5 STEPS TO CRAFT A COHESIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE FOR YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS
Your visual aesthetics is the first thing your potential customer is going to notice when they come across your business profile.
Unfortunately, it’s no longer enough to simply take pretty pictures. Wether you make bespoke cakes or pottery, you want to create a unique, cohesive feel and look for your brand that will instantly speak to your dream customer when they land on your page.
This authentic ‘feel’ is what will also help you to convey your brand personality and help you current audience and customers to recognise your content when your pictures show up on their feed.
Bright & airy or dark & moody are probably two most popular ways to go about on Instagram when it comes to creating consistency. However, there are so many other ways to induce your personality!
Today, I would like to share with you my top 5 tips to create a cohesive & authentic photographic style for your creative business!
ESTABLISH YOUR VOICE
It's the most crucial step for creating consistent brand imagery! If you want to build that authentic look for your business, you need to take your time to define your brand voice and values.
One of the main reasons people press that follow button is because you make them feel something when they look at your creations.
What feeling do you want to convey when people look at your work?
Write down 5 to 10 adjectives that best describe your brand, and keep those at the back of your mind every time you photograph your creations.
It will also help you choose every element you want to include when taking pictures, including props, backgrounds, lighting, composition, styling, or editing.
If you need some inspiration for this, you can create a secret Pinterest board and pin some images based on what you wish your feed to look like. It will also help you choose fonts, writing style, and any other visuals you need for your social media platforms.
Here are some adjective examples:
Minimalistic, elegant, soft, feminine, warm
Positive, inspiring, vibrant, creative, friendly
Green, organic, zero-waste, minimalistic, simple
You get the idea!
EMBRACE YOUR COLOUR PALETTE
When it comes to brand recognition and building a cohesive photographic style, colour is definitely the most powerful tool out there.
Working with a chosen colour palette will help you narrow it down to a very specific look! It may sound a little restrictive, but it’s highly effective!
You want to choose 1-3 main colours that compliment your brand mood and personality. Reference those anytime you create content, and make sure at least one of your chosen colours is present in your image, so you keep your aesthetic consistent.
Remember that you don’t have to stick to the same color palette throughout the year. For example, it can slightly change with seasons. Incorporating other points mentioned in this blog post will help you to keep that consistent look, even if your colours vary from time to time.
CHOOSE YOUR ANGLES
When I see super wide and dreamy flat lays on my feed, I know it's Janani @skilletoplate. When I see elegant, zoomed-in dessert shots from above, capturing beautiful textures, I know it's Thalia @thaliaho.
By limiting yourself with a few different angles of view, you can create consistency within your work and instantly help your audience to recognise your brand.
It doesn't mean that you have to stick with those angles all the time, but having those few angles that you master and make your own, will make your brand stand out instantly.
This way, even if you have something slightly different to photograph from your usual creations, you won't have an issue fitting it in with the rest of your work, because the framing/angle itself will help you to create that consistency.
LIMIT YOUR PROPS
Another great way to create a cohesive photographic style for your creative business.
Props and backgrounds are a big part of food and craft photography. It helps you to create the mood and tell your brand story.
You want to gather a set of props that represent your business and compliment your creations. The props your collect don't have to look all the same, but they must communicate with each other and fit in with your brand personality.
What style of props would go together with your creations? Is it bright and colorful? modern and minimalistic? Or maybe vintage and rustic? Stick to that style of props to create that authentic and consistent look.
If you are unsure what type of props to choose, go back to those 5-10 words you have written about your brand.
EDIT YOUR IMAGES CONSISTENTLY
Editing is another super powerful tool that you can use to create a consistent look & feel for your feed.
Even if you have two completely different images, with the power of editing, you can bring those together and make them look like they are a part of the same story!
Being very specific with your editing process will help you create that extra special look that will be unique to your brand and help your audience to recognise your work.
When I edit my images for Instagram, I tend to make them quite warm (see an example below). I love adding a little bit of pink or red tones to my shadows. I also lift my shadows a touch to create that dreamy, cinematic look.
Retouched image
Original image
Here are some of the main editing steps you can use to create a cohesive photographic style for your creative business:
White balance - it's a super simple and effective tool to use when trying to change an overall mood of the photograph. Adjusting the color temperature slide will make your images look slightly cooler (crisp and fresh) or warmer (cosy and comforting).
Individual color adjustments - it's a great tool to eliminate colours that you don't want to be present in your images or tweak individual colours, so they look consistent in every shot you share.
Colour balance - this is where a lot of magic happens! By adding some colour to your highlights, midtones, or shadows, you can create a super unique look for your images.
Highlights and shadows - whether you want to create an extra vibrant & punchy look or muted & calm, adjusting highlights and shadows will help you make the mood you are trying to convey for your brand. You can adjust those by using different editing tools like curves, contrast slider, or highlight and shadow sliders (or all together).
Saturation - adjusting the overall saturation is also a great way to change the overall mood of the image.
Noise - a very subtle adjustment, but if you are trying to create that vintage look, adding some noise to your images can give you another layer of consistency in your work.
There are many preset packs that you can purchase, which will give you a distinct look. However, they often need tweaking when applied to your images. If you decide to use them, I highly recommend spending some time getting familiar with the editing process so you have control over it if you need to do some adjustments.
BEFORE YOU GO…
Enjoyed this blog post, but would like to dig deeper to learn how to create stunning photography for your creative business? Master the art of visual storytelling, scene styling, creative editing, and much more?
My 1-to-1 online photography course will launch in March, with only a limited number of spots available!
Join the waiting list to find out when my e-course opens for registration first!
