You're thinking to yourself, okay, this is essentially the theme. And the next part will be figuring out like editing style figuring out locations, figuring out outfits, figuring out props, and really figuring out if this is something that you're gonna look back on and it's gonna be timeless. And I think that's the missing piece for me, is like I was very much like in the moment. Okay, right now this is what I like. Right now this is what I want. Versus like very much big picture thinking and much more like methodical than just being impulsive and doing stuff, which is something I have had to work on for years. I have always been very, let's just do it today so we don't have to do it tomorrow. Let's just get it done, let's get it done messy. We'll fix it up later. I'm very much impulsive, confidently impulsive may be to a fault, but I learned my lessons. So lesson about this one is making a plan of your overall brand session aesthetic. Okay. And then after that, if you can, if you have the funds to hire a stylist he, or at the bare minimum, create a mood board, an outfit board, and oppose board inside of Pinterest. And now that in Pinterest you can create sub boards inside of the main board. It really keeps things organized because in the past we would make six different boards that was actually meant for one thing and everything gets lost and messy. So you could have your rebrand Pinterest board and then start making the sub boards about how you're gonna bring all of this together and all of the moving pieces that it takes and, hiring a creative director in addition to the stylist and having their deliverables work together to make this come together so seamless. Was great because all I had to do was like word vomit. What I want, my vision, the colors, and basically just my brand. I submitted that, the deliverables of the brand to them and they were like, okay, great. This is what we're gonna do. And for the stylist, I think she helped me think about outfit props. And then the creative director helped me think about props that were relative to the brand and relative to the overall experience of my rebrand, of my personal style and how all those things come together and all of this intentionality has saved me so much hamster wheels circling of going back and forth. Do I need this? Is this too much? Is this not enough? Okay, you have this, and then you have your outfit props. Now you have props for the business. And what they symbolize in the business. Digging deep inside of yourself and what your business values are, find a way to merge the two together. I am a huge advocate for personal brand. I always have, always will be. It has never gone away. It will always stay because the only thing differentiating you and another brand. Is the little pieces of you that you sprinkle in that nobody else has. And I feel like everybody has, the beauty of uniqueness, our own stories, our personalities, everything that makes you, you is gonna be the thing that really helps you stand out in any industry, to be honest with you. Really to bring together this brand to life versus those typical fine art headshots that we see. And I know the luxury market is huge right now, and everybody wants these really fancy, elevated headshots where you look like you are the moment. You are the icon. But I also believe it's good to sprinkle in personality photos so we can understand you and really get you as a person. And I know that happens more with video,'cause video can really bring somebody to life. But photos with personality, in my opinion, just hit different. And I'm just oh my gosh, that's so cool. She seems like she'd be fun, versus wow, this person's so cool. They have a nice elevated headshot now, don't jump down my back because right now I have one of those headshot. But I am gonna be changing that soon, obviously. So BRB, but having A shoot that has been so intentional and detailed and strategic. I feel like these headshot are gonna really stand the test of time for me. And I have so many different looks for so many different locations and vibes. I don't think I'll need to go back to those very simple, typical, elevated headshots, I guess is what I'll call them. And then allow five hours minimum of shoot time if you're having more than three outfits and hear me out, because I didn't think that I needed this. And I ended up using this exact amount which my creative director told me, she's you actually need 45 hours minimum. Of shoot time to make sure that you're not rushing around and outfit changes and location changes. And I was like, I could do it in three hours. Like you don't know who you're talking to. I was a wedding photographer in Detroit and that's what I did. I was always on the go. I was always on the run. We can knock this out. We did. Can you really get five outfits done in, four locations? For three hours. Can you really, the answer was no. Okay. I thought I was a superhero, but clearly I am just a girl. So whatever, like you, you move on. So save yourself the heartache of having to add additional hours of coverage run around like your chicken with the head cut off being like, oh, I have extra time, or, oh, I need more time. What should I do? Just a lot for the five hours. Better to have more time than no time. And maybe that extra time could be spent on like details and styling and closeups. But I'm definitely feeling like I know at minimum I wanted 365 pictures, right? At least one for every day, if I'm gonna be dramatic. But bare minimum, in my head I was like 500 photos to shift through. Different looks, different locations, different outfits for the next three years will sustain me because really that's so much variety. And my brands also have different vibes. Like my programs have different vibes. And then essentially my brand itself is gonna have its own arching vibe. So I don't know, I like