Want the inside scoop from not one, not two, but THREE branding photographers? In today’s episode, I’m continuing my series all about branding, and honored to introduce you to brand photographers Meg Marie and Tara Dunn. We’re giving you a behind the scenes look into branding sessions, plus the inside scoop on the planning process, maximizing your next shoot, styling, and more. 

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Today’s episode is brought to you by The Green House, my resource garden for photographers! Let me help you AMPLIFY your heart online and in real life to turn bridesmaids into future brides through templates, workshops, and freebies!

Review The Show Notes:

Meet Meg + Tara (4:08)

How Meg + Tara Connected (5:25)

Working Together On A Brand Shoot (6:25)

Preparing Your Clients For The Camera (7:45)

Crafting Your Brand Vibe (11:20)

Capturing Your Vision (14:13)

The Production Of A Brand Shoot (16:54)

Being The Client As A Photographer (21:39)

Choosing Confidence (26:33)

Mini-Sessions Versus A Full Brand Shoot (31:06)

Gallery Delivery After A Brand Shoot (33:01)

Utilizing Your New Brand Session (35:51)

Capturing B-Roll At The Shoot (39:39)

Key Tip From Meg + Tara (45:44)

Connect with Meg:

Instagram: instagram.com/meg_marie_photo

Website: megmariephoto.com

Connect with Tara:

Instagram: instagram.com/taradunnphotography

Website: taradunnphotography.com

Review the Transcript:

Quianna: Oh, Hey, beautiful. We are crushing this branding series. And today I am honored to welcome not just one professional brand photographer, but two with myself of surrounding to this conversation, you’ll have access to three branding photography pros to share more about the branding experience from three different perspectives.

As we continue sharing a ton of information to help prepare you for your next branding session, I literally can’t think of anything better to include in this podcast series. Then to remove the lens cap and share the behind the scenes of a branding photographer experiencing a branding session for her own business.

Think of this episode as a backstage pass to a branding session, like the behind the scenes of the behind the scenes. In this episode, we’ll cover the planning process, prep, maximizing your next shoot, styling and intentions for your business, as well as deliverables for branding photographers. Meg Marie just recently photographed a branding session for Tara Dunn, and I’m thrilled to share more about this experience.

If you’re considering a brand session soon for your business, this is the episode to tune into. Also, if you’re a photographer, oh, hey, babe, I see you whip out your notebook. This is going to be a good one full of lessons, a mic drop moments and business advice for your next photo shoot. Even though I’ve only known Tara Dunn for about two and a half years, we grew to be fast and forever friends in life and business.

Tara is a talented branding photographer located right here in Arizona. She focuses on personal branding, home design, photography, drone footage, and small business coaching. Tara is also the ultimate connector and community leader hosting monthly meetups through the group she founded called Connect and Belong.

Together, we share a passion for helping entrepreneurs feel welcome, seen, and supported. This summer, Tara invested in mentoring with Meg Marie Photography, located in San Diego, California, and celebrated the closing Of her coaching calls with a branding session with Meg. This is what sparked this podcast interview.

As Tara’s biz bestie, I had a front row seat to brainstorming outfits, generating ideas, and helping to articulate the visions Tara had in her head for this session while still leaving room for magic. Collaborating with Meg was an honor, and I can’t wait to introduce you. Meg Marie is a talented photographer, six figure business owner, proud mama of two beautiful boys, and I love that her and Tara have that in common.

Meg believes that your branding images are so much more than a pretty website and endless content. Working with Meg helps build your confidence. Create possibility and walk into every room with pride. Clearly, you can see that we have many business values and missions aligned. Even though I personally have not met Meg in real life yet, I’ve been a mega fan since I pivoted into more branding photography.

As a multi passionate entrepreneur, I obsess about knowing all about the behind the scenes. I want to know how other business owners think, what their prices are and why. I love asking questions to help me understand their business choices. For example, when do they know they’re ready to invest in their next mentor?

How they handle sticky situation with clients? How to run a business that’s ready to scale? What to prioritize to elevate your next brand session? Every time we invest in our business, we’re embracing change and connection. Tara and I both will be tuning in from the Gilbert Mesa area here in Arizona, chatting with Meg from San Diego, California.

I’m so excited for this conversation. Without those notebooks, let’s get ready to party. Please welcome Meg Marie and Tara Dunn. Welcome to Kiana Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen. Photographers who are excited to serve their clients.

And friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at KeanuMarie. com slash podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart.

Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go.

Introducing Meg + Tara

All right. All right. Welcome to the party. Ladies. I am so excited. So honored that both of you can join today for this conversation and We’re gonna have so much fun. Oh my gosh. So please, please, please introduce yourself and tell me one thing that you love the most about your job.

Meg: I’ll go first. I’m Meg. I am a brand photographer based in San Diego and I have two toddlers, two boys.

If you can still count three and a half as a toddler, I’m not sure about that one, but I love being a brand photographer because You get to work with like minded people who are like equally as passionate about what they do and doing their work as you. And it’s just like, I could talk to my clients for days and they get it.

And I just love, I love working with business owners.

Quianna: Amazing. Oh my gosh. And what about you, Tara?

