Streamline Your Photography Process
In this final article of this five part series I’m going to discuss how you can streamline your photography process.
Over the last four articles we’ve discovered the common topics business have difficulty with when it comes to photography, as well as broken each down to give you the best chance of overcoming them. In this final blog, let’s create a custom shot list and explore some tools to streamline your photography process.
Step 1: Create a Custom Shot List
A shot list ensures you capture all the essential images you need for different business purposes. What I’m about to share with you can be used as a customisable template based on your business type and goals. So, lets begin with….
1. Brand & Marketing Images
✔ Company logo in different settings (office, signage, packaging)
✔ Office exterior & interior shots
✔ Action shots of employees at work
✔ Behind-the-scenes photos of production or services
✔ Customer interaction (if applicable)
2. Product Photography (For E-commerce & Promotions)
✔ Individual product shots (front, back, side, top-down)
✔ Close-ups of textures, details, or packaging
✔ Lifestyle shots (products in use, styled setups)
✔ Size comparison images (e.g., holding a product in hand)
✔ Group shots (different products together)
3. Headshots & Team Photos
✔ Professional headshots of leadership and team members
✔ Group/team photos (formal and casual)
✔ Candid shots of team collaboration
✔ Staff working in their environment
4. Social Media & Content Marketing
✔ Behind-the-scenes (workshop, team culture, process shots)
✔ User-generated content (if applicable)
✔ Seasonal/holiday-themed images
✔ Flat lays (aesthetic overhead shots for Instagram)
✔ Memorable event moments (if applicable)
5. Event Photography
✔ Keynote speakers or presenters
✔ Candid moments of attendees engaging
✔ Wide shots of the event space
✔ Branded materials (banners, signs, merchandise)
✔ Team and guest interactions
Action: Pick the categories most relevant to your business and create a detailed shot list for your next photoshoot.
Step 2: Select the Right Photography Tools
Cameras & Equipment (For DIY Photography)
• Beginner: Smartphone with a good camera.
• Intermediate: Ideally a DSLR or mirrorless, which can be cropped censored.
• Professional: Full frame DSLR’s ideally, shooting RAW files.
• Lighting: Softbox lights, ring lights, or natural light
• Tripod: A good solid tripod for stability. I personally use 3LeggedThing tripods. My personal opinion is that they are currently the best on the market.
Photo Editing & Enhancement Tools
• Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop – Professional-grade editing
• Canva – Quick and easy templates for branding
• Snapseed (Mobile) – Easy touch-up for social media photos
• Remove.bg – Removes image backgrounds for clean product shots
• TinyPNG – Compresses images for faster web loading
• Adobe Express – The quick and easy create-anything app.
Storage & Organization Tools
• Google Drive / Dropbox – Cloud storage for easy access
• Airtable / Trello – Organise images, assign tasks, and track usage
• Adobe Bridge – Manage large image libraries efficiently
Automation & Scheduling Tools
• Later / Planoly – Social media planning with image previews
• Hootsuite / Buffer – Automate post scheduling with analytics
• Google Photos / Apple Photos – AI-powered sorting and backups
• Adobe Express – I mention AdobeExpress again because this is the platform I use and would recommend.
Step 3: Finalise & Implement
✔ Customise your shot list based on your immediate needs
✔ Gather the right equipment & tools for in-house or professional photography
✔ Schedule & plan regular photoshoots for fresh, engaging content
✔ Set up an image storage system for easy access and organisation
✔ Measure performance by tracking engagement and sales metrics
Until next time,
Be Creative. Be Inspired. Be You.
This article is the transcription of a podcast episode from The Visual Storytelling Podcast. To listen to episodes discussing similar topics to this one, as well as others, check it out via the following links.