to think of things separately, but together. And so I'm like, okay, for the future, this makes sense for this. I might do though a mini session. For what the cinematic editorial is going to become, because the vibe is completely different. And I'm just gonna say it like that. It's Ooh, I almost said the nightmare. My signature offer, which is currently wedding, CEO is more of like eldest daughter, very much like iconic, older sister vibe, right? Like these programs have two different vibes. What was known as cinematic editorial is actually gonna turn into the artsy teenager, maybe early twenties. Like I'm a do me artsy version. And I feel like what's currently wedding, CEO is 1000% me, and I feel like. Cinematic editorial, which will change, is now gonna be like me in college, like an artsy college girl, and I can picture like a brand archetype for each of these programs. As people, it's so weird. Like I can picture it right now that I'm thinking about it. I was like, oh yeah, this program is definitely gonna be like very artsy, very like figure out who you are and it's just gonna be creative and messy. One of my favorite movies is, I'm obviously a two thousands girl. What was it? Confessions of a teenage drama queen with lindsay Lohan, and like her vibe going from New York to New Jersey and just like how eccentric she was and how just unabashed she was and people could not stand how she was so confident and her outfits were so crazy and I don't get her, she just didn't care. She just. Did it. And I just want that vibe to encompass like the confidence of that program. And then I also think about Princess Diaries when her and her mom were. Throwing darts at like pink balloons and how fun that was and how messy that was. I just feel like the artistic version of me, gets to have so much fun in that program. And then the signature program, which is wedding, CEO, is more of just like step into your power, like iconic, very editorial, but also girl's, girl. Of course. But she's not the one or the two, so she's gonna get it done. She's gonna have a good time. Everybody's invited. You can sit with us, but also we will do it iconically. And so just seeing how I envision that, how I want that to be perceived, how I want that to look. I already know that I'm gonna wanna do a mini shoot to really encompass the artistic program more. Be like, actually I want more of this, and these kinds of looks and I know how I'm gonna be able to achieve that. And it's probably gonna take another session.'cause it would've been a full day, like if I did both programs.'cause what I essentially did was like the Allure Rochelle brand. And then little hints of the wedding, CEO, but I didn't really give a nod to the artsy version, and that would've been at least two to three more outfits, which would've left me at eight outfits, an eight hour shoot. And there's no way I could have done eight hours because I was already so exhausted by five. And that's because I didn't eat. So that's in the list. Oh my gosh. Please eat something. I was like, I didn't have time. I was still buying last minute props. I bought Ramen. And then I was like, Hey, can I just buy some steamy noodles? And they're like, noodles to go, no sauce. Like no sauce just wanna buy some noodles on the side. And we made it work, so getting those last minute props that had to be, picked up that day was just okay, I had to get coffee, I had to get this, I had to get that. And I didn't have time to actually eat and that made me very sad. But I had a really good meal. When I came home and that's all that matters. So all that to say is a lot for time. You just have no idea how much time you're gonna need, maybe overestimate what you think you can do. In what time? Don't be like me and be I can do this in three hours, like five outfits. No big deal. It is a big deal. You do need more than three hours. Make the best decision, make better choices. That's what I say when I'm just not listening. I'm like, whew, hello. You gotta make better choices. The next thing is to create a pose, list, a schedule, and a timeline for outfits and locations leading to the next. This I did not have. I just eyeballed it in my brain. And then when I hopped on a call with my creative director, Jasmine, she was like, Hey, so do you have like a schedule, a timeline, a shot list? Do you have all this stuff laid out? And I was like, no. She gave me this very helpful guide where we laid out the outfits and then there was the pictures of the outfits. Head to location one in outfit one, right? And then location address was there, outfit picture was there. So that I could always look at that and be like, okay, I have to change into this exactly with this prop and this, that and the other. And so I just, I don't know, it was very much more prepared being like, what was I doing? when you're getting dressed so fast in multiple locations, I had suitcases everywhere. I had accessories everywhere. I was like, what am I supposed to do with my hair for this one? Like I get why people have a hairstylist on deck when they do these huge grandiose brand shoots. But I am very laid back in that way. I didn't want this to feel like a celebrity kind of thing. I just want it to be. Bougie, but low key, if that makes sense. But having a list of the poses that you wanted, even if it's a picture of the poses you wanted in that location, in that outfit. That is gonna save you a ton of time. And then ask yourself too what is the shelf life of this brand shoot going to look like? For me, I wanted this, and I have said this many times, like this is who I'm gonna look like for the next three years. If I get skinny, if I get bigger, this is who I look like. Okay? The picture you're looking at is me. It does not matter. Does that matter? What happens in my life? That is what I look like if I break my arm, it doesn't matter. I