Whether you’re a communication department putting together a media team for a large-scale company event or a private client seeking lifestyle images for personal use, soliciting any type of creative service can be a time-consuming affair. With regards to communicating your needs and preferences to a photographer here are some tips on both how to facilitate the process, and, more essentially, how to avoid potential pitfalls…
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A PHOTOGRAPHY BRIEF
Based on their website and portfolio, you may have found your dream photographer. However, if they are not available on the required dates, or if they are unable to get you your photographs for when you need them, there will little point them sending you a proposal. Appreciating the often imminent and important nature of many requests, I pride myself on both the efficiency and clarity of my responses, and aim therefore to respond to each request in the first instance with a comprehensive quote. However, this can only be achieved by having already received the fundamental details of a photography brief. Below I’ll discuss such details (outlined on my quote form), highlighting the importance of each.
Date, Time, & Duration
The single most important piece of information: when exactly do you need a photographer and for how long? You may have found your dream photographer, but if they are already booked or they will not be able to help you. Some things to remember:
For business events, bear in mind that a day can mean anything from 8 hours (e.g. 10:00 - 18:00) to 18 hours (e.g. 08:00-02:00), so it’s very important to be specific.
If you don’t have a specific date in mind, provide an estimation.
For tasks with an open date (e.g. for studio portraiture), simply provide your availability.
Turnaround Time (Tat)
A photographer may well be available on the date in question, but if in the 5 days that follow they are working full-time for another client, that’s likely to be 5 days during which they will be unable to work on the selection and retouch of your images. Therefore, if you’ve a specific date by which you need to receive your photographs, it’s essential you communicate it in the first instance.
Always also bear in mind that from the date of the shoot to the agreed submission deadline, you can’t guarantee that a photographer will be readily available to meet last minute requests etc, so if you know you’ll likely need a handful of specific images much earlier (e.g. for a press release the day after an event), be sure to state this in advance.
Address or Location
For a photographer based in Paris, such as myself, the essential thing to know in the first instance is whether the event will take place in or outside of the city itself so that any supplementary travel time can be factored in, which may well affect one’s availability. If you require photography in various locations throughout the day you will of course have to take the travel times of the photographer into account so that there’s a smooth overlap and no coverage is lost.
Number of Subjects / Guests
This is extremely helpful for knowing roughly how many photographs to quote; for events, to assure a consistent level of coverage, the more people there are to be photographed, the more images you will generally require.
If you’re unsure of the exact amount, as always, simply provide an estimation (e.g. 200-300 guests).
An Overview of the Proceedings / Types of Photography Required (for Events)
Although precise i
when being booked well in advance, I’ll receive the finalised event itineraries after a reservation, it’s important I have an outline of proceedings as soon as possible, as the planned activities and environment can dictate what equipment you’ll need to bring. If for, example, the event requires portraits in front of a branded step-and-repeat background at an underground event venue, then is it possible that more lighting equipment may be required.
If you’ve a limited or fixed budget, communicate it
Many prospective clients will fear that disclosing their budgets will rule out the possibility of the photographer proposing them anything cheaper. This is a common misconception and certainly isn’t true in my case; depending on the amount communicated, I’ll generally aim to provide options based around a given budget, so customers can see what they’ll get for paying a bit more or a bit less.
Special Requests
If there are particular requirements and preferences you know you will have have from the off, don’t hesitate to mention them in your initial enquiry. From your point of view, as a client, if you’ve communicated any such things addressed any such things from the off, it’s one less thing you’ll have to communicate at a later date. E.g.
Do you require your images to be watermarked with your own branding?
Do you have any preferences with regards to the amount of portraits vs candids?
Do you require an additional resolution version for the requirements of a specific site?
etc…
THE GOLDEN RULE
There are always circumstances where you might not yet be able to provide a certain detail, e.g.
you’re organising an evening event, but you still haven’t decided on a venue,
you are unsure of how much time you will require a photographer for.
If uncertain of anything, simply give an estimation; if after receiving a quote, your needs change, both parties will at least already have a starting point from where to modify the quote as appropriate.
The more information you provide about your needs, the more efficiently a photographer can respond to you and the faster and smoother the whole process of finding and hiring will go.
although the golden rule is simply to provide as much information as you can.