St. Francis Brewery wins Best of Milwaukee 2025 New Restaurant award plaque displayed with green branded beer cans.
A plate of golden fried fish, hash browns, coleslaw, a bread roll, and dipping sauces with a lemon wedge.
A beer list menu on a wooden table surrounded by glasses of craft beer, including a full pint and a taster glass.
A citrus cocktail garnished with lemon beside SKYY Infusions Citrus vodka and Ruffino Prosecco bottles on a bar.

You've finally booked your branding session. You've picked your outfits, scouted your location, and maybe even practiced your "I'm totally relaxed in front of a camera" face in the bathroom mirror. And then someone mentions adding video to the mix and suddenly it feels like the whole thing just got a lot more complicated. Sound familiar?


Here's the thing: it doesn't have to be! Video content has become a genuine part of how businesses connect with their audience online and weaving it into a branding session is more natural than most people expect. I've seen it firsthand, both as the subject of my own branding session and behind the lens for my clients. When it's done right, it doesn't feel like a separate production. It just feels like more of the same good stuff, only in motion.

Not too long ago, I was on the other side of the camera for my own branding photos. Another photographer I was working with brought along a videographer to film a little behind-the-scenes of the session. I wasn't the one calling the shots that day. I was just... being myself, doing the thing.


Watching it come together was kind of amazing. The videographer captured short snippets throughout the session and pieced them into a highlights reel. What stood out to me was how naturally the video and the photos overlapped. The same genuine moments that made for great still images also made for compelling video clips. The two weren't fighting each other, they were telling the same story in two different ways.


After that experience, I brought the same videographer along to a branding session I was photographing for one of my branding membership clients, St. Francis Brewery. He wove in teaser phrases throughout the footage to pull potential customers in and make the content more interactive. The result felt polished and purposeful, not just like someone pointing a phone at the room.


That's when it really clicked for me: the key isn't just offering video. It's thinking about how it works alongside everything else!

Assorted craft beers on a wooden bar, featuring a dark stout, golden ales, and a flight sampler with four varieties.

Social media has shifted in a big way. A single photo isn't pulling the same weight it used to. Reels are trending, carousels are performing, and the content that actually connects with people tends to mix it all together.


By adding video to your branding session, you're not just getting more content, you're getting content that reaches more people. Different formats speak to different audiences. Some people scroll past a photo but stop for a short video clip. Some love a carousel. Some want to see the reel. When your session produces a mix of all of it, your marketing suddenly has a lot more to work with.


That's the case for doing it! But there's also a real difference between technically adding video and actually doing it in a way that serves your brand. Slapping a phone on a tripod and hoping for the best isn't quite the same as being intentional about it.

Golden fried mushrooms served with creamy cheese dipping sauce, accompanied by fresh fruit and fries on a restaurant table.
St. Francis Brewery spread featuring craft beers, artisan bread, cheese, and entrees on white plates in a rustic stone interior.
Four colorful cocktails in wine glasses with fruit garnishes and black straws lined up on a wooden bar counter.
A spread of bar food including loaded nachos, onion rings, fries, and fried chicken on a restaurant table.
St. Francis Brewery Co. green beer cans stacked with branded white caps on a bar counter with liquor bottles in background.

What to Actually Know Before You Add Video to Your Session

Here are a few things I'd want every client to know going in because the smoother the day, the better the final product.

You don't have to act differently just because someone's recording

This is probably the biggest thing people get wrong. There's this instinct to freeze up or perform when a camera switches from photos to video. But the whole point of video in a branding session is to capture you! Your energy, your personality, the way you naturally move through your work.


Just keep doing what you're doing. Let it shine through in motion rather than frozen in time. The camera will catch what it needs to.

 

Try a bunch of different things

Not every clip is going to be gold, and that's completely fine. Go out of the box. Try something a little unexpected. Some of it might not be great (or even good) but the willingness to experiment is almost always worth it for the moments that do land. You can't edit something that was never recorded, so give your videographer as much to work with as possible.

 

Think about how your video will be used

Will it be a highlights reel? Short social clips? Something with text overlays or teaser phrases to pull viewers in? Having even a loose sense of the end goal helps shape what gets filmed during the session. You don't need a full production plan, but a little direction goes a long way.

 

Bring in someone you trust

Working with a videographer who understands the flow of a photo session makes a real difference. The best video content from a branding session happens when the two mediums are working together, not competing for the same moment.

Your brand is how people get to know you before they ever meet you. Photos do a beautiful job of that but video lets people feel your energy in a way that's hard to replicate with a still image. When I watched the highlights reel from my own branding session, I saw something I hadn't been able to see before: what it actually looks like when I'm in my element. That's what your audience wants to see too. Not a performance, not a polished production. Just you, doing your thing, in a way that makes someone think, yes, that's who I want to work with!

Adding video to a branding session isn't about keeping up with trends for the sake of it. It's about giving yourself more ways to connect with the people you're trying to reach. And honestly? Once you're already showing up for photos, adding video into the mix is a lot less intimidating than it sounds.


If you've been thinking about leveling up your branding content with photos and video, I'd love to chat about what that could look like for you. My branding sessions are designed to feel relaxed and real and I work with people who want their content to actually reflect who they are. Head over to branding.photosbyweber.com to learn more or reach out and start the conversation. Because the best branding content isn't the most complicated, it's the kind that makes someone stop scrolling and say, that's exactly what I've been looking for!

Bacardi Superior rum bottle beside a fresh mojito cocktail with mint and lime on a wooden bar.
Overhead view of onion rings, hash browns, toast, fried chicken, and dark beer mug on a diner table with happy hour menu.
Stack of Francis Brewery green and gold craft beer cans arranged in a pyramid on a wooden bar counter.
A dark beer in a St. Francis Brewery glass mug served alongside fries and appetizers on a restaurant table.