California Lifestyle Brand Photoshoot for 9 Months of Content

Photography

This California lifestyle personal brand photoshoot took care of 9 months of content for me. I know, wild right? I walked away from this weekend photoshoot with about 400 usable images and 100 video clips. How I did it you ask? Let’s dive in!

A DECISION

Last year in quarantine, I obviously wasn’t able to do many photoshoots. I spent the year piecing together old photos and trying to get a ton of shots of myself to fill my Instagram feed. I felt well, bored. My content wasn’t inspiring me and I was spending so much time creating it.

So I decided to change things up! I challenged myself to create batch content for 1 month, then 3 months and things kept building from there. I learned a lot from these challenges and started to bring it into my client work.

Going into 2021, I didn’t want to spend my whole year running around trying to snap photos of myself again. I trusted the process I had created and I wanted to invest, big time! So I did.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

I set a goal of shooting 9 months worth of content in a single weekend. For me, 9 months includes 5 posts a week and one of them has to be a video post.

This required strategic planning on my part and prepping my husband to be my photographer. To get the ball rolling, I grabbed inspiration from a competitive analysis of accounts I love on Instagram. I then created mood-boards and reassessed my brand themes.

From there, I created a 1 month content plan that felt good to me. Then I added my secret ingredient to help me maximize content, minimize effort and remain consistent. (More on that in another blog post, I promise!)

Next up wast to find a location that matched my brand vibe, colors and themes. I dug through Peerspace & Airbnb options in the Palm springs area and found this gem, Villa Leche Palm Desert.

Finally, I added wardrobe and props to go with my brand style guide and brand themes. This was a California lifestyle photoshoot in Palm Springs, so it had to have a pool for lounging. I also wanted to reflect my fun and mostly laid back personality. And of course, pizza!

BEHIND THE SCENES

When we finally showed up to the house it was more amazing than I could have possibly imagined. With its many rooms, beautiful outdoor space and an amazing pool it was perfect for a California lifestyle brand photoshoot.

Due to COVID limitations, my husband was my photographer and I did my own makeup. While my husband and I had a ton of fun at this shoot, I hope to next year relieve him of the task. I also would have preferred to have someone help me with my makeup.

My main challenges in this shoot was taking care of it all and making sure I didn’t get too demanding with my husbands energy. We also rented a Gimbal and the learning curve was not fun. (For reference, I won’t be using one again.)

THE END RESULT

I could not be happier with the results of this photoshoot. I invested in myself and my goals and it paid off, big time!

I have everything I need for content this year and it feels amazing! I’m excited to focus more on my client experience and build up other parts of my business. (Hello YouTube channel, I’m coming for you!)

While I technically don’t need anymore content for the year, I know I will probably create reels as I go, show some client work and add in anything else that comes up in my life. But otherwise, I’m done with content for the year! Take a look at my sample gallery below to see a snapshot of the content I created.

Any questions? Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or email me directly. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Location – Villa Leche Palm Desert

Wardrobe – A mix of Nuuly & Lulu’s

Photographer & Videographer – Danielle Polini & Husband

Camera – Sony A7RIII

Date – February 2021