Tara: I am Tara Dunn. I am based out of Gilbert, Arizona, very close to Kiana. And I am a brand photographer as well. And I have two boys also. We’re very similar in this. My boys are seven and nine. So motherhood, being a wife, being a business owner, all of the hats and Some of them get more attention than others at times.

So we’re still working all that out.

How Meg Marie + Tara Dunn Connected

Quianna: I love that so much. And I love that you are both powerful branding photographers, also juggling life, business and being a mama. This is incredible. So please share with me, Tara, how you connected with Meg, and I’d love to hear more about your mentoring experience with her recently.

Tara: Absolutely. So I was a part of a mastermind a couple of years ago. And a few of the girls in there said, are you following Meg Marie? And I said, I don’t think so. So I went on Instagram, looked you up and I found you Meg, and I have been following you ever since. So for the last couple of years now and have just loved everything.

that you’re about, your genuine heart, your authenticity, and just kind of followed along, and I would see that you were offering things every once in a while. I signed up for a few mini courses and little offers, and then I think I DM’d you and asked if you did one on one coaching, and at the time, I didn’t know this, but you told me later that you had one more spot, and then here I was in your DMs asking for you to coach me.

That’s

Quianna: amazing. Oh my gosh. And then if you can please share a little bit more to how you got to experience the brand shoot after your mentoring experience, right? Like I want to chat about that.

Tara: Yeah. So we worked together for about four months, one on one. Diving deep into offers that I had and different things that I was doing.

I’ve been a part of different masterminds and I was about to launch and lead a mastermind myself and bring together like minded businesses. So Meg worked through that from start to finish and not even finish, but completion and to launching as well as going through my website, auditing my galleries.

Really from the inside out all the things and we ended our coaching together in at the end of July. So just recently, and at the end of that, I booked a branding session with her as part of my coaching package that I chose and was able to head over to San Diego with one of my best friends and experience.

everything that you do, Meg, which was pure magic. That’s, that’s what I’ll say for now. I’ll go, I’ll dive deeper soon.

Quianna: I love that so much. And if you’re listening now, this is literally exactly what this conversation is about. We are going to uncover and take you literally behind the lens to experience what this branding session was like.

And, and before we even really go into the details of the shoot, Meg, I love to ask you. What are some questions or what are some ways that you prepare your clients before they even step in front of your camera?

Meg: Love it. Well, luckily Tara, I had, you know, four months of coaching with her as well. And so we were like kind of going back and forth a lot on our sessions and boxer about details.

And that’s like my favorite thing to do is just help with all the little details. But typically the first thing clients get is the brand questionnaire. When they book me, I try to send it like that day through HoneyBook and it’s a questionnaire they can start to dive into to just understand, like get more clarity in the brand vision and the photoshoot vision.

So some of the questions on there are like, what is your bigger vision for your business? Like where do you see your business going in the next three years? I think that’s really important. So, cause you want to think about. Not where you currently are when you’re planning your brand shoot and like the identity you’re currently in But like where are you going?

So I really like to like hear the bigger vision and what they might use the photos for are they gonna maybe start speaking or? Launch a mastermind like Tara was doing that’s really important and helpful to know before planning the photo shoot What else is another question like just getting a feel for it.

Some clients will have like more of a dialed in vision than others and like really, um, you know, they’re visionaries. A lot of my clients, a lot of our clients, like entrepreneurs, like they have the vision, right? So we, they have the vision and we’re more the GPS to help them get to that vision and fill in the gaps.

So it’s kind of like that collaboration of like, well, what, yeah. Do you have a Pinterest board now? Do you have photos? Who are your brand inspirations? You know, sometimes I look at their website template and I just want to know like what is their vision. What did they want first? And then I can take that and like really run with it and help them fill in the details.

Everyone’s different. Like some people will have a bigger like shot list and a really dialed in vision and they already have their Pinterest board. Whereas other clients, they need more support with that. And they like, don’t even know where to start. Um, so the brand questionnaire is good for like getting clarity.

And one more question I want to share from that. Yeah. Everybody is like. Just knowing what are your brand vibe words, like I’m so big on this and in our world of chat GPT, like knowing your brand vibe words, then knowing your core values and knowing like your brand voice is really helpful. And that’s kind of the start of the vision.

Knowing, like, what is, like, the mood and vibe they want to bring to life in the photos. Like, Tara, some of her words, like, she wanted really, um, just, like, professional, minimal. She has a little more of, like, a minimal aesthetic. Neutrals. She loves wearing black and neutrals. I had to really like, you know, talk her into adding pink in there!

Tara: Yess! Thank you!

Meg: I had to like really talk you in, but it’s like, I respect that. Like if you like neutrals and you like the simplicity and the black and white and that, that luxury feel, cause that can be considered like pretty luxe when you’re more kind of simple. I’m about it. Like I’m about bringing like their vision to life, but also offering my expertise work like where it’s helpful.

Quianna: Absolutely. I’m so happy you mentioned that too, because we’re going to organically bring up so many fun tips and fun conversations. And one thing I loved kind of brainstorming with Tara and helping kind of bounce ideas was coming up with those vibes, right? So I would love Tara, if you can share a little bit more about the vibes and what exactly Meg meant by that.

And then also too. As you’re kind of sharing more about the thought process behind those vibes, how we started incorporating those outfits and what was on your mind when you were trying to create that look for your business?

