The quality of a photography brief has a direct bearing on the quality of the images. That’s not a cop-out — it’s just true. The more clearly a photographer understands what you’re trying to achieve, the better equipped they are to achieve it. Here’s how to brief well.
Start with a mood board
Before you try to describe what you want in words, collect examples. Images from other brands, from stock libraries, from magazines — anything that gives you a visual reference for the look and feel you’re after. Don’t limit yourself to photography of similar products; you might just be drawn to a particular quality of light, a colour palette, or a compositional style.
Include examples of what you don’t want too. Knowing what to avoid is just as useful as knowing what to aim for.
Be clear about your brand and your audience
Write down the words you want someone to think when they see your images. Premium? Approachable? Technical? Playful? Understanding the emotional register you’re aiming for helps a photographer make the right creative decisions — about light, composition, colour, and depth of field — even when the brief doesn’t explicitly specify them.
Similarly, the more specific you can be about your target audience, the more effectively the photography can be tailored to them.
Think through the logistics in advance
Props, locations, models, staff, food — anything that needs to be prepared or sourced should be identified before the shoot day, not on it. The same goes for access to spaces or outdoor locations. If there’s any dependency on weather, have a contingency plan.
A pre-shoot visit is often worth arranging, especially for location work. It lets the photographer assess light and logistics, plan the schedule, and arrive on the day fully prepared rather than problem-solving on arrival.
Be realistic about timelines
Post-production takes time. Editing, retouching, colour correction — getting images from raw files to final deliverables is a significant part of the process. Share your deadlines early so they can be built into the schedule, and don’t expect finished images the day after a shoot.
Quality over quantity
A common instinct is to want as many images as possible from a shoot. In practice, a smaller set of genuinely excellent images is far more useful than a large quantity of near-misses. We’d always rather spend time getting ten images exactly right than rushing through fifty that are almost there.
If you’d like to talk through a brief before committing to anything, that’s exactly the kind of conversation we enjoy. Get in touch.
Our FAQ page answers the questions we’re most commonly asked before a shoot.
Related reading: How to Choose the Right Photographer for a Commercial Project.
Free Download
The dpix Photography Brief Template
A structured one-page PDF template you can fill in before any commercial photography project u2014 covering project description, usage rights, style references, logistics and budget. Enter your email address and we’ll send it straight to your inbox.
"*" indicates required fields
Free — for marketing teams
Get practical photography tips in your inbox
Join marketing managers and brand teams who get our monthly guide — briefing photographers, planning shoots, getting more from your imagery. No hard sell, no fluff.
"*" indicates required fields
