Get the best results from your shoot with a clear photography brief
Writing a brief for your photographer doesn’t have to be scary. And if you’ve never written one before, I’m here to help!
A photography brief is essentially the outline for what it is you need from the photographer, overall goals, any specific requests, and a clear explanation of type and usage of the imagery you require from your photoshoot.
Write down what are you hoping to achieve from your photography project. For example: Is your goal to highlight a new product range and engagement for your potential customers? Are you hoping to boost brand awareness? Or, create storytelling about your business?
What you need to think about in creating a brief:
Put your images in context
First, understand how you plan to use your photos, look, feel, and formats you will be requiring. You may be looking for lots of images you can keep on file to use in blog posts or PR announcements for example. Or your images may be destined for use within a particular marketing campaign and therefore need to follow a theme.
If you are refreshing your website and social media you will want to ensure consistency across both platforms, so please do mention it in your brief. The more information you can give, the more your images will live up to expectations.
2. Beware of your shot list
The shot list is a list of the images that are looking for a particular campaign or promotion. If you have several different images, then it is best to divide them into groups. So, let’s say you are a start-u… I have evaluated what you need (it is generally speaking to explain, right?!)
Branding Photography
- 5 portraits of myself in different background and context
- 8 wide banner images for my website
- 10 Blog content images within the theme
- 40 Instagram lifestyle/environmental portraits for my social media
Ans, so on…
3. Don’t forget to include examples in your photography brief
Whether you decide to get creative and put together a mood board full of ideas, or simply include some example of photographs you like, examples are a great way to showcase what you are after.
These don’t necessarily have to be images of the same products or services, and could even be stock imagery, an Instagram profile that you have seen and love it! It will translate a particular style or lighting style you like and, it really helps the photographer to visualize what it is you are going for and ensure deliverables are exactly to your taste and brand.
For those of you who want an even more refined vision, one thing I always recommend to my clients is to create a mood board (I always recommend Pinterest for this). Don’t forget to mention what you definitely don't like!
4. Share your brand guidelines
If you have brand guidelines for your company – including information about any particular colours you use in your logos and design materials, or any particular words and phrases you use to describe your company – share them! It may also spark little creative ideas such as props and colours to include in your photoshoot.
I know that not every business, campaign, or shoot has guidelines, and it can be hard to think about these things, it’s what you have us creatives for. So, make it simple - think of some keywords to describe your brand aesthetic: playful, colorful, formal, sustainable, inclusive, diverse and so, on. . As simple as that and we already have a vision starting to from.
5. The mood of the shooting
How do you want people to feel when they see your images. Inspired? Happy? Motivated? To laugh, cry or experience a boost of confidence for example? Try to be specific and clear about how you want people to feel viewing your images.
6. Who is your audience?
Be as specific as you can regarding your audience or audiences. The more your commercial photographer knows about their ‘demographics’ – i.e. ages, likes, dislikes, buying habits, and the market in general, the better we can understand the brief as a whole.
7. Think about your location
Do you have an idea of where you would like your photography to take place? It is outdoor? Studio? On location? Do you have space available at your office or working place?
If outdoor, do you have an idea of the backdrop you would like to use? Feel free to put down your ideas.
8. How many images do you require?
Do you have an idea of the number of images you are looking for from your upcoming photoshoot?
One thing to keep in mind is that the number of images will directly impact the amount of time required for photographing and editing. This can vary your costs considerably so to ensure your expectations are managed and to enable me to give you a fair and accurate quotation don’t forget to include quantity within your brief.
9. Think about future usage
Whether you require imagery for a set amount of time or would like indefinite usage of your images, it’s important to let your photographer know.
When you commission a commercial photographer it is important to understand that the Copyright always remains with the photographer, unless it’s agreed to be sold, for which there will be a price. Your photographer will ask for the intended use of the images in order to give you a contract that covers Image Licence.
The images will be printed? Or just for web uses? Are there multiple uses for your photos in the future?
10. Timescales
Depending on the type of shoot you are planning, we will need to allocate a realistic timeframe for both the shoot itself, the editing and delivery of your final files. If you need photography in advance of a particular deadline, such as an event or a website ‘go live date, write that down in your brief too.
Let’s outline the dates for each part of the process. Though your initial reaction may be to ask for just a delivery date by identifying milestones you can ensure throughout the process everything is running on schedule so that when the deadline arrives all is delivered on time, to spec.
Here is a timeline for a small product photography campaign for an eCommerce brand, we will only include the photography section here:
Day 1: Brief delivery.
Day 3: Photographer delivers proposal/ art direction proposal
Day 4: Client delivers feedback proposal.
Day 6: Final agreement, contracts delivered.
Day 8: Shoot takes place
Day 10: First draft imagery delivered./Photogreaph’s contacts
Day 12: Feedback on the first draft delivered.
Day 14: Feedback on the first draft delivered.
Day 17: Post Production and final delivery.
Day 18: Feedback.
Day 19: Invoice.
11. Licensing?
When you have imagery created you don’t then own it, you become the licensee of the imagery, where the photographer retains ownership of the photographs as the licensor. The importance of this is that there can be different terms of use for the imagery. Depending on the photographer and the job you will potentially be charged a licensing fee. That fee is dependent on a range of factors including but not limited to:
- How long you license the image for.
- Whether you have exclusive rights to produce the image or not.
- Where you produce the image.
- The number of times that you produce the image.
So, it is important that you think about how you are going to use the imagery ensuring that you get the right licensing terms for your project needs.
I hope this has helped to demystify the briefing process somewhat. Trust me, going through the motions of thinking about and writing down what it is you want to achieve from your photography is such a useful exercise – it’s not just helpful for me, but can often help you clarify your own goals and lead to further inspiration!
If you would like any more information on how to brief a commercial photographer or have an upcoming project you’d like to discuss with me, I’d love to hear from you – email me