A significant portion of our work comes through creative agencies — and has done for the entirety of dpix’s existence.
Over 30 years, we’ve worked with advertising agencies, design studios, PR companies, marketing teams and in-house creative departments of all sizes. Some relationships have lasted decades. And in that time we’ve developed a fairly clear sense of what agencies actually need from a photography partner — as opposed to what they say they need in a brief, which is sometimes a slightly different thing.
What agencies need that photographers often underestimate
Speed and reliability matter as much as creative quality. An agency running a client campaign has deadlines that don’t move. If the images are late, or if they come back requiring significant reshooting, the whole project is in trouble. A photographer who delivers brilliant work but is unpredictable about timing is a liability. We take delivery seriously — if we say you’ll have images by a certain date, you will.
Equally important is the ability to work from a brief without constant hand-holding. Agencies don’t have time to manage their photographers. They need someone who can take a creative brief, ask the right questions upfront, and then execute it with the level of professional judgement that means the images come back matching the concept — not requiring a lengthy revision process.
The practical advantages of working with us
We cover the full range of commercial disciplines — product, food, people, location, advertising, industrial — which means agencies don’t need a different photographer for every type of job. We have our own fully equipped studio just two miles from the M5 at Junction 5, which makes logistics straightforward for West Midlands-based clients, and we travel nationally for location work.
Both Darren and Julie hold current DBS checks and are qualified members of the British Institute of Professional Photography — which matters when agencies are briefing work that involves children, schools or sensitive environments where client due diligence is required.
We also offer video production alongside photography, which is increasingly relevant as agencies manage combined visual content briefs for clients who need both.
How the best agency relationships work
The most productive agency partnerships tend to develop over time. When we understand a client’s brand — really understand it — we can work faster and with less back-and-forth. We become a resource the agency can brief with confidence rather than a new supplier they need to manage carefully every time.
We work across the UK and are as comfortable with London-based agency clients as with those closer to our Bromsgrove base. If you’re an agency looking for a reliable, experienced photography partner for your clients, we’d be glad to talk. Tell us about the kind of work you typically brief and we’ll give you a straight answer on whether we’re the right fit.
To find out more about our commercial photography work, visit our service page.
Related reading: What Is Commercial Photography? A Plain English Guide.
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