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How To Write A Photography Brief

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Should you write a photography brief? Yes, if you want to avoid getting into a pickle with your photos.

At the offices of a private bank in Mayfair, a marketing manager receives an email with the photos from the portrait photography session he organised for the senior management team. It wasn’t easy getting time in their busy diaries, and the cost of flying one of them in from Frankfurt was eye watering, but the effort was worth it because he knows they will all be happy with the photos and the fresh new look they give to the website.

Eagerly he opens the email from the photographer and looks at the images. They all look great because each director looks approachable and credible which is exactly what he wanted, so he forwards them on to the web development team. An email shoots straight back saying “Thanks, nice photos. Can you send the landscape orientation versions so they fit with the rest of the website?”

The marketing manager checks the current website, and yes, the existing photos are all wider than they are tall to fit with the design. He emails the photographer to ask if he has any wider crops. She says no. She was never asked to shoot them in landscape orientation…

How to write a photography brief
How to write a photography brief

This could all have been prevented by spending 10 minutes writing a photography brief.

Why Write A Brief For A Photographer?

Spending a little time to write a photography brief could save you time, money and reputation. By ensuring that the photographer knows the exact requirements for the images you need means they will produce images which exactly meet your needs.

What Should You Include In The Brief?

In light of the fact that you and the photographer are busy people, the brief doesn’t have to be War and Peace. It could be written in an email or a one page document, but you should include the following items:

What Is The Background To The Shoot?

Begin by briefly stating why you need these photos. For an event photography brief you might give some background to the event including number of attendees, subject matter and target market. Alternatively for a portrait photography job you could say that you have 10 new staff and a new website.

Are There Any Visual And Brand Guidelines?

The look of your photos is obvisouly of paramount importance and you may have existing brand guidelines and images that you can share. If this is the case, include some examples of existing photos so that the photographer can try to match them.

If you want a completely new look, collect some examples that you like or that you think would work. Most photographers will be happy to collaborate on this.

Lots of elements can influence that look of your images, for example:

  • Light vs dark background, and plain vs office background
  • Dress code
  • Colour vs black and white
  • Posed vs candid portraits
  • Where the photos are taken

Where Will The Images Be Used?

It is very useful for the photographer to know where the photos will be used so make a list. This could include your website, social media sites, printed media and presentations.

What Are The Logistics?

To make sure everything runs smoothly during the shoot include details of the following:

  • Contact details
  • Shoot location (including room if applicable)
  • Date and time

Are There Any Deadlines?

If there are any deadlines that you are working with, let the photographer know so that the final photos are with you in good time.

What Image Formats and Sizes Are Required?

Your design team may have requirements for the format, size, orientation and resolution of the photos. It is better for the photographer to know this beforehand so that he can shoot for specific crops and orientation, and then supply the photos in the correct format.

What Shots Do You Need?

To make sure you get all of the photos you need create a list so that nothing gets forgotten.

Is There A Dress Code

If the photographer should dress in a certain way let them know. Turning up to a black tie event in jeans is embarrassing for everyone.

When Do You Need The Images To Be Delivered?

State how you would like the image files to be delivered if you have specific requirements within your organisation.

What Are The Invoice Details?

Let the photographer know where they should send their invoice to, and if they should include a PO number.

 

Including all of the above items when you write a photography brief will make sure you get the images you need, and it will help the photographer too.

In fact it’s useful to write the brief before you approach photographers for quotes because it will enable them to thoroughly understand your requirements so that the work can be priced correctly.

If you need any help writing a brief, let me know. I’d be happy to help.

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Corporate Event Photography

I work with many clients who run corporate events and need good photography. These clients are either full time event companies or organisations which run events as one of their services.

Event Photography London
Event Photography London

Here are the the top two reasons you may need good corporate event photography:

– To make the event look engaging so that potential attendees will want to come to future events.
– To make the event look busy so that potential sponsors and exhibitors will want to come to future events.

A common way of working is to provide a few images throughout the day that can be uses on social media, and then the final, edited photos are supplied a day or two after the event. Clients can let me know their deadlines so I can work to that.

