You attract your dream clients by shooting your dream work. But strong creative shoots don’t happen by accident—they take planning and intention!
In this post, I’m sharing how to plan a creative photoshoot from start to finish, from coming up with the initial idea to the actual shoot.
Together, David and I combine photography and set design to create colorful, surreal images. We photograph everything from album covers to celebrities, fashion editorials, and tons of personal creative work. Here’s the process David and I use to plan all of our shoots, and how you can do the same to create a stunning creative shoot of your own.
Step 1: Come Up with a Concept
Every strong creative shoot starts with a concept—an idea that guides the shoot. It’s the message or story you want to convey through your photos.
Sometimes, the concept comes easily, while other times, it can feel challenging. David and I usually bounce ideas around until something excites us both. Your concept can be as simple as exploring emotions like loneliness or love, or as complex as a theme like identity or transformation.
If you’re feeling stuck, here is a free download with 5 creative exercises to help you brainstorm ideas. Once your concept is in place, you can move on to gathering inspiration.
Step 2: Gather Inspiration
Inspiration is all around! You can look to photography books, movies, or even social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.
However, it’s important to stay true to your vision and not just follow trends. The goal is to create original work that feels authentic and meaningful to you.
Inspiration can also come from your surroundings—a model’s unique look, a piece of wardrobe, or even the location you’re shooting in.
Step 3: Make a Mood Board
Once you’ve gathered enough inspiration, bring it all together in a mood board. I usually make mine on Canva, but you can use tools like Pinterest, Photoshop, or other platforms. Mood boards are a great way to visually communicate your vision, especially if you’re working with a team.
A mood board can include everything from hair and makeup ideas to styling and location references. This helps everyone involved understand the look and feel you’re going for.
Step 4: Build a Narrative
We love to create a narrative for each shoot because photographers are storytellers. The key difference is that our entire story must be told in a single frame.
Having a clear beginning, middle, and end helps guide your posing and strengthen the overall concept.
For example, in one of our shoots, we created a narrative that involved a character on a journey, giving us a framework to pose the model and create the setting around her. This narrative helped tie together all the creative elements and ensured the concept came through strongly in each shot.
Step 5: Creative Preparation
Creative preparation is one of the most important—and often overlooked—steps in a photoshoot. This is when you start thinking about how to use elements like color, lighting, props, and styling to support your concept.
For example, in one of our photoshoots centered around loneliness, we chose blue as the main color to convey the feeling of being “blue” or sad. Instead of going for dark and moody lighting, we used bright, high-key lighting to show that the model was isolated in a stark, sterile environment.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to use color, lighting, and set design to elevate your shoots, I go into much more detail in my ebook, The Creative Photoshoot Guide. Use the code CREATIVEPREP for $10 off!
Step 6: Stay Organized
Organization is key when planning a creative shoot, especially if other people are involved.
A call sheet is a great tool for this. It outlines important details like the shoot location, arrival times, what everyone is expected to bring, and a loose timeline of the day.
Being clear and communicative helps ensure everyone is on the same page and things run smoothly.
Step 7: The Shoot
Once the shoot starts, stay focused on your original concept. Ask yourself: What poses or body language would best communicate this concept to the viewer?
Be vocal and give clear feedback to your model throughout the shoot. At the same time, stay open to new ideas and happy accidents that can improve the shoot.
Sometimes the most unexpected moments—like a light not firing—can actually enhance the creative process.
Hold on to your original vision, but allow space for creativity and spontaneity to flow during the shoot.
Planning a creative photoshoot from start to finish takes intention and preparation, but it’s well worth it. While it’s possible to capture great photos on a whim, if you want to start attracting clients and working with a team, having a clear process will make it easier to execute your ideas.
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If you’re ready to dive deeper into creative shoots, my ebook the Creative Photoshoot Guide, goes into each of these steps so much more and is packed with posing prompts, a template for reaching out to models, and an example call sheet.
I really go into the creative aspects of a shoot like color theory, lighting, and set dressing - so you can snag that if you want a complete guide - and remember you get $10 off with the code CREATIVEPREP
Happy shooting!
