When people tell me that they’d like to do their brand photoshoot at home, it fills me with equal parts…terror and excitement.

I love doing shoots in real homes. It can give your clients a real sense of who you are, and obviously you’ll feel much more relaxed too.

But what I look for in a shoot location and what you see are two different things…

I’m using Alison Rooney’s shoot (at her home) as an example of when it works really well.

Alison is in the middle of launching her new business TISH and wanted some branding photos to show who she is, behind the business.

Brand photoshoot at home

But it can be a problem if you haven’t considered these points…

Do you have enough space?

Though I generally travel quite light (just me and my camera and a bit of extra lighting), is there the physical space for us both to be in a room and get photos?

Lots of us tend to use the smallest room in the house for our office, and that often means that there isn’t enough room for me and you…

Does it matter to you whether your home fit’s with your branding?

If the idea is to simply show up, in your natural environment to give your clients a glimpse into your world then it doesnt really matter what your home looks like.

But if you were wanting the photos to be in keeping with your brand, and that happens to be very different, then it might be worth considering hiring a location.

Is there plenty of natural light?

Though I have no problem using flash or external lighting to brighten up a room, my preference is natural light (and that’s what gives luminance to skin in my photos).

If there are rooms that are particularly dark, or at certain times of the day the light moves, then plan around it.

Once you’ve decided home is definitely the place for you, think about these things before your shoot:

Tidy up

You’re not going to want underwear drying on the radiator or piles of laundry in the background, but dont worry about going too crazy.

We’re not selling your house (anyone else done the crazy cleaning before a house viewing… only for you to need to do it again within about 10 minutes). And we can move things if we need to at the time.

Flowers

Fresh flowers always look nice in the photos, but consider getting some fake ones instead. They’re more sustainable and you’ll get to use them again if you take any of your own photos at a later date.

Decide on the rooms

Choose the rooms you want to use beforehand, but also be open to using other areas. What you might think will work, might not work from a photography point of view

Consider moving furniture if the room you want to use is too small. For this shoot with Alison we moved her desk into the livingroom – where the light was best.

Props

Grab a box and go around your house and choose props that reflect you and your brand. It means you’ll have them to hand when the time comes.

Only then, consider buying anything you havent got.

Most of us have so much stuff in our house that we can use in photos but we forget about them and buy more!

Clothes

Have a dedicated changing space with all your clothes laid out ready.

It will save you time on the day and we can have a look through to see which outfit will work in each room.

And if you’re looking for gorgeous props for your own shoot definitely check out Alison’s business…

Website – Tish (shoptish.co.uk)

Instagram – tish (@tish.uk) • Instagram photos and videos