Tara: Yes. Just starting out where you first asked the question, honestly, without your help, Kiana, I would have been even more lost because Meg really held my hand quite a bit.

Maybe her not knowing that you held my hand up until she started holding my hand. So I appreciate both of you beyond words and just thinking about where I am now and where I’m headed as well as what I want to showcase, which. is always authenticity first. So then from there, I’m like, I don’t want to be trying to do something that I don’t normally do or trying to wear something crazy that I normally wouldn’t wear.

It’s fun to dress up and Meg and I talked about this, like just having that a little bit more elevated look and something that is a little bit more dressy that maybe I don’t wear every day, but it is something that was either in my closet or something that I enjoy trying on and that I bought for myself, whatever it may be.

But having that different story that you’re telling yourself. So I love Meg that you’ve used, like, what is this brand story? What is this one? Because it’s not just telling the story of me as a photographer. It’s. telling the story of me as an entrepreneur, as a small business owner, as a mom, as a wife, as all of these things.

And even though I was by myself, I was able to show all of these things. Like, it’s very important to me to move my body every day. So we ended on the beach and had a more athleisure outfit on. And there was some of me reading a book and doing different things that I do when I am by myself and not with a camera in my hand.

So having these different stories to build upon really helped find where my outfit inspiration would come from. And having the examples on Pinterest, whether it was posing an outfit or either one, showing me just examples because sometimes it’s hard for me to figure that out in my head and I have told both of you I think but both of you are such intuitive visionaries that you have a clear picture in your head and sometimes I have to dig a little deeper so I’m always so grateful for any suggestions from both of you.

Quianna: Yes. Well, this is so important too, especially like one of the things we talk about a lot, Tara, is your goal right now is to get that backyard, right? Like you have your home, it’s beautiful. It’s a custom build and you are working really hard to envision that. And you’re already this incredible host. So can you share a little bit more about what that felt like to be in this beautiful location?

We’re gonna chat about how you source that beautiful home in San Diego and what that looked like. At least I think it was in San Diego. Was it in San Diego? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we’ll chat about sourcing it, um, but how did it feel to have Meg capture you in that space? How did it feel to know, Hey, I’m envisioning this and I see this for my future and now having photographs make it so much more real.

I’d love to kind of chat about that too.

Tara: Absolutely. You said you hit the nail on the head there for sure. Just envisioning myself in that and knowing that this is possible. And Meg has used this location multiple times with other clients and even for herself. So I kept seeing it come up and that immediately when I knew I was going there for the photo session, I knew I wanted to try and get that spot.

There was just a beautiful sitting area outside a pool and all the things and little vignettes that I knew I wanted in our backyard. It literally is dirt right now. So it won’t be very soon, but we’re trying. Um, we’ll get there. And it was just so nice to feel that because when I think about myself in two years, three years, five years, it’s in that backyard with people.

And so serving others and letting other people use it and inviting everybody over to enjoy it and have a space here too. So it was just extra special to know that it is possible because I was sitting there in it rather than just having it on my mood board or on the back door in our bathroom so we can stare at it every day because it’s literally there.

So

Quianna: it is there. Oh my goodness. I love

Meg: the space. I had to pull this up when we were talking about brand words and stories because I was like, what were your words again? Confident, minimal, timeless, authentic, and beautiful. Were your brand vibe words that we landed on? Yeah. And so that kind of informed the location.

Quianna: Definitely. Yes. I love that. And I’m so happy that you brought that up too, because when we are in that planning mode, there, like you mentioned earlier, there’s going to be clients that, Hey, this is what I’m looking for. I see pictures of it in my head. Can you please source this for me? Right. And then there’s going to be other people that are like, I have no idea.

Can you just send me options and I’ll tell you yes or no.

Meg: Yeah. It’s great to have options. I’m sure you use Peerspace, right? Yeah. Yeah. I like use Peerspace almost every photo shoot. My client books appear space, um, because it’s so easy to use. It’s like, I call it the Airbnb for brand photo shoots.

airspace. com and it’s just like easy to find beautiful spaces and book and

Quianna: yeah yes oh my gosh i love it so meg i would love to do a little deep dive with you now as far as capturing this branding session with tara and what did that feel like for you and i would love to Even go a little bit deeper in the posing and the actual production of the shoot and, and how branding images are so much different than posing a bride or maybe posing a mom for family photos.

Can we chat a little bit about how they’re similar and how they’re very different?

Meg: Well, it was an honor to capture Tara. I, it’s always an honor as a photographer to capture another photographer. And like, she’s such an incredible photographer, admire your work girl. And I know how connected with you, like you are with your community and how much you show up for your people.

So I was invested, you know, from the start and making this amazing for you. And, you know, as we should be as brand photographers and we are, and like, so in terms of the production, like what really helps me is like that pre planning phase. And that experience with the client of like doing going through the questionnaire on a zoom call, making the shot list, going over your Pinterest board.

And once we have that, then I can make like the photo shoot map and I really break it down by outfits. I personally think going in with like a couple ideas of poses for each outfit is for me, it’s very, very helpful as a photographer and as the client. And I think what’s different is like, so when I was a wedding photographer or family photographer, I feel like It was more weird, especially on a wedding day.