look like the picture on my website. But in the past, it was always a quick headshot exchange or like a mini brand shoot. And those lasted me three to six, sometimes 12 months, but it was anywhere from three to six months I would find myself doing brand shoots like every season. Now I don't know if anybody would like to do that, at the time I was just very excited to be a full-time wedding photographer. That was me just doing a little brand shoot every three to six months. So figure out for yourself, like how long you want these images to last. How many image deliverables minimum do you want or need? At least in wedding photography, as you're going through images and calling them down, like I always told them, Hey, like for 10 hours of coverage you can expect anywhere from 900 to a thousand images. So just like essentially being like 50 to a hundred images an hour minimum will let you know how many images you will or won't be getting back depending how much the photographer is shooting, how much you're stopping and changing, how much you're going to different locations. Like all of that will come together. We're flying by this list. But if you look, this is really a masterclass. This is like a mini masterclass something that seems so simple as a brand shoot can really go left if you don't have a plan. And who knew all of this stuff went into this? Who knows? So another thing, and this is if you're a photographer, we know that w weather changes and possible reschedules happen and the only thing that was unfortunate for me is because my timeline was so tight I did not schedule this early enough. We couldn't reschedule and so it rained. All morning and my beautiful curls fell out and I was livid. I was so mad. And the humidity just, it wasn't really humid, actually, it was just very cold and wet. Perfect ramen weather though, to be honest with you. But. It was wet, my curls fell off, and so I had to pivot with how my hair was gonna be and trying to like, maneuver that. It fell out and very loose, natural ish waves. And it's definitely giving, I woke up like this literally. But I think it's honestly though, because of the rebrand launch, like it's launching in April, Michigan is not beautiful until May, cherry blossoms bloom, I think in May, and that would've probably been ideal for a photo shoot for me. I love cherry blossoms. It reminds me of Mulan. I had the Mulan comb with the Barbie doll. Like I love, right? Nostalgic for me. Having a shoot at the end of March and it's. Here it has been 60 degrees, 30 degrees, 40 degrees, 70 degrees. It has been crazy here for weather. So I didn't know what I was gonna get. One minute I looked at it and it was sunny. The next minute I looked at it, it was cloudy, and the next thing you know, it's raining. And I think if you schedule at least one to two months in advance before you actually need the images. You'll have more flexibility to move the date in case of weather, move the date in case of, I don't know, sickness, like things happen. Life happens. It's almost like having a life happen proof schedule for things like this and really buffering. Between them, I feel like for me, everything, I had this idea in December, but I really didn't start moving on it like really moving until the end of February and I should have like my ideas took so long to come together clearly for me. I should have took a move on it in January, but I had so much going on with my strategies, trying to make them make sense, trying to make this rebrand, make sense, and honestly just trying to figure out what it was gonna be.'cause I had no idea. And so because it took so long for it to come together and I had this very firm, like this year I'm gonna be 35, I want this to be a birthday launch because I'm so extra. That I, it did not allow enough buffer time for things to naturally come together. And then when things naturally came together, it was like, all right, alo, you have a week to book this person. And thank goodness they were all available. Every person I reached out to was available and I was like, I'm really sorry. I have a tight timeline. Can we hop on a call like tomorrow? Zero outta 10. Don't recommend. Get your life together, right? I think there's a sticker collection. It's get your ducks in a row. The amount of times I've had to put that on my planner, like allure, get your ducks in a row. Your ducks are not in a row, yeah. Don't be like me. Allow for weather change. Allow for possible deadlines to be moved. Allow for any of that because you just dunno what's gonna happen. And having buffer time is good. And so a nod to that is gonna be allow enough time for the shoe and the deliverables and the turnaround time. To be efficient enough to hand off to the next service provider, which in this case would be my web designer. And so we've had to move our website launch quite a few times because she was like, I need the pictures. And I was like, oh, you need the pictures before you do the website? Oops. Let's move this. So a lot of moving around and me not realizing like how everything works together in tandem. And yeah, making sure that you just have enough time in between all the different people that you have hired to bring this to life. That they have all the tools they need to get it together and then also clear your schedule as much as possible. The week of and non-negotiable. The day of the shoot, I did not do anything. On the day of the shoot, I. No, that was my only priority. I did not want to have to hop on a call like I cleared out of office, but I didn't do that for the week. And so by the time that the shoot came around, I was quite exhausted with all of the calls that I had to be on. Let me see. Yeah, so I was on five calls that week and my kids were out for spring break which is fine because, they were taken care of. But it was just a lot of moving pieces and