How to brief a photographer so you actually get what you need

Turning a starting point into a usable photography brief

Most photography requests begin the same way: “We need professional photos of our team / facility / event.” That’s a starting point, not a brief.

The gap between a vague request and a clear brief is where most projects go wrong. Not on shoot day, but months later when someone realises the images can’t be used the way they’d planned.

Here’s what we ask before every job, and why it matters.

1. How will these images actually be used?

This is the first and most important question.

“Website and social media” is a common answer, but it doesn’t tell us enough. We need to know:

• Will they appear in printed tenders or capability statements?
• Are they going into government reports or annual reports?
• Will they be used in billboard or outdoor advertising?
• Are they needed for video production or motion graphics?

Usage determines:

• Aspect ratios we shoot (widescreen, vertical, square, banner crops, cover images)
• Resolution and output sizes we deliver
• Licensing terms (territories, duration, media types)
• Whether we need model releases from everyone on camera

If you know you’ll expand internationally, that matters. If there’s any chance of broadcast or large‑scale advertising, that changes the conversation entirely.

The brief that starts as “just for internal comms” often becomes “actually, can we use this on the website?” six weeks later. We’d rather know that upfront and shoot accordingly.

2. What’s the turnaround?

“As soon as possible” is not a timeline.

We work with clients who:

• Need same‑day edits delivered before a media embargo lifts
• Have several weeks and want a full review and feedback cycle

Both are fine, but they require completely different approaches to:

• How we shoot (coverage vs. precision)
• How we edit (speed vs. depth of retouching)
• How we deliver (staged batches vs. one final drop)

We’ll also tell you honestly if your timeline isn’t realistic. A request for 200 fully retouched images in 48 hours isn’t a simple yes/no, it’s a conversation about priorities, scope, and what “finished” really needs to look like.

3. What file formats do you need?

Most teams don’t think about this until it’s too late.

Different stakeholders need different things:

• Web teams: JPEGs, typically optimised for web
• Print production: High‑resolution files (often TIFFs) suitable for CMYK print
• Video teams: Specific frame sizes, frame rates, and codecs
• Brand/design teams: Sometimes layered PSDs, clean cut‑outs, or transparent backgrounds

We can deliver all of this, but we need to know before we shoot, not after.

• Shooting RAW for print when the only output is a small social tile wastes time and budget.
• Shooting compressed JPEG when someone later needs a double‑page magazine spread is a problem that can’t be fixed in post.

Clear format requirements upfront mean we shoot and process once, properly.

4. Who needs to sign off, and when?

The shoot goes smoothly. The edit goes smoothly. Then everything stalls.

Common blockers:

• The approver is on leave
• The CEO wants to review but hasn’t been looped in
• Legal or compliance needs to sign off before images go to a government or regulated client

None of this is technically part of the shoot, but it becomes everyone’s problem if it delays a launch or misses a publication deadline.

We ask about approval chains early and build them into the project timeline:

• Who has final sign‑off?
• Who needs to see first drafts?
• How many review rounds are expected?
• Are there any non‑negotiable dates (launches, print deadlines, events)?

5. “Just make it look professional”

This is the brief we hear most often, and the one most likely to disappoint.

Not because we don’t know what “professional” means, but because your version of professional and ours might be completely different.