Like, cause there’s so much going on. You want to be focused. You don’t want to miss a moment. You don’t want to like pull out like a Pinterest board or like be fumbling and like, what post can I do next? Like you have to move pretty quickly. Whereas I think on a brand shoot, you have the luxury to take a little more time, be more intentional.

plan ahead. I print, I try to print the photoshoot map on for every client or I’ll pull it up on my phone and I’ll like, look, we’ll talk it over. We’ll look, okay, what’s our game plan for this outfit? Like which poses are your favorite? And I think it helps. The photographer helps us, you know, cause we can get like stuck and forget, like, you know, we’re not, we’re creative, but like, there’s so much we’re thinking about that sometimes we’re like, ah, what’s the new post to do?

So it helps us, but it also helps the client with just feeling confident and kind of knowing where they’re going. And just like, I think posing, I think it’s similar to weddings and families where like, it’s good to have confidence and posing your clients, tell them exactly what to do, show them the pose.

That’s always helpful. You know, be mindful, understand posing of like where to put their hands, where to look, ways to turn their body that look flattering on camera, know the angles, you know, all the things. Um, so it’s similar to that, but I think like, it’s just, you can take your time more with brand photography.

You can slow down, you can look at the vision board. You can. Breathe. Like, I feel like that is a big difference compared to when I was doing other types of shoots.

Quianna: Yes. Yes. Well, and the first thing that comes to mind as I’m literally downloading this and listening is it, it feels like as a wedding photographer or like a family portrait photographer, you’re documenting history happening unfold right in front of you, right?

And then as a brand photographer, we have the luxury of creating history, right? We have the luxury of. Creating that vision and those first impressions and um, that online presence that you’re craving to create. And, and that’s where we come in as artists and photographers and creatives to bring that vision to life.

I just think that is so cool.

Meg: I love what you just said. We’re like, instead of capturing history, we’re creating history. That is so true. Like we are, that’s the difference is like, we’re the creative directors with our clients. Like we can kind of like decide what the photo is going to look like. And you just made me remember another big point.

Obviously we Are going with a whole different mind. Well, maybe this isn’t obvious for some people. It’s obvious to us. We’re going in with a whole different mindset of like crops and framing based on where the photos are going to be used. And we want more negative space. We want more horizontals to work with than like traditional portrait photography.

We want that variety, like full body, three quarters, some headshots, you know, just photos that tell the story of the brand, or that can be useful for marketing in certain places on like the website. Or their blog or whatever their next launch is, the sales page. So like that’s a huge difference too, right?

Is that kind of shift in that mindset?

Quianna: Absolutely. Making room for negative space, making room for all the things they need and kind of being a magician to let, like create something out of thin air, I think is so beautiful. Yes, so okay, so Tara, I would love to swing it back to you and I would love to hear more about your experience as a professional branding photographer to be in front of the camera.

I would love to hear what was going through your head and what type of perspectives you had for being the client. What did that feel like?

Tara: So I have had a common theme this year and I am saying to my clients that they are choosing to be confident in front of the camera so then their clients and their audience can be confident in trusting them with serving them in any capacity, whether it’s marketing materials, website, whatever it may be.

So I really had to put that hat on as a Entrepreneur in front of the camera at this point. So walking in, I kept telling myself that I even said it out loud. A few times Meg reminded me throughout the entire shoot, like you are confident, you are beautiful, you’ve got this. So that was super helpful. And even having the photo shoot map that she talked about, it’s a, it’s quite a few pages, 15 ish pages, and we went through each of it, the brand stories before I started.

And it really helped me get into that because we put so much time and effort into making that. She put all the pictures in there, put the outfits that I sent her photos of me in the outfit. So I knew this is what we want to do. And it was so nice to not have that on my mind. Yes, I brought to the table.

500 boxes of props and outfits and all the things and moved in for a couple hours, but it was so nice to have that laid out for me so I didn’t have to think about that and I could just Listen and be present where my feet were planted. As she said, lean against here. Actually, let’s move to the side.

Let’s put this here. And one of the things, Meg, that I loved about your questionnaire, just to bring that back real quick, was, is there anything that you would About yourself or anything you want me to know prior to your branding shoe. And I think

Meg: the

Tara: questions

Meg: like, is there any, like,

Tara: or it didn’t say insecurities, but because you, yeah, definitely look, cause you worded it so well and it really made me think, but I, I did mention something and she was so aware of that, that all, I loved all of my photos.

There were, I think

Meg: it’s like, is there any parts of your, like anything about your body you want me to be aware of that you don’t want to highlight? Yeah, no, that is so important to give people permission, like to just put it out there and like there, we can like, you know, pose a certain way and avoid, you know, some people don’t like their profile and they’re not going to use those photos of their nose.

I get that sometimes people don’t like the profile of their nose. So I’m not going to take photos that highlight that, you know, if that’s not their like favorite part of their body.

Tara: No, definitely. And I think that That almost put me at ease because I knew you were aware of that. I was aware of that. And then we didn’t have to talk about it.

I didn’t have to keep saying like, Oh, my nose, my arm, my hair, my leg, whatever it is, like, I didn’t have to keep bringing up what was something that I was insecure about because it was already out there done and over with. And I feel like that helped me feel more confident as well. We also had your assistant, Dahlia, there, and she was doing behind the scenes, both horizontal, vertical, all of the things, moving the lighting, and it was so nice to just have this well oiled machine moving around and going to different areas and different aspects of the home, because it just felt so seamless, and the time went so fast.

