The Top 5 Reasons Why You Need to Do a Styled Shoot | Chattanooga and Cleveland Wedding Photographer

I recently participated in another styled shoot! When I was packing up my equipment, I started thinking about all the amazing benefits when you take photos at a styled shoot and that’s when it hit me! I have never talked about the key reasons why you need to take part in one! There are so many relationships and connections you can make from doing styled shoots that I wanted to list my top five reasons on why they are important and how they can positively impact your business!

Create Content For Your Portfolio

When you attend a styled shoot that has several couples and stations to work with, you can create so many photos! You can use these photos for your website, social media, portfolio or anywhere that can benefit your business! Attending a style shoot during the slower months of the year especially during the winter is a great idea when you’re not typically booking a lot of sessions.

Make Connections With Wedding Vendors

One of the best reasons to participate in a styled shoot is so you can make connections and meet with local or regional wedding vendors! Wedding vendors may or may not find you organically on social media, so meeting them in person and working with their products and services at a styled shoot is great way for them to see you in action! When you tag them on your posts or stories, they will share your content as well which will get your work in front of more eyes and they might recommend you to future couples!

Practice Without The Stress Of a Real Wedding Day

Shooting weddings can be stressful, am I right? Making sure you get that perfect shoot between the bride and her dad, checking off your list of all the family formal portraits, and having a back up plan at the venue in case it rains. Taking photos at a styled shoot takes away that stress to just let you practice and shoot! You have the opportunity to figure out your style of shooting, how to work with a couple, and learn how to pose models so you can be ready when you do shoot a real wedding. No, a styled shoot isn’t going to be exactly like a wedding, but you can take all the risks there that you wouldn’t take at a real wedding.

Learn Different Lighting Scenarios

If you’re an experienced photographer, you know that the best time to shoot is during golden hour since it provides the best light of the day. But what if you are hired to shoot a wedding in the middle of the day, with no open shade? There will be a lot of harsh light and you will need to know how and where to place your clients so that afternoon light isn’t hitting them directly in the face. Taking photos at a style shoot where you can practice with all kinds of light is super amazing! If a lighting situation isn’t good, you can direct the models to move to a another location and try out different poses to block the light.

Do You Have New Equipment?

It is always exicitng when we buy new camera bodies or lenses because we want to start using them immediately! It’s like being a kid at Christmas! But we most likely aren’t going to be able to know how as soon we pull it out of the box, especially if it’s a completely new brand of camera we have never used. So why not start using it at a style shoot! Like I said earlier about taking this time to practice for a wedding, this is the best time to try out your new camera or lens! Of course, bring your back up equipment just in case something goes wrong or you can’t quite figure out your new camera just yet.

I hope these tips have been helpful and hopefully you are more convinced as to why you need to sign up for a style shoot! I absolutely love participating in them and it’s great way to improve your business in so many ways! To see some of my images from past style shoots, click on the link below!