A good shoot can give your business a year’s worth of images and video in a single day. A badly planned one gives you three hundred photos of the same corner of the office and a video where the most interesting thing is a forklift reversing in the background. A little planning turns a business photo shoot into something far more useful.
The difference is almost never the photographer’s skill. It’s the planning. The more thought goes into a business photo shoot before the day, the more useful material comes out of it.
Spring and early summer are popular times to shoot, with longer days and better light for outdoor work. Whenever you plan yours, this guide covers what to do, from working out what you need to making sure you can legally use what you get.
Start with where the content will be used
Before thinking about shots, list every place the photos and video will appear over the next year or so. For example:
- Website: homepage banner, service pages, about page, team page, case studies.
- Social media: regular posts, stories, short vertical videos, profile and cover images.
- Google Business Profile.
- Print: brochures, leaflets, exhibition graphics, signage.
- Advertising: online ads, printed adverts.
- PR: images to send to press and partners.
- Sales: presentations and proposals.
This list shapes everything. Website banners usually need wide images with space for text. Social media needs square and vertical formats. Print needs high resolution. Video for a website homepage is very different from short clips for social. Knowing the end uses lets your photographer or videographer shoot for them, rather than you trying to crop something unsuitable later.
Decide what story you’re telling
Images should show what makes you different, not just prove you exist. Ask what a potential customer wants to see before trusting you. For a trade, it might be clean vans, tidy work and friendly faces. For a professional service, approachable people and a real office. For a manufacturer, the skill and care in the process.
Write down three or four things you want the images to communicate, such as “friendly and local”, “precise and technical” or “busy and established”. Share these with the photographer. They’ll make dozens of small decisions on the day based on them.
Build a shot list
A shot list is a written list of every image or clip you need, grouped by location and time. It’s the most useful planning document for any business photo shoot. For each item, note:
- What or who is in the shot.
- Where it’s taken.
- Orientation: wide, upright, square or vertical video.
- Where it will be used.
- Priority: essential or nice to have.
Typical categories include team portraits, group shots, people at work, close-up detail shots, premises exterior and interior, products, and “in use” shots with customers. For video, add interview questions, the clips needed to illustrate each answer, and any short social pieces.
Put the essentials first. If the day runs over, and they often do, you want the must-haves captured early.
Sort out locations and timings
Visit every location beforehand, ideally with your photographer, at roughly the same time of day as the shoot. Check the light, the background clutter, the noise for video and the space to set up equipment.
Plan the running order to avoid wasted time moving between locations. Group shots that need the same people together. Schedule people-heavy shots when the most staff are around, and allow time for set-up at each location, which always takes longer than you’d expect.
If you’re shooting outdoors, have a wet weather plan. This is the UK, after all.
Prepare the people
People are usually the most important and least prepared part of a business photo shoot. Tell everyone involved well in advance what’s happening, when they’re needed and what to wear.
- Agree a wardrobe: branded workwear, or plain clothes in colours that work with your brand. Avoid busy patterns and large logos from other brands.
- Check workwear is clean, the right size and consistent.
- Reassure nervous staff. Good photographers are experienced at relaxing people, but it helps if nobody is surprised on the day.
- For video interviews, share the questions beforehand so people can think about their answers without learning a script.
Prepare the spaces
Tidy everything that will be on camera, then tidy it again. Remove personal items, paperwork, cables, old posters, out-of-date signage and anything with confidential information. Check health and safety: if the shoot shows people working, they should be wearing the right protective equipment and following proper procedures. Images of unsafe practice can do real damage.
Have products clean and ready, vehicles washed and parked where they’ll be photographed.
Everything in the frame says something about your business. If you wouldn’t want a customer to see it, move it before the camera comes out.
Get the permissions right
This is the part that gets forgotten until it’s a problem.
- People: get written consent from anyone identifiable who appears in the images, including staff. A model release form sets out how images will be used. Be especially careful with customers, members of the public and anyone under 18, where you’ll need consent from a parent or guardian.
- Locations: if you’re shooting on someone else’s premises, such as a client’s site or a public venue, get permission first.
- Usage rights: agree in writing with your photographer or videographer how you can use the material, for how long and in what media. Some suppliers license images for specific uses, so make sure the licence covers everything on your list.
- Music: for video, use properly licensed music. Using popular tracks without a licence can get videos removed or muted.
If staff leave, consider what happens to images of them. It’s worth having a clear policy. Take advice on data protection if you’re unsure, as photos of identifiable people are personal data.
On the day
Appoint one person from your side as the point of contact. They keep the shot list, make decisions, find people and open doors. Tick off shots as they’re done. Look at images on the camera or laptop as you go, so you can spot problems while there’s time to fix them.
After the shoot
Agree how and when you’ll receive the edited files, in what formats and sizes, and how you’ll select your favourites. Store the originals somewhere safe and organised, with sensible file names and folders, so your team can actually find them. A business photo shoot loses much of its value if nobody can locate the photos six months later.
Business photo shoot and video planning checklist
- We’ve listed every place the content will be used.
- We know what three or four things the images should communicate.
- There’s a shot list with formats, uses and priorities.
- Locations have been visited and a running order agreed.
- There’s a wet weather plan for outdoor shots.
- Everyone involved knows when they’re needed and what to wear.
- Spaces are tidied and anything confidential is removed.
- Health and safety is correct in every shot of people working.
- Consent forms are ready for everyone who’ll appear.
- Location permissions are confirmed in writing.
- Usage rights are agreed in writing with the supplier.
- Music for video is properly licensed.
- One person is responsible on the day.
- There’s a plan for storing and organising the final files.
Making it happen
If you’d like help planning or running your business photo shoot, our photography and video production teams can take care of everything from the shot list to the final edit, and help you plan content that works across your website, social media and print.