We were actually at the home for three hours, and It was a little exhausting, so I don’t know if I would have wanted to be there for five, but we could have been there for five because there were so many options. Yeah, it goes

Meg: by like. Three hours feels like 30 minutes. I swear.

Tara: It literally did. Even with changing my outfit, I think three or four times.

And then also having all the different things that we wanted to make sure that we captured there and having that photo shoot map, I feel like made all the difference. And I use something similar with my clients, but it’s much less extensive. And you let me see how Much that can bring how much value that can bring having that for you as well as your client.

So that was so helpful.

Quianna: Yeah, no, this all sounds incredible. And I’m kind of picking up. There’s this thread throughout everything that you shared with confidence, right? So it’s your confidence started to skyrocket once you realized Meg was confident, right? Like you had the, The planning guide, you went through the prep, you created your vibes.

You had your outfits, you had basically like a mini timeline and checkpoints throughout the day that you want to make sure you grab. And one thing that you mentioned Tara, that I want to circle back to is the fact that you have, like you chose. Confidence. You made that decision to show up and to be confident.

And I love that you mentioned this is something that you’ve been working on this year and you are doing it. You are absolutely just glowing and skyrocketing into all these opportunities. And so I just would love to dig a little bit deeper into that. And I’d love to ask you, how are you choosing this?

Like what, what, what triggered this choice and how are you actually living up to that?

Tara: I think I noticed a common thread over the last couple of years of people coming in, whether it’s in my home studio that’s directly behind me right now, or meeting them at the location that we chose for their shoot.

And the second they get there, they were saying, Oh, I’ve never done this. Or, Oh, I’m worried. Or, Oh, it’s like this emotion that’s coming up. That’s the opposite of being confident. And I have been making sure on our calls before our connection calls before we have a photo shoot that I’ve been saying, I want you to know that you’re choosing confidence for that.

And I just kind of kept going and maybe someone said it to me, but I just really wanted to reiterate that taking a deep breath and stepping into this and choosing confidence because the photo shoot is for you. But it’s also so you can get yourself out there and be as you are, who you are and unapologetically yourself.

And I feel like that is really a huge thing to help people connect with one another. We’re doing this social media, marketing, blogging, websites, all of these things. And they’re seeing these static images or they’re seeing these videos. And in order to connect with you, it’s going to look so much better if you’re choosing confidence rather than Coming here with wishy washy or like, Oh, I don’t know what to do.

I don’t know how to pose. And I think that does start with us as the photographers, as well as instilling that in our clients prior to them coming over. And I definitely noticed the shift since I’ve been trying to post more about this and say more about this and talk to more people, and it’s created something that has given me the confidence to show up for myself as well, this, this, this.

With you, Meg, that was my very first photo session that I’ve ever invested time, money, I won’t say energy and effort because Kiana and I have done many photo shoots that involved a lot of that, but I will say the actually physically investing in myself with an incredible photographer like yourself, that was my very first time and it felt different and it was different.

And it, the experience that you created for me let me know that That’s what I would love to give my clients as well. So thank you.

Meg: Oh, you’re welcome. It does feel really good to invest in ourselves, like in a big way like

Tara: that.

Meg: And I feel we do show up a little differently. And I think this is like, I think for me, I like this.

There’s so many different types of branches we can offer, but like, I like going all in and like providing this kind of more luxe experience for my client or not even luxe, but Intentional experience because the worst thing and by the way, before I forget, I just have to say choosing confidence. Oh, it’s so good.

I think you need that like on like a shirt and you need to brand that and make like a sticker, like choose confidence. You make like a sticker and send it to me. I will. I’ll write that down.

Tara: I will. You

Meg: got it. I love it. It could be a book title too, girl. Yeah.

Quianna: Oh good.

Meg: You never know. You never know. But okay.

I just, I know how it feels to sometimes like to like put half effort in a photo shoot and then get the photos back and you’re like, I didn’t really like what I was wearing. Why did I do that with my hair? I should have gotten this. Oh, I don’t have photos for this thing I’m watching. Oh, I could have done that.

And it’s like, that’s why I love just like getting so intentional and like going all in because. I don’t know. It’s just, it’s fun and you, you’re excited about the photos and that final product and you’re excited to use them and you, you share them more and you’re more proud of them and it helps. Your confidence and your pride in your brand helps you raise your prices and helps you be seen as that expert that you want to be seen as.

Quianna: Yes. I love that so much. And in fact, Tara and I, we talk about this all the time and trying to describe the difference between a mini session and a full brand session. Right. And I feel like when you’re ready to book a mini session, sometimes it’s a teaser. Sometimes it’s a little taste of working with a new photographer, or maybe it is your favorite local photographer that you’re working with.

And you’re just creating this. injection of fresh photos, right? Like a new headshot, something fresh, something new for your feed, for your social media. And I feel like those are just great for maintaining, right? For like staying consistent with your brand. And maybe you have a new launch that you’re launching or an upcoming event and a new collaboration or something, or a podcast interview that you’re excited about and you’d like a new headshot.

Those are fantastic, but there really is something to say about investing in a full brand shoot where you get to decide exactly anything that you want for your shoot. Right? Like it almost feels like creative writing where it sounds really scary. Like you don’t know where to begin, but there’s so much.

