How to brief a photoshoot
Reshoots are almost never caused by the photographer. They are caused by a brief that left the decision to the day.
A usable brief states what each image is for, where it will appear and at what crop, the shot list with counts, the styling and casting decisions already made, and the usage rights required. References should show the specific quality you want, with a note saying which quality.
A shoot is a few hours where everything costs money simultaneously. Every decision deferred to that morning is made under time pressure by whoever is standing closest.
Say what each image is for
Hero banner, product listing, social square, print, email header. Each has a crop, a safe area and a resolution. A beautiful horizontal frame is useless to a team that needed vertical, and this gets discovered a week later.
References, specified
Collecting twenty pretty images is not a reference pack. For each one say what you are pointing at: this lighting, this crop, this expression, this background, this colour. Unlabelled references create confident misinterpretation, because everybody sees a different thing in the same picture.
The shot list, with counts
How many setups, how many looks, how many products, how many variations of each. Then check it against the day. Fifteen setups and four looks is not one day, and the difference between the list and the clock is where the quality goes.
Decide styling and casting beforehand
Props, surfaces, wardrobe, hands, skin tones, hair. Approve them before the day, with substitutions agreed. On casting, pick for fit with the actual audience rather than for conventional appeal, which we argue in casting for evidence.
Usage, in writing
Where the images will run, in which territories, for how long. Talent fees and licensing depend on it, and extending afterwards always costs a multiple of buying it at the start. The same economics are in what video production costs in India.
The question that prevents most reshoots
Ask the photographer what they would need to know to shoot it without you present. The gaps in their answer are the gaps in your brief.
Questions we get asked
What should a photography brief include?
Purpose and crop for each image, a shot list with counts, styling and casting decided in advance, references with notes on what each one demonstrates, and the usage rights required.
How many setups fit in a shoot day?
Fewer than most briefs assume. Count the setups against the hours, including lighting changes and styling resets, before committing to a single day.
Start with a Growth Audit
Every Colleviate engagement begins with an outside-in read of your brand and its competitive cluster, before we recommend a single line of spend.
Ask for a scoped auditWhat we do · How we produce it · Who we do it for · Talk to us