Liverpool Brand Photoshoot with the Girls in Marketing Team
- Aug 17, 2022
- 5 min read
Brand shoot spotlight on the team at Girls in Marketing.
The founder of Girls in Marketing, Olivia Hanlon, and I met at an event I photographed early in the summer. She was nominated to win the Merseyside Woman of the Year Award and I had been booked to shoot both the social dinner and the awards ceremony.
Those events were a complete blur but it was so rewarding to be surrounded by such incredible women throughout Liverpool. Just a few weeks later, Olivia reached out in need of brand photos for her fabulous team and I'm so grateful!
"Girls in Marketing is an e-learning platform and community on a mission to bridge the digital skills gap and equalise gender seniority in marketing. We provide support, guidance and opportunity to marketers whether they're professional or aspiring."
These young women are incredibly driven, professional, and a whole lotta fun to hang out with! They came prepared by starting their day with a team pamper session that included hair and makeup, and because of their prep work we were able to squeeze in loads of locations throughout Liverpool (shoutout to my assistant, Ellie, for being such a wonderful helper).
We started their branding photoshoot in the communal lounge at one of their flats, followed by a cafe in the Baltic Triangle, the Georgian Quarter, the fresh Girls in Marketing office, and ended our shoot down by the waterfront near the Royal Liver Building.
To keep the energy high, we threw on a super upbeat playlist and worked through their shot list of meetings, celebrations, team headshots, group photos, and various other content shots that will be useful in marketing their marketing platform, making sure to aim for natural images of them interacting rather than stiff, overly posed photos.
Have a scroll to see what we captured and make sure to check them out!
What does a team brand shoot in Liverpool actually look like?
The Girls in Marketing shoot is a pretty great example of what's possible when a team shows up prepared and open to the city around them.
Liverpool is one of the best cities in the UK for brand photography, the variety within a short walking distance is remarkable. In a single day we moved from an intimate flat setting, to an industrial-edged cafe in the Baltic Triangle, to the historical charm of the Georgian Quarter, to a polished office environment, and finally to the iconic waterfront. Every location told a different part of their story.
That kind of range is what makes a multi-location shoot so powerful for a team.
Rather than a set of matching headshots against a plain backdrop, you end up with a full content library that works across a website, press features, social media, and everything in between.
If you're curious about what Liverpool has to offer for brand shoots, I've put together a full Liverpool Locations Guide covering location options across the city.
How to plan a multi-location brand shoot
The key to a smooth multi-location shoot is treating logistics like part of the creative brief. Here's what makes them work:
Map your locations in advance.
Along with your photographer, choose spots that are within a reasonable walking or driving distance of each other. Spending half your shoot day in a car is a creativity killer. For Liverpool shoots, I usually plan a logical route so we flow from one location to the next without backtracking.
Assign a time budget to each location.
A rough guide: allow 30 to 45 minutes per location for a team shoot, more if the space has a lot of variety to explore. Build in 10 minutes of travel buffer between each stop. For the Girls in Marketing shoot, we had five locations across a full day, which kept the pace energetic without feeling rushed. Personally, I wouldn't recommend so many locations anymore with my shooting style, but we definitely captured loads of variety!
Match locations to your content goals.
Before you book anything, list the types of images you need. Headshots, action shots, candid moments, product or laptop shots, group photos. Then choose locations that serve those goals rather than just picking beautiful backdrops. A cafe works brilliantly for informal laptop and conversation shots. A landmark like the Liver Building gives you that unmistakably Liverpool backdrop for press-worthy images. But definitely make sure each location is doing its job, and you're not just stuffing loads in because you can. A long shoot day is draining and you want to make sure you're fully energized in your photos so quality over quantity.
Scout if you can.
Even a quick Google Street View walkthrough helps. You want to know roughly where the light falls, whether there are parking restrictions, and if the space is likely to be busy. Some of the best spots in Liverpool get crowded mid-morning on weekdays. And you may even need to get special permits so start your research early!
How to prep a team for brand photos
The Girls in Marketing team nailed their prep, and it showed in the images. A pamper morning sounds like a nice-to-have, but it's genuinely one of the most practical things a team can do before a shoot. When people feel good, they photograph well. It's that simple.
Beyond hair and makeup, here's what makes a real difference when preparing a team:
Coordinate outfits without matching.
Aim for a cohesive palette rather than identical looks. Pick two or three colors that align with your brand and let each person choose something they feel confident in. Avoid busy patterns, very bright whites, or anything with large logos. The Girls in Marketing team had an effortlessly put-together look that felt intentional without being uniform.
Create a shot list together.
Poll the team before the shoot and ask what images they actually need. For the Girls in Marketing team that meant thinking across three content categories: product and platform screenshots to support their marketing materials, marketing content showing the team in action for social media and press, and stock-style lifestyle images they could use flexibly across their website and campaigns. Someone might also need a strong solo headshot for a speaking bio, or content showing them presenting or collaborating. Getting this information in advance means no one leaves the shoot without the images they came for.
Talk through the plan the day before.
A quick team message with the schedule, locations, and what to bring goes a long way. People photograph better when they aren't anxious about logistics. Knowing that you're starting at the office and ending at the waterfront helps everyone mentally prepare for the day.
Bring the energy.
This sounds obvious, but it makes an enormous difference. An upbeat playlist, a coffee run, a little hype between teammates — the camera picks all of that up. The images where the Girls in Marketing team are genuinely laughing are the ones that get noticed the most!
You can find the Girls in Marketing online here:
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