So much power in investing in a professional photographer, just like any of us that we’re going to guide you. We’re going to help you. We’re going to answer those questions. We’re going to dig even deeper and cast that vision really, really big for you. And it’s just so fun getting to work with clients and in different aspects, right?

Depending if they need that quick mini or the full brand. And I just love that.

Meg: That’s so true. And like, yeah, many sessions are great, but you can’t get as like custom. As you can, if you book your own, you know, more full day, half day, just a longer solo session for yourself. Then it’s like that blank canvas.

You just said you get to start and create whatever you want.

Quianna: Yes. Oh my gosh. I love it so much. So Meg, one thing I’d love to ask you, cause as all of us photographers, we all do things very differently, right? I feel like on a blanket statement, a lot of us are using very similar cameras. We’re all using Lightroom, right?

We’re all using Photoshop here and there. And a lot of the stuff in our systems are similar, but I would love to ask you, what does your delivery look like? So when you are sharing your images with your clients, what exactly are you delivering and what can brands look forward to when working with you?

Meg: Yeah. So I want to start with saying I used to choose all the photos. Cole and myself edit the photos and give them to my client. One day I was after a client photo shoot for whatever reason. We decided to get a drink at the hotel. We finished that. And we were like, she’s like, I was like, I want to see the photos.

I’m just too excited. I want to show you. So we popped in the memory card to my laptop and we’re going through the photos. And she says, Oh, this one, this one. I love this one. And I’m like, really? And in my mind, I was like, I would have not kept those and I would have kept these. And that was like the huge shift for me of like, wait a second.

I think I should let my clients choose their favorite photos of themselves that they actually like and want instead of like me deciding what those are. So that’s a big part of my life. Experience. I love to let the client choose their favorite photos. So I do call and I’ll give a sneak peek. I’m not as fast as Tara.

I admire Tara. This is what makes Tara incredible. You guys, if you need photos quickly, you get you have a very quick turnaround time. My turnaround time is about seven days. Within that week, they’ll get the sneak peek and the proof gallery of hundreds of images, and then they go through and like start their favorites.

And then I include a different amount in each offer. So like many sessions are 10 photos and they can always buy more. Um, my brand glow up is 50 photos. And then like, my full experience is a hundred photos and they can always add more photos if they want. A lot of people do add on more, but, um, that way they’re choosing what they want.

And then I’ll go in and do the final edits, which takes about three weeks after that. It’s kind of my process.

Quianna: I love that you brought that up because I think sometimes. I agree. Like I feel like as a photographer, I think I know best and I’m going to just kind of sideswipe through these photos and not select those and I love that you are giving your clients that choice.

And, uh, yeah, no, I think I’d love that deliverable.

Meg: Yeah, that one’s important to me. It actually takes more time for me to like make the proof gallery and then get their favorites and then flag them. Like I understand some photographers like to like, Just do the picking for it, edit and give it them all over.

And that can be quicker in a way. I don’t know. I just, this works for me. It works for my clients. And I think we just have to test and see like what is working for us and our clients in this season, like what people get feedback from your clients, you know, send surveys, see what they want, what they like.

Quianna: Yep. I love that. Yes. Co creating with your clients is so important. And oh my gosh, I love that. So Tara, I’d love to sing it back to you, babe. And now that you have your gallery, now that you have those gorgeous deliverables that you have for Meg, I see you, I see that you’re posting them and it’s been so fun to see them in your feed and updating your profile pics and all the fun things.

So how are you utilizing this new brand session?

Tara: Literally using them for everything and everything. I went and updated. a few photos on my website and I didn’t want to use them all at once because I’m trying to like save some of them but I so updated my website updated my profile photo on all platforms and as well as using them for some carousel posts and just like explaining how to work with me and one of the biggest things that Meg and I went over was like our standards our business standards and what we Want our clients to expect from us.

And that has been a huge thing that I want to put out there. And I know that using my photos and the photos that we created together for that will really show who I am and what they’re getting when they work with me. So that was one of the biggest things. And I want to keep putting those out there. for each part of the process, like the whole process.

And then I’ll kind of break it down for each one as the weeks go on right now. I do have a question for you, Meg, real quick. This just popped in my mind. I wondered if there were photos and you don’t have to like tell me which ones, but I wondered if there were photos that you were like, why did she pick this one?

Now that you said that, because I do that all the time with my clients.

Meg: If anything, I think. I get attached emotionally attached to my photos and I’m like, Oh, she didn’t pick this one, but I, sometimes I’ll like throw in some extras or I remember for you, I think I put in some extra horizontals and detail shots.

Cause I was like, these detail shots are beautiful. And she chose the vertical, but not the horizontal. I’m just going to put the horizontal. I’m just going to include the horizontal. Cause I know you’ll find a way to use those when you’re like designing things. Definitely. Sometimes that happens. And if it’s like a really favorite one of mine and I’ll just add it for the client.

Cause I’m like, this has to be in there.

Tara: I love that. No, I did notice a few, and I appreciate you so much because you delivered so many sneak peeks. And then I chose my 100 and then. There was 152 in the gallery or something. I was like, she gave me a few X.

Meg: I like giving sneak peek bonus bonuses. I

Tara: love that.

