Commissioning photography for your report
Commissioning photography for a report, annual report or any publication does not need to be expensive and will deliver excellent value for years to come. With a little planning and organisation a day's photoshoot will make a massive difference to the finished product and ensure the imagery is real and relevant.
What do we need to consider when considering a photoshoot? Here we will talk you through what’s involved and what to think about to get the best results and value for money.
I will use a real case study for an annual report project Navig8 delivered for a client as an example of how to get the best from a commission.
Clients can, and do commission photography directly with their own photographer – that’s fine – but going through an agency will more than likely deliver a better result. And I’m not just saying that because we are an agency.
What an agency, and more importantly a creative director, brings to the table is a broader understanding of how to maximise the shoot and ensure the final images are usable and stylistically correct.
My example is a social housing company based in the Midlands. This was the first year we had worked with them and they were looking for a fresh, more professional report; not only for their current stakeholders and investors but also for potential new investors to finance expansion.
We reviewed their current photographic library, some of which contained a lot of stock imagery that was not correctly localised and was clearly not in line with the ‘real people, real stories’ that the report narrative was trying to communicate.
Firstly we established the need. What do we need to get from the photoshoot? After consultation with the client and our advice, this is what we hoped to get from a day’s photoshoot:
Updated shots of the board
Images of the wider team in their work environment
Shots of families living in the housing association properties
This is a massive brief and would not be achievable in one day, it’s more of a two-day shoot. The reason I’ve made it such a big job is that it covers three key aspects of photography for annual reports.
The brief
Get your agency to write a brief for the photographer, review it and approve it. Here is an example of what it should/could contain and some brief answers:
Subjects and location: Board members in our boardroom at head office
Time: Start time for the shoot, as well as allowing at least an hour for the photographer to set up and scope the environment
Style: Reportage. Informal candid shots during a meeting
During the break, photograph each board member in a breakout room. White background, head and shoulders. Turn the body 5 degrees clockwise and face the cameraLighting: Natural light from the windows and LED lighting from above. For the board portraits, white backdrop and lightbox (or preferred lighting)
Contact details: Who will be on hand on the day*
Usage: Worldwide and in perpetuity
Creative: Short focal distance, natural skin tones, head and shoulders, no middle distance, etc
Format: High-resolution jpegs, colour balanced
Date required:
Creative director
If the agency knows the photographer well, and the photographer knows what the agency is looking for, then you may be able to get away without the creative director (CD) attending. Certainly with head and shoulder shots, a CD is not necessary but with the more creative and potentially more difficult shots of the families, a CD can make a massive difference.
Some of the things our creative director will lookout for and advise the photographer from ‘the back of the camera’ are:
‘Visual mess’, objects and environment surrounding the subject that distract from the main ‘narrative’ of the image. This is important and often overlooked, the photographer is often preoccupied with exposure and framing and may not spot the Yucca plant growing out of the top of the chairman’s head
A ‘dead’ central space. For instance, two people talking, and sitting next to each other in a landscape format will often leave a huge empty space between them. Sometimes an unnatural setting (closer together than normal) will make a more natural and engaging image
Inappropriate content, for instance, heavily branded apparel, documents and publications in the shot or the guy in the background/distance waiting while his dog finishes his ‘business’
Reflections. You need a careful eye to spot potential embarrassing reflections, for instance, the photographer reflected in the boardroom glass doors or even reflections in the subject glasses.
There are many more things that a good, experienced CD will and should spot. It is far better to have them get it right on the day – because a reshoot is very expensive – and retouching can only do so much.
Communicate
You will need to communicate well in advance with the subjects for the photoshoot. They need to know what to expect and what is expected of them. You should tell them:
When it will take place
What the shoot is for, how the images will be used and for how long
What their ‘rights for removal are’
Send them a model release form, the agency or photographer should have this
Advice on what to wear. You need to be careful with this, naturally. Some very bold patterns or fabrics like houndstooth can reproduce very badly. Explain what to avoid and why. It should not affect freedom of expression.
On the day
Nobody really likes having their picture taken. People will act (for the most part) unnaturally and ‘stiffen up’ when a camera is pointing at them. Dave from HR might be a killer on the dance floor, but it is a very different scenario when he’s sitting in front of his work colleagues and being asked to look natural when chatting with Philomena, his line manager.
It is important to get the right team together. You need a contact on the day that the team knows and has the right personality to help facilitate the shoot. Sometimes a less senior person is best. Nobody wants the boss bearing down on them, but a popular, easy-going staff member can make the world of difference.
If at all possible (this is very hard), get the more gregarious subject to have their photographs done first. That way the more unassuming people will see that ‘it’s not so bad’.
A good photographer and CD should help the subject relax, even distract them from the camera's presence. A trick that we have employed – which is a bit naughty – is to have a chat with them while we take ‘test shots’. The CD will chat with them while the photographer is snapping away, little do they know, this IS the photo shoot and there is often palpable relief when you (as the CD) say ‘that’s it, all done’.
During one shoot for a wellness organisation, the CD just chatted with the subjects about their own experiences, their past, what the organisation meant to them and how things had improved for them. This meant the subjects (who are people, after all, not models, although models are of course people too!) forgot they were in a photoshoot and imparted some highly impactful stories, stories that may never have ‘come out’ without those conversations.
This delivered a stack of human stories, untapped previously. With their permission, sometimes anonymously, we could tell these stories through social media.
Opportunity, relevance and longevity
Commissioning a photoshoot for an internal comms document, annual report or company presentation offers a huge opportunity to illustrate what a company is and the team that makes them what they are.
Whilst it is tempting to select the stock photo option, nothing communicates to stakeholders, the public and internal comms better than illustrating real people, doing their job for the organisation they work for.
A last note: we often get told that we can’t use that image of Dave from HR anymore because he has left to pursue his life-long dream of being a dancer. Good on Dave. But at that point, in the office with Philomena, Dave was a part of the HR team. He may have left, but his story is still relevant, so let’s keep him in the report – as long as he has agreed to the right usage rights.