A website photography brief should explain what each image needs to show, where it will appear and which crops the design requires. Include the people, locations, permissions and practical arrangements. Start from the pages you need to build, rather than collecting attractive photographs and hoping they fit afterwards.
Give the photographer the page plan
A photographer needs more than a request for some website pictures. Share the main page layouts or rough sketches and explain the role of each image. A wide homepage photograph has different requirements from a portrait, project detail or square article card.
Mark any area where text will sit over the image. If the design needs clear space on the left, tell the photographer before the important subject ends up there. Better still, ask whether the same scene can support both text positions.
Include the intended mood, but describe it through practical references. “People carrying out real work, photographed at eye level with natural surroundings” gives more direction than “premium and authentic”.
Build a shot list around evidence
For each service page, ask what a photograph could genuinely help someone understand. It might show a finished surface, a piece of equipment in use or the difference between two types of installation.
Do not ask every image to be a grand statement about the business. A clear detail photograph can answer a useful question. A carefully staged handshake often cannot.
For an illustrative workshop business, the list might include:
- A wide view showing the working environment.
- A person using a specific process, with appropriate permission.
- A close view of the finished detail a buyer would inspect.
- A sequence showing the main stages of a job.
- A portrait of the person who will be named on the website.
Label the priority shots. If time becomes tight, the photographer should know which images are essential to the site and which are additional options.
Plan for phone and desktop crops
A photograph that works in a wide banner may lose its subject in a narrow mobile crop. Ask for alternative framing or enough surrounding space to crop sensibly. Where the composition is important, plan separate versions.
Google’s web.dev guide to responsive images explains why websites may need different image sizes and compositions for different screens. The technical delivery comes later, but the source photograph has to allow it.
Check that important details survive the intended crop. A machine label, sign or person’s face should not be partly cut off when the layout changes. Avoid placing essential information only inside the image.
Sort access and permissions before the day
Confirm who can approve photography at each location and who will appear in the pictures. Agree the intended uses with the photographer and the relevant people. Do not assume that permission for a printed brochure covers every planned channel or future use.
Keep the agreement with the image records. This is a practical production check; any uncertainty about rights should be resolved with the parties involved before publication.
Also check practical restrictions. A customer site may have confidential documents, screens, vehicle registrations or other information that should not appear. Tell the photographer what needs to be kept out of shot rather than relying on editing later.
Prepare the location without making it unrecognisable
Remove distracting clutter, check clothing and agree which areas can be photographed safely. A tidy setting helps viewers see the subject. It should still represent the real business.
Give someone responsibility for access, introductions and moving between locations. If a process needs a particular person or machine, confirm availability. A detailed shot list is of limited use when its main subject has gone out on a job.
Leave space for the photographer’s judgement. Your brief should explain the business need, not prescribe every camera position. They may spot a clearer way to show the same point.
Specify a usable handover
Agree the file formats, resolution, naming and delivery method. Keep high-quality originals separately from the smaller versions prepared for the website. Ask for a simple contact sheet or preview set so non-technical colleagues can identify images without opening every file.
Record what each selected photograph shows, where it was taken and any restrictions. That record helps with captions and useful image alt text, as well as future updates.
If the same shoot will support social content, plan that alongside the website. Our guide to planning content from one shoot covers that wider use. For the page layouts that should shape the brief, see our website design approach.