Great photography is one of the most powerful things a business can invest in. Bad photography - or photography that was good but briefed badly - is money spent and nothing gained.

We produce a lot of photography for clients. And over time we've noticed that the businesses who get the most from their shoot are the ones who come prepared with a specific answer to one question:

What do you want someone to feel when they see this image?

Not what do you want them to see. Feel.

Trusted. Excited. Reassured. Like they're in good hands. Like they want to be in that room. Like that product is worth paying for.

The answer to that question informs everything else: the location, the lighting, the people in the frame, the composition, the editing style. Start from feeling and the practical decisions become much easier.

Before a shoot, you should also be clear on:

Where the images are going. A website hero image works differently to an Instagram square. A LinkedIn banner needs different proportions to a printed brochure. A photographer who knows where the images will end up will shoot accordingly.

Who should be in them. The instinct is often to avoid people — it's easier, quicker and less uncomfortable. But human photography performs significantly better than empty spaces and products in isolation. People buy from people. Faces build trust. If you can get real team members or real customers in front of the camera, do it.

What you definitely don't want. Sometimes the clearest brief is a list of what to avoid. Overly corporate. Too serious. Too casual. Staged or forced. Knowing what you don't want is genuinely useful.

The one image you must get. Every shoot should have a non-negotiable - the one image that, if you get nothing else, the day was a success. Often it's a hero portrait of the founder or a key product shot. Knowing what that is means the whole shoot has a clear anchor.

Photography is worth investing in properly. Brief it properly and you'll use the images for years.

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