Christmas Product Photography: How to plan a successful Christmas photoshoot for your brand

If your brand requires festive commercial photography or videography for Christmas 2023 campaigns, then it’s time to start planning!

Whether you’re looking to commission Christmas food pictures, Christmas drink images or Christmas product or lifestyle photography, believe us when we say that it’s never too early to start preparing for the festive season.

When should you start planning your commercial Christmas photography campaigns?

We know it seems mad, but if you’re reading this in Spring 2023, you really should be working on your brand’s Christmas photoshoots now.

If you’re reading this in the Autumn or later, hopefully, you’ve got the 2023 Christmas campaign wrapped up and are already thinking about Christmas 2024?!

We know from experience that, for most of our clients, the sooner they have things planned and shot for Christmas, the better.

One thing you don’t want is to be rushing around in the autumn (or even later!) trying to get photography and videography created for your festive campaigns.

Time flies in the countdown to Christmas. Leaving things to the last minute just leads to unnecessary stress and panic in those final weeks, and we know that’s hassle you don’t need!

We work on Christmas photoshoots (almost) all year round!

We’ll let you in on a secret….here at Giles Christopher Photography, the fairy lights and baubles don't even get put away!

As experienced commercial photographers with our very own custom-designed photography studio here in south west London, we have worked on a countless number of Christmas campaigns over the years.

From experience, we know there’s little point in packing all our Christmas photoshoot props up. That’s because our first Christmas photoshoots usually get booked in during April, and they just keep popping up throughout the year after that.

There are really only a handful of months in the year when we aren’t thinking about Christmas!

While for some that might seem tedious, personally, we love it! We relish the opportunity to get going with Christmas product photoshoots early each year because we know that forward planning is key to a successful Christmas photoshoot.

Starting early helps us to ensure the best possible results for our clients. When you contact us about your Christmas photoshoots in good time we’re more likely to be available, and we’ll have plenty of time to source fabulous Christmas photoshoot props and Christmas photography backgrounds to suit your festive campaigns.

With that in mind, in this blog, we’re sharing our top tips on how to successfully plan your next commercial Christmas photoshoot. We’ve learnt a thing or two about planning festive photoshoots over the years, and thought we’d share this with you to help you prepare.

Three things to consider when planning your brand’s next Christmas photoshoot

So, onto the tips…

Here are three of the key things we feel you should consider when planning your brand’s next commercial Christmas photoshoot. These apply whether you’re commissioning professional Christmas food photography, Christmas drink photography, Christmas product photography or people and lifestyle photography.

Christmas photoshoot planning tip #1: Define your creative vision

This may sound obvious, but you’ll need to know what you’re ultimately trying to achieve with your Christmas photoshoot before you begin discussions with a photographer.

Any photographer you contact will need to fully understand your creative vision and to understand what, if any, constraints they’ll need to work within. This will then enable them to generate an accurate commercial photography quotation, and to plan your photoshoot thoroughly.

At the beginning of the process, your photographer will ask you lots of questions about the Christmas campaign you’re planning and an outline of your specific requirements. Having this information mapped out is essential to make sure everything runs smoothly from the start.

For example, we always ask our clients questions such as:

• Do you have specific dates you need to shoot around?

• Will all your products/people/food dishes/cocktails be approved and available by then?

• What exactly is to be photographed?

• Where will the photoshoot take place? (Studio or on location?)

• Do you have any reference images as a guide to what you’re looking to create?

• How many people will be on the shoot from your/the Client's team?

• What’s your photography budget?

We believe that it’s far better for us to understand the full picture early on than to have to make lots of changes to the creative later. If things aren’t fully thought through beforehand, it may lead to unexpected additional costs further down the line.

Christmas photoshoot planning tip #2: Decide on the theme and colour palette

It can be helpful for the photographer to know if you have an overall colour palette and theme in mind when planning a Christmas photoshoot. With knowledge of this, they can help make sure the visuals tie in with each other and that they create an engaging narrative.

