Your ultimate guide to writing a event photography brief in 6 easy to follow steps
No matter what your profession, if you're looking for some guidance on writing the ultimate brief for a event photographer, these 6 easy to follow steps will get you there.
To capture the very best images from your event, it's crucial to give your event photographer a clear, concise brief. It should give them all the key information they need, without getting too hung up on specific directions and expectations, which can risk hindering or stifling their creativity.
I have been working as a PR and event photographer in Birmingham and around the West Midlands for over 15 years, working with a range of businesses and organisations within charity, not-for-profit, corporate and private sectors. One common thread to produce consistently captivating and emotive promotional images, is the ability to write an informative and creative brief. Taking the key elements from all the briefs I have received over the years, I have created a guide to the ultimate event photographer brief, broken down into 6 simple steps.
#1. Must-haves: Outline essential details first
"God is in the details"
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), Architect
This quote captures the importance of capturing and defining all of the key details - no matter how small, as these elements can often have the biggest impact - and is a great way to begin this guide to writing the ultimate event photography brief.
The most important details should be the ones you start with: the event name, and a short description of the event and its purpose. Follow up with further details on the date, time, location, all travel information, and key contacts (including names and numbers of people that can provide assistance should the event photographer need any help or further advice). If your event is happening in multiple locations, you could also consider supplying a timetable with highlights you would like the event photographer to capture at each place. Keep all these details at the top of the page, as they will be key to everything else that will follow.
To summarise, the first part of your brief would contain:
Name of the event
A brief description of the event and its purpose
Date
Time
Location(s)
Travel advice (including parking and any known roadworks or closures)
Key contact(s) and mobile number(s) of (a) contact(s) on site
Emergency contact name and mobile number
#2. What you're looking for
"If you don't ask, you don't get"
Stevie Wonder, Musician
Whether you prefer an authentic, documentary photography style, or posed shots, then this second part of your event brief is the place to ask. Start by explaining the messages or story you'd like the images to tell, and don't be afraid to describe the ideal images you'd like your photographer to capture in simple terms (especially if this is your first time working with your event photographer). And if you trust your event photographer's experience and skill , then simply asking them to capture the soul and spirit of the event might be all you need to say!
Examples:
Below are some examples of descriptions you might include in your brief.
Event message/story you'd like the images to tell:
The event is all about celebration and the importance of people coming together from different backgrounds to unite and support one another. We want to convey the message that we bring people together regardless of faith, sex, creed or orientation. The watch word for the event is 'togetherness'.
Descriptions of 'ideal' images:
Groups and individual close-ups of people laughing together and having fun
People interacting with performers and pop-up shows
VIP greeting, waving to crowds and shaking hands with delegates
Wide shots of crowd reactions
#3. Composition
"Good composition is like a suspension bridge, each line adds strength and takes nothing away"
Robert Henri, Painter
A good professional photographer will frame people and elements within a scene to maximise the image's visual impact. Typically, they will attempt to leave space around the main subject/element to allow the client to crop images (without taking anything away from the main subject/elements), and/or use the edges for text overlays, as examples (in line with your own brand guidelines). Let the photographer know if you prefer your subjects to be positioned to the right or the left of the frame, or if you like a combination of centrally and left/right justified images. Give visual examples if you can, including asking for both portrait and landscape orientated images.
#4. Special Notes
This is where you want to make your photographer aware of any guidance or requests that might be a little out of the ordinary . Below is a list of examples from generic events, followed by potential problems, with the solutions you might suggest.
VIP book signing event
Problem: VIP wears glasses for reading, but dislikes photos where they're wearing them.
Solution: Avoid taking any shots of them wearing their glasses, and prompt them to remove them if possible.
Public family event
Problem: There might be vulnerable adults or children in foster care who cannot be photographed for safeguarding reasons.
Solution: Warnings will be displayed for people attending the event that photographs/videography is being used. Check-in and ask for written or verbal consent from the main subjects you photograph.
Corporate Conference Event
Problem: Speaker is nervous about public speaking or is visually sensitive to bright lights. Solution: Avoid using any flash.
Events with animals
Problem: Animals at the event can be stressed by noise or bright light.
Solution: Avoid using flash and turn off any controllable audio/sounds or alerts.
Agricultural event
Problem: The event is held on a field - mud and rain expected!
Solution: Dress appropriately, bring a spare change of clothes and sturdy boots or wellies
#5. Delivery
In the fifth step of the brief, it's time to tell your photographer how, when and where you would like your images delivered. Below is a breakdown of some of the most important considerations:
If/when you need a selection of event highlights expedited for a press release, and when you need the full set of images sent by.
If you require a set of both low resolution and high resolution files (due to file size).
Providing specific details about whether there's a minimum size of high resolution files that you expect; for example, 'all high resolution images provided at a physical size of 420mm X 459mm at 300dpi'.
Whether you would you like a contact sheet* (see below for details on this).
Whether there's a specific file naming system you would like the event photographer to adhere to; for example, 'EventName_Location_May23_160'.
Whether there's a PO/reference that must be used on the final invoice.
*A contact sheet is a gallery view of all your images in convenient thumbnail sizes. It is designed to help 'the client review and compare lots of images at a time, eliminating the need to flick through each image individually on the computer.
#6. Sign-off Message
After providing your comprehensive brief, the final part is your sign-off. Over the years, the most memorable briefs are those that have ended on a positive note - or even provided some comedy-value. One that particularly sticks in my mind is: 'Bring me back a Rembrandt in a photo'! Whilst you don't have to go all out on the comedic value, encouraging your event photographer to think positively about your event is, in my opinion, an important and personable facet of the brief. If you just want to keep it simple and tell them you hope it goes well, and that you're available should they need any assistance, then that's also a perfect way to conclude the brief, too.
Conclusion
Writing an event photography brief can be a daunting task, but hopefully after reading this guide you've established a solid foundation to start putting your brief together, remembering to include the 6 key steps where you can.
If you have any questions, or want to share some additional helpful tips you've learned yourself (whether from an event planner, or photographer's perspective), then please feel free to leave a message below.
Thank you for reading!
With appreciation Aaron Scott Richards - Birmingham Event Photographer and Birmingham PR Photographer