Event Photography London
Event Photography London

A brief is a useful thing when hiring a corporate event photographer. This should set out which images are essential for you. Some events really want lots of shots of the speakers, others are more focussed on getting the crowd in the shot, showing them them having a good time. Sometimes you may need to ensure you have all of your sponsors logos shown in the images.

The best events to work at and photograph are those with great light, large rooms, and lots of variety. if it’s a small event, great photography can still be captured, but the variety of images may not be as great.

Here are a few of my corporate event photos:

Live Event Photography
Conference Photography
Convention Photo London
Engaging Photography For Trade Shows
Corporate Event Photography London
Corporate Event Photography London
Event Photography London
Event Photography
Event Photography
Event Photography
Corporate Training Event Photography
Corporate Training Event Photography

If you’re looking for engaging corporate event photography to publicises and record your event, then get in touch. It would be great to hear from you.

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Corporate Portrait Photography London

Have you been tasked with finding a Corporate Portrait Photographer in London?

Do you want a photographer to come into your office and take a set of corporate portraits that everyone will be happy with?  Would you like that process to be simple to arrange and for the session to run smoothly?

When I visit your office to create staff headshots or photos for you that’s exactly what will happen. All you need to do is give me a room to work in so that I can take pictures of each of your people that will make them look friendly, approachable and professional.

At the end of the session, you’ll have an office full of colleagues who actually enjoyed having their photo taken, additionally you’ll be satisfied with  how well the day went.

Here is a selection of my corporate portrait photography, taken over the last few years:

As you can see, business portraits can be created in a variety of styles so that they match the character of your organisation and people.

How To Organise A Corporate Portrait Photography Session

If you’ve been tasked with arranging photos for your staff, these tips will help with setting up the session:

Half a day is usually enough to create portrait photos of up to 16 staff at your organisation because that allows 10-15 minutes per person.  By giving a bit more time to each person it means they can be more relaxed so that they get a company photo that they’re happy with because they won’t feel rushed. Up to 50 people  can be photographed in one day.

Think about how your corporate portraits will work with your website and also your social media channels.  Maybe you will may want a happy, relaxed image along with a more serious photo, depending on what you do and where the images will be published. Do your staff blog, speak at events, meet clients? These are important considerations, as a result you may need different photos for each scenario.

Warn your staff in advance because some people will be apprehensive and they may want to put some effort into how they look in their image,

You can have a standard company headshot against a plain white background if you like, however a better approach may be to try to show some of the character of your people and organisation.

Consider the location where your company portraits are taken. You could use a studio, which may or may not work depending on staff logistics and numbers. If you have at relatively large room in your office, you could probably use that and set up a small studio quite easily.

I can work with you to make the whole process run smoothly.

If you’d like to discuss your corporate portrait photography in London or elsewhere, call me on 07779082909 or send me an email. I can help with ideas to get you the best photos.

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Professional Pictures

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Do you need professional pictures so that you or your company look accomplished, businesslike and experienced? As a professional photographer in London, it’s my day to day job to create professional photos for people and businesses, like these:

Because I’m a professional photographer, I’m quick and efficient at taking photos like these for individual people who need images for work, and for businesses who have a number of staff to be photographed.

Why Have Professional Pictures?

Professionally created images, as opposed to selfies, holiday snaps, or photos taken by the office photography enthusiast are much more likely to make you look exactly as you want to look and portray your image in the correct way. Creating professional level photography is not only about the technicalities of focus, lighting, composition and file formats. It is also about working with the person in the picture and creating an image that they are pleased to use on their website, social media channels and company reports.

How To Create High Quality Photos

To create professional photography, you need to create an environment where the subject is relaxed, happy and confident. The lighting needs to be perfect and created specifically for each person. You need to know how to correctly position your subject to make them look engaged and interested so it’s good to use either a studio where everything is under the control of the photographer, or the images can be created at your office and the environment can be incorporated into the picture to tell more of a story.

If you’re interested in having some professional photos created for you, get in touch using the form below, or call / text me on 07779082909.

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