The power of asking questions...

The power of curiosity and asking questions leads to better outcomes.

That applies to all areas of life, including your lifestyle portrait session.

The other day, I had a pre-session strategy call for a branded lifestyle portrait session with an upcoming speaker client. 

She and I have known each other for a couple years, and I’m pretty familiar with not only who she serves, but also how she solves her clients' problems.

During the initial call, we went over a lot of details about her business, some I knew, some I didn’t, but either way, it helped shed massive light on the types of photos we needed to capture for her image content portfolio.

While I felt pretty confident that we could put together a comprehensive shot sheet based on my existing and new found knowledge of her personality, business and brand, we, nevertheless, scheduled a deep-dive strategy call. 

During this call, I ask a variety of questions that probe deeper than the surface, which reveal specific wrinkles and nuances into the experts' process for how they serve their people. 

During the call, I peppered her with a variety of questions that kept her on her toes. 

She shared a wealth of details that helped flesh out the types of activities that needed to be captured during the session. 

By the end of the call, she shared a deep appreciation for the time spent answering all of these hyper-specific questions that were posed. 

She mentioned how she never would’ve thought to include all of the additional props that were now on the list to be used in front of the camera. 

By “props,” I’m referring to the materials that are essential to the work she does with those she serves. 

As a result, she feels that the photos will be a more genuine reflection of what her world looks like, and will be more motivated to use them all over her entire online presence. 

At the end of the day, that’s the goal of the call :) 

As we said our goodbyes, she remarked that although she was excited for the session the moment she booked it, going through the strategy call process and ironing out so many fine point details has inspired her to feel not only ready for the session, but confident that she’s getting so much more from this experience than she originally anticipated.

At the end of the day, that’s yet another goal of the call :) 

Before you set foot in front of anyone’s camera, you need to talk things out first. And by talk, I don’t simply mean to discuss logistics and outfits.

Talk about the finer details. 
Talk about the tools of the trade. 
Talk about how the sausage is made.

This conversation leads to creating image content that truly shares your world with those you serve. These are the types of visual assets that invite them in to learn more about how you can help solve their problems. 

At the end of the day, that’s the goal of your investment in photos 🙂

For more visual storytelling strategies and insights for experts, I’ll talk your eyes off through my blog. Sign up to receive them directly in your inbox, and if you have any questions, set up a time to chat with me and then I’ll talk your ears off, too :)