If you run a shop in downtown Lake Stevens or a storefront on State Avenue in Marysville, you have probably been told to post more. A content day is our answer: one planned morning, two people with cameras, and enough photos and clips to carry a month. Here is what that morning looks like, from the planning call to the gallery in your inbox.
The Week Before: A 20-Minute Planning Call
Every content day starts with a short call about a week out. We want to know what the next 30 days hold: a new menu item, a fall promotion, a hire you want to introduce, a service you wish more people knew about. Then we look at the calendar together. In Lake Stevens that might mean the Aquafest crowds in July; in Marysville, the Strawberry Festival in June. Back-to-school and the holidays matter to nearly everyone. If a promotion is coming, the content should exist before it starts, not after.
From that call we write a one-page shot list: the setups, the people who need to be there, the products that need to be ready, and two or three vertical clip ideas. You get a copy, so nothing on the day is a surprise.
8:00 a.m.: Arrival and a Quick Walk-Through
We arrive before you open when we can, because the empty room is the only time to photograph the space itself. The first ten minutes are a walk-through with the shot list in hand: where the light is good, which corners are cluttered, where a customer stands when they first walk in. We move a chair or two, hide the extension cord, and set the order of setups so we are never in the way of your first customers.
8:20 a.m.: The Storefront and the Signage
The exterior is the photo that ends up on Google, on your Facebook cover and in every "we are open" post you make for the next year. We shoot it clean, with the sign legible and the door inviting, then again with someone walking in. In downtown Lake Stevens the early light comes in low and soft; on State Avenue, passing traffic adds life to the frame if we time it. If you are near North Cove Park or Ebey Waterfront Park, we will walk over for a frame that places you in town.
8:45 a.m.: The Team at Work
This is the setup owners resist and customers respond to. Nobody has to pose. A barber mid-fade, a trainer coaching a class, a baker pulling the first tray, a crew loading the truck for a Smokey Point job: we photograph people doing the thing they do well, with a longer lens so no one feels watched. We also ask for one honest group shot at the end, because a "meet the team" post is the one people expect to find.
9:30 a.m.: The Product or Service Up Close
Then the detail work. Plates, pours, a finished set of nails, a treatment room reset, a display case in Frontier Village. We bring a small light so the color is right whether the room is dim or lit by fluorescents, and we shoot each subject two ways: a clean version for your website and menu, and a lifestyle version with hands or a customer in the frame for social.
10:15 a.m.: The Customer's View
The last setup is the one most businesses never have: what it feels like to be your customer. The first view from the door, the cup being handed across the counter, the moment a client sees the finished result. If a regular is happy to be photographed, we ask; if not, a staff member stands in and nobody can tell. These frames carry the captions about welcome, experience and service.
The Vertical Clips Happen Alongside the Stills
We do not stop the morning to "do video." While one of us shoots stills, the other records 10 to 20 seconds of vertical footage from the same setup: the door opening, hands at work, the pour, the reveal. Each clip is trimmed and captioned for Reels, Shorts and Stories. Shot in the flow of the morning, they match the photos, so a week of posts feels like one voice. For a longer piece to sit on your homepage, see our post on corporate video in Bothell.
A Quick Win: Google Business Profile Photos
Before we pack up, we shoot a short set specifically for your Google Business Profile: the exterior, the interior, the team, and your three or four best sellers. Plenty of "near me" searches end on that profile before anyone reaches your website. Fresh, well-lit images are an easy win for local search in Lake Stevens or Marysville, and you can upload them the week the gallery arrives.
What to Prepare Before We Arrive
You do not need to stage anything. You do need to do a little housekeeping:
- Clean the space the night before. Counters clear, windows wiped, the back corner you stopped seeing months ago tidied.
- Brief the team. Tell them who is coming, when, and that they will keep working as normal.
- Have the product ready. The dish plated, the retail shelf faced, the vehicle washed, the samples out. If a promotion is coming, have the item or the signage for it on hand.
- Wear what you would want to be seen in. Branded shirts if you have them, solid colors if you do not, and no logos from other companies.
- Keep your first hour open. After the walk-through you can get back to work; we will find you when we need you.
What You Get, and When
On the monthly Content Capture plan, 25 edited photos and 10 vertical clips land in a private gallery within seven days of the shoot, with full usage rights for your website, social channels, print and paid ads. On a one-off day it is 12 photos and 5 clips. Photos are color graded and sized for web and social; clips are cut, captioned and ready to post. If a launch cannot wait, Rush 48-hour delivery is a $350 add-on.
How One Morning Becomes a Month of Posts
A simple rhythm of three posts a week plus Stories looks like this:
- Week one: lead with the exterior and a "here is who we are" team photo, then the first vertical clip. Introduce the promotion you planned the shoot around.
- Week two: product and service detail shots, one per post, each with a specific caption: what it is, what it costs, how to get it. A behind-the-scenes clip mid-week.
- Week three: the customer-view frames. Talk about the experience, answer a question you get asked every day, share a clip of the team at work.
- Week four: the remaining details and a second team moment, then a look ahead to next month. Reuse the strongest photo from week one with a new caption.
- All month: the vertical clips go up as Stories, and the Google Business Profile set gets uploaded in the first week.
Our guide to social media content for Snohomish County small businesses goes deeper on captions and cadence.
One-Off Day or Monthly Plan: What Changes
A one-off day is a fair way to find out whether this works for your business. The monthly plan changes three things. The planning call becomes a standing rhythm, so seasons and promotions are shot ahead of time rather than scrambled for. The library compounds: each month adds to the folder, so there is always something to post even in a week we are not there. And the count nearly doubles, 25 photos and 10 clips a month instead of 12 and 5. The commitment is a 90-day minimum. If you would rather hand off the writing, scheduling and posting as well, Capture + Managed adds that across two platforms.
What It Costs
The same numbers you will find on our Commercial page and on the pricing page:
- One-off content day: $750 for 12 photos and 5 clips.
- Founding Client Content Day: $500 for the first five Snohomish County businesses. A single three-hour content day producing one 30-second hero clip, two cutdowns and 10 stills, in exchange for a testimonial and permission to show the work.
- Content Capture: $1,500 a month, 90-day minimum. One half-day shoot per month, 25 edited photos, 10 vertical clips, 7-day delivery, full usage rights.
- Capture + Managed: $3,000 a month. Everything in Content Capture plus the writing, scheduling and posting across two platforms.
If your team also needs updated headshots, a Staff headshot session is a $500 add-on on the same morning; our guide to professional headshots in Lynnwood covers what to expect.
Where We Fit
We're Sunny and Tina, a husband-and-wife photo and video team based in Lake Stevens. Marysville is a short drive up the road, Arlington and Granite Falls not much further, and we are building out our commercial book with businesses close to home first. If your work is more office than storefront, our post on corporate photography in Everett covers the other side of what we do.
Text or call us at (708) 677-7136, or email sunny@sunnytproductions.com. We reply within the hour, 7 days a week, and a 20-minute call is enough to tell you whether a content day makes sense for your business.