I pretty much. Try to manage as much as I can, before my husband gets home. And so having to delegate and manage all of that thinking about, and I was still making dinner taking care of the house, the management doesn't go away. So if I could have at least not had those calls, those five calls, and maybe they would've pushed the week before, I think I would've had all the props and everything taken care of. By the time I had to pick up my kids and I wouldn't have had to like maybe rush around so much through the week, finding pockets of time to wrap up last minute details. So that's what I would do differently. And then the last thing, this is number 10. Did you know there was 10? I didn't number them, but we're at 10. Take care of yourself. Day of day prior, go to bed early put on a face mask, exfoliate. I wish I would've exfoliated, but I was so exhausted, I just fell asleep. Eat something before the shoot. Something light. Of course, if you don't wanna feel like you're fighting for your life or you're bloated or whatever. Eat something light that will at least carry you for the next three to four to five hours. And drink lots of water. I forgot my water, you guys. I was so thirsty. Like we were driving to location. I was like, man, I really wish I could drink my water or like my electrolytes. Something I was thirsty and it was cold and rainy, and then the sun came out at the end of the shoot. Guys, make this make sense. Like it was so wet. I'm like jumping around puddles and then by the end of the shoe everything is dried up, the sun is out full sun and we're just living life, sunglasses, vibe, crossing the street. And I'm just like, what is this day people are gonna think These photos were taken on two different days. Crazy. Also being a model is exhausting, unpopular opinion. It is very exhausting to smile all day and pose yourself and think about your good angles, thinking about walking, and for me, like I studied fashion, the runway modeling,'cause I was a senior photographer actually at one time. And so posing like I know how to pose. I've had to emulate it for my couples, comes naturally to me, but like having to put one foot in front of the other to really be in these really awkward, moderately positions. But, it looks good, but it feels weird and awkward and terrible, like doing that for five hours straight with a two minute drive in between. It was exhausting. But at the end of it, me and my photographer were just like high fiving oh my gosh, we finished all of the film formats and we got some sun. We got to play around with locations, play around with light. At the end of the day, it was like, oh, I'm so glad we did this. I'm also so glad that it's over and now I can stay behind the computer in my pajamas as I'm recording this right now. And. Yeah. Okay, this is your mini masterclass, your official brand session guide, do's and don'ts. What I would've done differently, what I did, and let me tell you, like when you intentionally plant a brand shoe, it is really going to serve you. Because the visuals really bring everything to life. And of course, having more than just two headshots where you're looking to the left, looking to the right and looking at the camera with your hand on your hip or your hands folded. It's nice to have the personality, the bougie, the other archetypes that you can think of that really encompass your brand and you feel like your brand aesthetic is coming together.'cause you can visually see it and use these images. Forever. Like these images are yours for life, and so consider everything taken care of and now you can implement all of that into your web design, your posts, your content. You're good, like the hardest part is done. Showing up and getting photographed for hours, it does pay off. And like I said, I'd rather do it all in one day than having to spread it out over a couple of months. I feel really good. This is my official tips, and I hope it's helpful for you if you are in your rebrand era. I know a lot of people are rebranding actually right now, so maybe this is coming a little late. I do apologize, but maybe you have some thoughts. If you didn't get enough shots and enough poses, for the next one, you can make a plan, learn from my mistakes, and maybe see if you can. Make your next brand session stretch for 12 to 24 months, or like me three years because I'm about to get 600 images delivered to me. Amazing. Love that journey for me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this episode and if you wanna be the first to see when we launch the rebrand. A couple days before the public join the wait list and the show notes, and if you would love to raise your prices, book Less Weddings, make a hundred k and Beyond in your business. Join the wait list. Guys. We are launching some crazy bonuses and I cannot wait. I literally cannot wait to talk about it and tell you how we're gonna help you get the result even faster than ever before. And I don't know, I feel like by the end of this year, all of the new students that are joining, we're gonna hit$3 million in sales. We're already at 2.5, so I'm like, if a couple of you are booking weddings at your highest package and then you raise them, you're good. We're gonna hit 3 million as a sales program for wedding photographers, for female wedding photographers looking to uplevel their business so they can free up their time, be present for travel, friends, babies, what have you, life in general, right? All right, so join the wait list for that and I will see you inside. I cannot wait to show you everything. I'm so excited and I'm actually getting details ready for my pricing masterclass. How to book 10 K weddings. So there's a lot of good stuff coming on. You wanna be on the wait list for all of them. Okay? I'll see you in the next episode. Have an amazing week and I'll talk to you next week. Bye.