No, and I know it varies depending on each person, but that really like just having this bank of images where I had my makeup done, my hair was done. Every, these outfits were curated. They’re all looking. decent until the very end where we were on the beach and I have curly hair. So my hair started to go a little crazy, but still I’m like, no, this is still me.

Like I still love them from start to finish from this whole beautiful day that we spent. almost seven hours together. So it was just something that I know that as things come up, or I’m launching different offers, I can use different images because I had six different outfits on, if not more than that.

Meg: I want to note that on your shoot, we stopped for a happy hour break and that was really awesome. And I don’t know with every client, but with my favorite clients, sometimes we sneak that in. If you’re, you know, open for it and we can like, you know, We have time to do that. It’s really fun. That was so fun to talk and connect because sometimes during the photo shoot you’re so focused on like the shots you’re getting and the all the details that fun to just slow down for a minute and connect with clients.

Tara: Well, Kiana and I might need to come and Take another visit to you soon. I know. I know.

Meg: You’re always welcome here in San Diego. Always.

The Power of Behind The Scenes

Quianna: Oh my gosh. Thank you. I love this so much. I feel like I can talk to you girls about this for hours and hours. And one thing I did want to mention, um, as we start to wrap up is I would love to learn more about the behind the scenes.

So that was one thing I was obsessed with, with Tara, with your shoot. In fact, I even, um, sent Nini, the friend that was with you for the shoot, I sent her a little, like, Little cheat sheet on capturing B roll for you, but you had an assistant with you, Meg, to capture B roll. So I would love to hear from you, Meg, like, what is your intention with B roll and why are you prioritizing it for sessions?

Meg: Yeah, totally. Well, we all know video is so important now with the algorithm and video trumps photos and the algorithm. So we need both clients really need both. And thanks to the beautiful iPhone and like technology, it’s so easy for us to get beautiful videos for social media. They don’t have to be shot on a professional camera.

I do not know professional videography. So I’ve been doing this for years, just like With every photos outfit and story we tell I get a few videos and with Tara session because she got like my full like magnetize your brand session for that session. I do include an assistant who does videos as like a bonus.

You get extra extra videos with some of my other offers like people can add that on. They can have an extra sister assistant. But even if it’s just me, like I like to make sure I’m getting some videos in every outfit that they can use. Also, this is a trick. This is a confidence hack. So I feel like it’s more intimidating when we whip out a big camera and like you kind of freeze versus like when you pull up your phone and you just like take a selfie, you’re just confident selfie.

So I haven’t noticed this with clients. If I start by doing some video clips first, I tried to do it first, um, in the outfit to kind of warm them up. Let’s just have you walk towards me, you know, let’s have you type on your computer And just talk like you’re, or talk on, pretend like you’re talking to a client and I’ll get a video clip of that.

It just like warms them up and I feel like it helps them be more natural than for the photo. And like sometimes people do something really like, I don’t know, creative or fun. That looks good. And I’m like, Oh, let’s do that again for the photo. That looks really good. So I don’t know. I just like the flow.

I’m like video and then photo and then video and photo. And I just get into this flow of doing a little both with each outfit and tripods help too. You can like set up a tripod, get your behind the scenes, time lapses and all of that by just clicking the button, you know, on your phone.

Quianna: Yes. Oh my gosh.

This is so important. And I am just so obsessed with behind the scenes. I feel like it is the easiest way to truly capture your behind the scenes of your business. Right? I feel like we are always trying to prove ourself online. We’re always trying to find the most ideal clients. And sometimes we have to take that reflection and be like, wait a second.

This is why I’m worth the investment. This is why I’m the authority in my business. And having that phone, like you mentioned, just whip out and start recording. So easy. What a great and easy and simple way to market your business. Just doing what you love. And oh my gosh, I love that. Especially on branding session days because you’re literally investing in your business.

You’re investing in all the fun things that you’re doing and people want to see that. They want to be a part of your journey. Totally.

Meg: And photographers listening, if you’re not doing this, you’re falling behind. I’m just being, keeping it real. Like we, we, I want to challenge all the photographers listening to this.

You can get some video clips for your clients. Focus on getting 10 video clips for five seconds each. That’s a minute of filming total, you know, during their photo shoot, maybe like five. I try 15 seconds each is probably a sweet spot. Sometimes I do longer ones as Tara knows I gave her a ton because we had an extra person there.

So we got a lot, but. Anyone can do this. Anyone can do this. And it’ll be a huge value add for your clients when they get those videos. And it helps with your marketing as well, you know, cause you can share that for your own marketing as a photographer, tag your client. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve gotten from just sharing the BTS, tagging my client on stories, and then they reshare to their audience.

And I’ve booked clients immediately that way who are like, I just saw you did so and so shoe. And can I book a session with you? Okay. Like that has happened more times than I can count. So it does really work for our marketing. So Yeah, get on it. Yeah, make sure you do

Quianna: it

Tara: I will to add on to that. I will say that that is something that kiana taught me a couple years ago I Literally would call her after a shoot and I’m like, I forgot again to take out my phone, like I didn’t do anything.

And it’s, it took practice for me. So the two of you, very intuitive and you just know when to have it out. And it wasn’t even that I was afraid to take it out, I literally forgot. Literally forgot. So it’s something to practice and to get used to. And like you said, starting with those three, five, 15 second clips, just having something there really helps.

