How To Brief a Photographer

If you’ve been reading some of my posts over recent weeks you’ll be aware that I’ve been talking a lot about reasons why you shouldn’t be skimping on your business photography.

Not only does it help you and your business to create a great first impression with prospective clients and customers, it can help build trust and rapport with your audience – especially if you’re an online-based business.

So now you’ve taken the plunge and decided to hire a professional to help you capture the right side of your business. How can you get the best results and ensure that they do the best job they possibly can for you? Let me tell you.

Make sure you have a clear goal in mind

Before you even go about searching for a photographer to do the job – make sure you have it clear in your mind what you want to do an achieve. It’s been said many times before that one of the biggest reasons that problems arise in projects is because of poor communication between one or more parties.

Communication problems can come in all shapes and sizes – if you don’t believe me here are ten of the most common as reported by Forbes. The best way to deal with them is to figure out what problems might arise and figure out a plan to tackle them.

Be really specific in what you want to achieve with the photographer. Even taking a little time to sit down and write out a brief can be useful. Make sure you make a list of every type of shot you’d like to capture on the shoot (this is a little tip I picked up from wedding shoots, but it works just as well for corporate clients).

How to research and find the best photographer for the job

Obviously the different jobs that you will have will mean that some photographers will be better for you to use than other ones. This will mean having to do your research about your photographers to find the one that will best be able to capture you vision.

Luckily, having spent some time clarifying in your own head what you actually want to achieve this shouldn’t be too difficult.

There are plenty of places to find photographers online. If you have a specific job in mind it might just be as simple as typing that particular photography skill and your location into Google – for example, “portrait photography London.”

Alternatively you can search for photographers that are affiliated to larger organisations such as the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) or even down to specific niches like the Professional Wedding Photographers Network. The nice thing about searching this way is that you know the photographer you engage with will then be of a certain standard and quality.

How to brief a photographer successfully

Finally it comes down to briefing your photographer. This doesn’t need to be as daunting or scary as it sounds, like with everything that I’ve mentioned already in this article it comes down to preparation and having a clear idea of what you want to achieve in your mind.

When it comes down to effectively communicating your vision to the photographer I always think that answering the “who, what, where, when and how” questions usually give enough indication of what you want to achieve with your images.

Telling the photographer who or what they will be photographing will ensure that they have the right sort of equipment with them to capture the subject in the best light. Telling the photographer where and when is obvious for the logistics for the shoot – however, they might suggest changing the location for issues around lighting or another technical reason you might not have thought of.

Finally tell the photographer how you want the image to turn out. Be as clear as possible with them what you want your photograph to say, and ensure they know what you intend to use the image for. As with all business relationships, if you can communicate what you want effectively and clearly at the beginning, you are much more likely to get it as the end result.

If you stick to these three tips all you now need to do is sit back and let the professional do their job. Believe me, taking this route will save you a lot of time, money and hassle.

Interested in other ways that you can use photography to help your business? Sign up here to receive my latest free eBook, which will be published in the next few weeks.