Your festive theme could be anything from traditional decorations like holly and berries to more modern takes such as presents and snow globes, or even elves and Father Christmas.

You can also incorporate classic Christmas themes such as wintery scenes with snow-covered trees, fairy lights and glistening stars. Or, you may opt for something more subtle like muted Christmas colours, rustic decor and foliage elements which create a clean and simple Scandi feel, or a more futuristic Christmas theme.

Yes, even at Christmas, the creative opportunities are endless!

Generally, we would recommend that you choose colours for your Christmas photography that complement your brand or that reflect traditional Christmas ideas such as festive greens and reds.  Alternatively, for something more pared back, you could choose white winter wonderland scenes or icy blue backdrops with silver sparkles.

Christmas photoshoot planning tip #3: Create a thorough photo briefing document for your photographer

Once your campaign’s theme and colours have been pinned down, it's important to share these in the form of a photo brief with your chosen photographer and stylist. They can then use your brief to source and book appropriate crew, equipment, props and shooting space to complement your creative vision, bringing it to life.

From your photo brief, your photography team can plan, book and confirm the following:

1: PREP: How many days will be needed for preparation and the sourcing of props and backgrounds, and will these need to be hired or purchased?

It’s important to realise that when shooting out of season, there may be more limited availability of festive props, locations and people, and more time may be needed to source Christmas trees, fairy lights, Father Christmas costumes, sets and accessories.

**SIDENOTE:

Setting up a photo shoot out of season can be tricky, especially when it comes to having a good selection of festive props.  It never ceases to amaze us how resourceful our amazing stylists are when it comes to sourcing Christmas photoshoot props in the middle of Summer.

It's worth looking into these websites if you're looking for specific items such as Christmas trees, fairy lights, snow or even a Father Christmas! Not only do they have a great range, but they also have some interesting and creative ideas too:

Etsy, Amazon, Not On the High Street, Backgrounds Prop Hire, China & Co, Rent A Santa, and The Snow People.

2: SHOOT: How many shoot days and editing days will be needed.

3: USE: Where will the images be shown. Are they intended for web, print or bill board, for example?

4: DEADLINES: What are your deadlines for final image delivery?

When deciding on a date for your commercial photoshoot, be sure to consider when you’ll need your photos back so that we can make sure there is enough time for post-production and image approvals.

5: SPACE: Is this a studio or location shoot. Do you require interior or exterior photography, or both?

6: MODELS: Are models needed (and if so, are hair and make-up artists needed?)

7: COSTUMES: Even for just a hand in the shot, will sleeves/accessories be seen. Will the model need to wear nail polish etc.?

8: FORMATS: What image formats are needed? Landscape / Portrait / Square? This is important to know since it will affect the size of the sets, and amount of props and time required.

9: CREW: Are other specialised crews needed?

10: EQUIPMENT: Is specialised equipment needed to achieve specific results?

As is clear from this list, that there is a lot to consider ahead of your Christmas photoshoot. Thinking through everything well ahead of time, and doing extensive planning beforehand, will help to ensure that everything runs smoothly, and to budget.

Christmas product photography London

As we hope that you’ve come to realise, planning is so important for any photoshoot, but especially a Christmas shoot which is shot out of season. It’s always worth leaving yourself more time than you think you’ll need.

We recommend that you get the shoot booked in as early as possible in the year because there are so many elements involved.

Just imagine…once you’ve got your products, location, studio, teams, props, styling, and lighting all sorted, and have appointed your photographer, you’ll have time to relax and actually enjoy the process! Sounds good, doesn’t it!

Ready to book in for your next commercial Christmas photoshoot?

Even if Christmas may still be many months away, if you’re interested in working with us on Christmas 2023 campaigns, please get in touch with us as soon as possible to pin down dates and outline your requirements.   

We’re confident that we can create compelling photography and videography to help your brand stand out this Christmas and to make your food, drinks and products product shine!