Quianna: Oh my gosh. I love this so much. Is there anything else that you girls would like to add to planning a successful brand session?

Meg: I feel like we covered a lot. Um, I guess my last tip would just be. Have like a team of experts you can refer for like hair, makeup, wardrobe stylists, because a lot of clients do want that and will invest in it, but not if you don’t offer it to them.

And so like, if you offer it to them and just simply like, I will literally do just text to wardrobe stylists, Instagram, and a DM to my client and say, here’s who I recommend. And sometimes they book them and they love it. And that is a way to add and like so much value to your brand and client experience.

Um, just by referring the right people to work with.

Quianna: Yes, that’s powerful. And I feel like that elevates you so quickly as an, as an added value to our clients to have those resources for them, right? It’s like, there’s nothing better than when a friend says, Oh, I know a gal, or I have a hookup for you. And maybe it’s just, just that initial connection is what you’re looking for, right?

Yay. Okay. So I have one more question for you girls, and this is totally, I think you just answered this Meg. So if you want to just say that was my answer, that’s fine. One question that I love to ask every single guest, what is your key tip? What is something that you wish you knew sooner or something that you would love to share with an entrepreneur today?

Meg: What’s coming through? What is that like? You can do business how in a way that feels good for you. And I think in my first few years of business, like studying marketing and social media and, and all branding and all the things and looking at other photographers or business owners, I thought they’re doing it this way.

So I need to do that, but there’s literally hundreds and thousands of ways to run your business. And it’s just about like finding what feels good and aligned for you in this season and it’s going to change and it’s going to evolve.

Quianna: Beautiful. I love that so much. What about you, Tara? Do you have a key tip?

Um, what I keep

Tara: thinking of is exactly what I just did, but investing in yourself and whether that starts with a branding session or starts with some Just giving yourself the permission to find a mentor or find someone to work with or whatever that may be, but finding a way to invest in your business and show who you are, show your client experience and get yourself out there.

And if that starts with you having a tripod and doing some behind the scenes on your own, then that is fantastic as well. Um, but otherwise we have three. Of many branding photographers here ready to work with you.

Quianna: Yes, I love that. And I just want to highlight to Tara how proud I am of you for reaching out for those mentors.

And now you are elevating yourself to be a mentor yourself. And I just think it is so incredible. And you’re doing it, you’re making it happen. You are educating, you’re coaching, you’re bringing communities together. And I’m just so proud of both of you. This is so exciting.

Meg: Thank you, Kiana.

Quianna: Yes, so how can we connect with you?

So I’m definitely going to be tagging the photos from your shoot, Tara, to showcase this brand shoot, the exact one we just walked through. So I can’t wait to kind of share some sneak peeks about that. And how can we connect with you, Meg?

Meg: Yeah, I am on the on the gram on the Instagram. Um, I feel like that’s where we hang out as photographers.

Um, so it’s at Meg underscore Marie underscore photo Meg Marie photo, or you can go to Meg Marie photo. com and check out stuff. I’m currently going through rebrands. There will be a new website there very soon.

Quianna: Yeah, exciting. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. And we mentioned this before, but just for people who are listening and where are you located?

Meg: San Diego. But originally from Washington state. I’ve been in San Diego like almost 15 years now.

Quianna: Amazing. Oh my gosh. Well, you’re basically local. That’s amazing. And what about you, Tara? How can we connect with you? Um,

Tara: I am on Instagram at Tara Dunn photography and also my website taradunnphotography. com.

Pretty easy. But I will be there. I’m in my DMs fairly often. So it will be me getting back to you.

Quianna: Incredible. Thank you so much for your time today, ladies. I feel like we learned so much and, and this is what I love about these conversations is they’re sparking ideas. They’re sparking inspiration, whether you are a client looking to get your photo taken, or you are a seasoned photographer.

Experiencing a pivot, wanting to get more into branding. We are on the other side. We are here cheering for you. The grass is greener. It’s green, wherever you water it. We’re just so proud of you. And thank you for listening. Oh, wow. I feel like this is a sign to book your next brand session. You have three incredible options for alignment with your next photographer, and I’m so grateful you joined this conversation.

Yes, we covered a ton about branding photography, but I want to leave you with this reminder that your business will absolutely soar once you become business besties with your competition. I say that so it rings the bell and you understand what I’m talking about. to get on the same page here, but my best friends that run very similar businesses.

Aren’t even my competition. They’re my visionaries for what’s possible. They helped me navigate difficult business decisions and growing pains. They celebrate my wins super tiny and super big and pick me up when I’m feeling knocked down and overwhelmed. This is your sign to show up to events. Put yourself out there and build genuine friendships with business owners that make you feel like sunshine.

We are fiercely cheering for you, babe. If you found this episode helpful, check out the entire branding series and please share with a friend in the show notes. I’ll also be linking the blog posts. So you can see the images from this session to help spark ideas and just really feel I don’t know. Just excited for Tara in this recent shoot is just so beautiful.

Can’t wait to connect next week. Keep on dancing, baby. Okay. Love you. Bye. That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie Weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at kianamarie. com slash podcast. I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app until next time.

Keep on dancing.

Behind The Scenes Content – Take a peek BTS at Tara’s branding session with Meg Marie!

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