If you're planning a brand shoot and aren't sure what goes into a brief, you're in good company. Most brands I work with in Los Angeles arrive at different stages: some have everything mapped out, some have a product and a general direction, and some just know they need better images and aren't sure where to start. All of that works.
The shoots that go best almost always share one thing: the brand came in knowing what the images needed to do. It doesn't have to be a finished brief, just a clear sense of purpose. This guide covers how to get there.
Your brief is also how you find the right photographer
Most brands don't think about this until they're deep in the process, and it's one of the more useful things to know going in.
Your brief isn't only a document that tells me what to shoot. It's also one of the best tools you have for judging whether a photographer is worth working with. Send a rough brief to a few photographers and pay attention to what comes back. One might confirm availability and send a rate card. Another might ask a couple of sharp questions that show they read it closely. A third might offer a perspective you hadn't considered, or flag something unclear before it becomes a problem on set.
That last response is the one you want. I always tell brands to send something out before committing to anyone, because what comes back usually says more than the portfolio does.
Know where the images are going before you reach out
Most brands skip this conversation, and it makes the biggest difference once we're on set together.
A lot of briefs arrive with something like "we need content for Instagram and the website." That's a starting point, but it leaves room for things to go sideways. An image built for a full-bleed website hero needs different framing than one designed to stop someone mid-scroll. Paid social assets need breathing room in specific places so copy can sit over them without covering the subject, and a campaign launch calls for a different energy and shot list than content rolled out gradually over a few months.
None of this is complicated once you think it through, and I'm glad to work through it with you. The more specific you are about where the images will live and what they need to do, the more I can build the shoot around what matters to your brand.
A mood board does the work that words can't
This comes up on almost every project. A brand describes what they're going for, I nod along, and then shoot day arrives and everyone realizes they had completely different pictures in their heads. It's nobody's fault. Visual direction is hard to put into words, and in LA, where every brand has a strong point of view, the gap shows up fast.
A mood board closes that gap. Fifteen minutes pulling references from Pinterest or campaigns you've loved tells me more than an hour of description. What you're communicating isn't the subject matter but the light, the color temperature, the negative space and the overall feeling, and those translate directly into how I build the shoot.
The references don't have to come from your industry. Some of the most useful mood boards I've received were built from architecture, interiors or film. If the visual feeling is right, it works. I won't replicate what you send; I use it to understand how you see your brand, then build something original inside that sensibility.
A brand brief and mood board for a wellness skincare campaign. This is the kind of direction that makes a shoot run smoothly from day one.
Sending the product is not the same as sending a brief
Sending only the product is something I see all the time, and it's a fine place to start. But a product alone doesn't give me much to work with creatively, and that gap tends to show up on set in ways that are hard to fix in the moment.
What I need to understand is the story around it. Who's buying this? What should someone feel when they see the image? Is the brand raw and editorial, or clean and considered? Is the customer a 28-year-old in Silver Lake or a 45-year-old in Newport Beach? Those details shape the location, the talent, the lighting and the energy of the whole shoot.
The product is what I'm photographing. The brief tells me why it matters and who it's for, and once I have that, I can build something that connects. What a shoot includes beyond the photographer is covered in what's included in commercial photography services, and how much to budget for professional product photography explains how scope affects the price.
What to include in a photography brief: a checklist
The best briefs aren't long, they're specific. One of my favorite projects last year started with a single page: a paragraph about the customer from a Venice wellness brand, a shot list of twelve images, and a Pinterest board of mostly architecture and natural-light interiors. I built the entire shoot around that page, and it was one of the smoothest productions I've done.
Here's what actually matters:
| Include | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Who you are and what you sell | Two or three sentences for someone who has never heard of your brand: what you make, who it's for and what makes it worth paying attention to. |
| The customer seeing the images | The more specific, the better it shows up in the work. "Health-conscious consumers" gives me almost nothing to build from. "Men and women in their late 30s who train seriously, shop at Erewhon and are skeptical of anything that feels overly marketed" gives me a shoot I can design around. |
| A shot list | The specific images you need. If you're not sure yet, say so, and I'll help you build it once I understand the scope and platforms. |
| A mood board | Essential, but it doesn't need to be polished. A shared Pinterest board or a folder of screenshots works well. |
| What you don't want | Almost every brief leaves this out, and it's one of the most useful things to share. If a visual direction or tone feels wrong for your brand right now, saying so upfront saves everyone time. |
| Timeline and where the images run | When you need the images and how you plan to use them affect scheduling, licensing and the quote. Sharing that early keeps the whole process cleaner, and it is the starting point for licensing and the quote. |
Ready to start a project in Los Angeles or San Diego?
Whether you have a fully built-out brief or just a rough idea you've been sitting on, I'd like to hear about it. Some of my best projects started with nothing more than "we need images but we're not sure exactly what yet" and that's a good place to begin.
Tell me what you're working on and we'll take it from there: a straightforward conversation, no pressure, about what you're building and whether I'm the right fit. Want to see more first? Take a look at our work as a commercial photographer in Los Angeles.