Booking a brand shoot is exciting right up until the moment you realise you now have to actually be in the photos.

I know this because I hear the same things on almost every planning call. Not because my clients are particularly anxious people – most of them are confident, capable women who have built genuinely brilliant businesses. But there’s something about a camera that makes perfectly reasonable humans start catastrophising about their arms.

So here’s what people actually worry about – and an honest assessment of which bits are worth your attention and which bits you can put down.

“I don’t know what to wear.”

This one is worth thinking about – but not in the way most people approach it.

The mistake is trying to find something that looks good in photos. What you actually want is something you forget you’re wearing. If you spend the whole shoot tugging at a neckline or crossing your arms over your stomach, it will show. Not because you look bad – because you feel uncomfortable, and cameras are annoyingly good at picking that up.

Two or three outfits is plenty. One slightly more polished, one more relaxed. Try them on before the day, move around in them, sit down in them, and if anything makes you want to immediately take it off again – leave it at home.

We sort this on your planning call anyway. You’re not doing it alone.

“I don’t know how to pose.”

You don’t need to.

Posing is my job, not yours. Your job is to show up and have a conversation. I’ll move you around, suggest small adjustments, and tell you when something looks good. Most of the best images from any shoot come from in-between moments – when someone’s laughing at something I said, or looking back over their shoulder, or just momentarily forgot there was a camera in the room.

The clients who arrive with a Pinterest board of poses they want to recreate are usually the ones who find it hardest to relax. Come with references for the feeling you want – not the exact position you think your chin should be in.

“I haven’t lost the weight yet / I need to sort my hair / I’m waiting until…”

I’m going to stop you there.

I’ve been doing this for nearly twenty years and I have never once thought “shame she didn’t wait.” The women who book and show up are always glad they did. The women who wait are still waiting.

Your photos will look like you. That’s the point. Not a filtered version, not a thinner version, not a version from three years ago when you felt more ready. You – now, as the business owner you’ve actually become.

“What if I forget something important?”

This is the only one I’d gently push back on, because the answer is: you won’t, because we’ll have sorted it beforehand.

Every shoot starts with a planning call. We go through outfits, props, locations, what you need the photos to do, and anything that’s been quietly keeping you up at 3am about the whole thing. By the time you arrive, there’s nothing left to chance.

It’s ok to bring just a few things that represent your work – a laptop, a notebook, something from your process. Not a van full of props, just a few things that tell the story of what you do. But don’t worry we’ll figure this all out before hand. And if you do want to bring lots of things to personalise the space… thats ok too.

The thing that actually matters

It’s not your outfit, not your weight. It’s not knowing what to do with your hands.

The one thing that genuinely affects how your photos turn out is whether you’ve given enough thought to what you need them to do.

Where will they live? Website, social media, a press feature, a speaking bio? What do you want someone to think when they see them? What’s the version of you these photos need to show the world?

When you know that, everything else falls into place. And if you’re not sure – that’s what the planning call is for.

If you’re thinking about booking a brand shoot and the thing stopping you is any of the above, drop me a message. We can have a quick chat and I’ll tell you honestly whether you’re ready – and if you’re not, I’ll tell you that too.