How We Captured 500+ Pieces of Content in One Day at Our London Photography Studio
A breakdown of how we capture over 500+ pieces of content in one shoot session at our Bermondsey studio
It’s early. A rail of clothes in the corner of the studio looks like it might collapse under its own weight, the steamer’s working overtime, and somewhere under a pile of call sheets and mood boards is a coffee I haven’t touched yet. This is how most shoot days start at our Bermondsey photography studio - quietly. Then, like most production sets, everything suddenly kicks into gear.
Today it’s Stessa by Sarah. If you don’t know the brand yet, give it a minute. A stunning collection of metallic heels and handbags, handcrafted in Italy. It’s a great brand to shoot because every detail is considered, which means everything about the shoot has to be too.
By the time we wrap our half-day shoot, we’ll have created over 500 pieces of social-ready content. Which sounds wild until you see how the day actually runs. We’re not talking about 500 repetitive images. We’re talking stills, iPhone video, founder content, behind-the-scenes footage, camcorder video, campaign imagery, product photography and more.
That number tends to get people’s attention, so I thought I’d explain how it actually happens.
Why one day, not ten?
The honest answer is money and momentum.
Most brands don’t have the budget, time or need for a shoot every few weeks. What they need is one well-planned day that keeps their content sorted for the next two or three months. That’s the whole premise of our content days: less “let’s do a shoot”, more “let’s build you a content bank”.
The reason we’re able to create so much content in a single day is simple - everything has already been planned. Before anyone arrives at the studio, we’ve mapped out the shot list, creative direction, outfits, content priorities and deliverables. By the time shoot day comes around, we’re simply executing the plan. Future me is always grateful for my OCD-level of organisation.
What does a shoot day actually look like?
People imagine shoots as being all glamour - in reality, they’re mostly logistics. While everyone’s looking at the final images, we’re swapping looks, moving props, changing shoes, resetting lighting and figuring out how to squeeze one more piece of content out of a setup before we move on. At some point our photographer Tessa gets the ladder out (she’s obsessed with climbing the ladder to get the perfect overhead angle), I’m usually on the floor fastening a models shoes or crocodile clipping a dress into place, and there’s almost always a pile of shoeboxes somewhere in the background.
It’s not particularly glamorous, but it’s exactly how you end up with a full library of content from a single shoot day.
And that’s the bit most people miss - the reason we can create so much isn’t because we’re shooting non-stop all day. It’s because every setup fulfils a purpose.
One look might give us campaign imagery, e-commerce photography, iPhone content, behind-the-scenes footage and founder content before we move on to the next outfit. We’re not creating one piece of content at a time. We’re creating ten, fifteen or twenty from the same setup.
So where do 500 pieces of content actually come from?
This is probably the question I get asked most. For a shoot like this, we’re usually capturing:
iPhone video content - the unpolished, in-the-moment clips that perform best on social
iPhone imagery - same idea, just stills
UGC-style content - built to feel natural rather than overly produced
Founder content - interviews and talking pieces - consistently one of the highest-performing content types
Behind-the-scenes footage - for stories, reels and content like this
Camcorder footage - because nothing quite matches that 90s vibes
E-commerce imagery - clean, considered product photography
Campaign imagery - the hero shots for websites, ads and press
Now multiply that across multiple looks, outfit changes and setups. Suddenly 500 pieces of content doesn’t feel quite so out of reach. It’s just the result of planning properly and making every setup work harder.
Why the number isn’t really the point
The amount of content isn’t the most important part - the real value is that a brand walks away with months of content from a single shoot day. No multiple studio days. No multiple invoices. No constantly trying to find time in the diary throughout the month to create more content. Just one focused session that gives you enough material to keep showing up consistently online.
That’s really the whole idea of our content days - one well-planned session in our studio to create a content bank that lasts for months. We run these as 2-hour and 4-hour sessions, depending on how much ground a brand needs to cover. If you’re sitting on a long list of content ideas but no clear plan for creating them, that’s exactly what these sessions are designed for.
Most of the brands we work with use our Bermondsey studio because it allows them to create campaign imagery, e-commerce photography, founder content and social media assets all in one place. For growing brands, it's often the fastest way to build a content library without organising multiple shoot days.
If you think one of our content days could work well for you or your brand, check out our Shoot Packages, make an enquiry or come and see our studio. I’ll order the coffees in, and we can talk through what a session like this could look like for you.
Style Strategist Studio is a creative studio by The Style Strategist, based in Bermondsey, Southeast London. Check out our portfolio here.
