Photoshoots take a lot of work. A lot of planning. And in this case, a whole lot of bling.
Between Fana Jewelry’s recent photoshoot, rebrand and web design, and shooting custom social media content for local client, Koerber’s Fine Jewelry, we’ve had our hands full with jewelry projects lately. We’re proud to say we’ve delivered the same high-quality work to both the big-city NYC jewelry maker as we have to Koerber’s family-owned jewelry store. With that, we’d like to share a few favorites from the Koerber’s shoot and share our approach to social media content creation.
Priority No. 1: It Must Be Authentic
Posting fake social media content comes with real risks. At a minimum, the platform’s users won’t engage with it. Worst case scenario, the audience calls you out for being phony or inaccurate, which can get volatile. For that reason, our approach to shooting social media content starts with an effort to shoot photographs that look and feel as genuine and believable as possible. That means going on location with actual products, and often, real employees and customers.
Priority No. 2: Don’t Go Over the Top
Have you ever seen stock photography and thought it looked fake? Of course you have, because stock photography doesn’t have a real story. Instead, it portrays generic moments using paid actors who aren’t invested in a narrative, all captured by a photographer who isn’t invested in the brand. This leads to shallow-feeling images that only have merit in composition or in their ability to reflect a given demographic. But there’s no emotion, no connection.
Even when working with models, we approach photoshoots with the story top of mind. We ask questions like, why would this model be at Koerber’s? Is this couple in love? What’s their mindset? Is he stressed out? Should he look relieved because the Koerber’s team makes ring shopping so easy? Asking questions like these leads to photography that tells a story, connects with customers and moves the needle for the brand.
Priority No. 3: Make the Photoshoot Look Like It Wasn’t a Photoshoot
We have professional photographers on staff, and we have a full studio in our office, with state-of-the-art lighting equipment. So you might be surprised to know that we show up at some shoots with only a camera and a few lenses. No fancy lights, no backdrops—and no plans to pretty everything up with hours of Photoshop work.
Sure, we could do that. But when trying to create something that feels real, using lights and software to achieve perfection often makes the results less accessible to the audience. That’s why we focus on capturing real moments, just like a documentary photographer would. We want to be the fly on the wall, witnessing brand stories in ways that are intimate and real.
We’re proud to have partnered with the Koerber family brand for over six years now. We hope you can see these guiding principles shine through in the content we’ve created for them—and any OOHology client. For more authentic storytelling, check out our case studies.
