Hire a Photographer

When you need to hire a photographer, a brief, or creative brief, is a comprehensive document that provides essential information and instructions from the client to the photographer. It plays a pivotal role in guiding the photographer’s work, ensuring that the final images align with the client’s vision and requirements.

The creative brief typically includes the project’s objectives, intended use of the photographs, target audience, style preferences, specific shots or concepts required, and any other relevant details.

It serves as a blueprint for the photographer to follow throughout the project, enabling them to make informed decisions about composition, lighting, and post-processing.

The creative brief can also act as a contract of understanding between the client and the photographer, preventing misunderstandings and ensuring that both parties are aligned on the project’s direction.

The brief can be simplified by the photographer into a “shot list” – a list of shots they need to capture to meet the brief.

The law of copyright in the UK is governed by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended). Copyright is, as the name suggests, the right to make copies, physical or electronic, of a qualifying work and doing so without the authorisation of the copyright owner is known as “copyright infringement”.

The copyright owner may sue any person who infringes their copyright. In addition, making or distributing copies in the course of a business, without the consent of the copyright owner, is a criminal offence. Copyright in a photograph arises at the moment the photograph is taken, whether the image is captured digitally or on film.

Copyright lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the photographer dies.

Who owns the copyright in a photograph?
In most circumstances, the copyright in a photograph belongs to the person who took it, unless the photograph was taken in the course of the photographer’s employment, when the employer owns the copyright. These are the default positions and can be altered by contract.

A person who commissions a freelance photographer for a particular assignment is not regarded in law as an employer and the copyright will belong to the photographer.

Terms that set out the permitted uses for an image or set of images are known as a licence. An additional or amended licence is needed if the client seeks to make use of an image in a manner not included in the original licence terms.

Similarly, if the rights granted under the licence are for a specific duration, a further licence is needed if the client wishes to extend their use of the images beyond the agreed period. Copyright licence agreements may be entered into orally and may sometimes be implied by law from the circumstances, but, to protect both client and photographer against any future difficulties, they should ideally always be in writing.

None of this affects the rights of the client to give away any physical prints (or other physical products bearing the image) that were supplied as part of the contract with the photographer. Those prints become the property of the client to display or give away, but the client must not have copies made from them without further authorisation from the photographer.

A shooting schedule is a pre-planned timetable that outlines the dates, locations, and timings for a photography session or event. This detailed plan helps ensure that both the photographer and the client are on the same page and have a clear understanding of the logistics involved.

The shooting schedule is crucial for projects that involve multiple locations, events with tight timelines, or sessions with numerous subjects. It allows for efficient time management and minimizes the risk of missing crucial shots or running behind schedule.

A shooting schedule also aids in allocating sufficient time for each aspect of the shoot, such as setup, breaks, and equipment changes. Flexibility is essential though, as unforeseen circumstances may require adjustments to the schedule while keeping the overall project goals intact.

High-resolution refers to images with a high level of detail and sharpness, often measured in pixel dimensions, and then secondarily in pixels per inch (PPI).

High-resolution images contain more pixels, providing greater clarity and the ability to print larger sizes without losing quality. When a photograph is taken with a high-resolution camera or in RAW format, it retains more information and allows for extensive post-processing without sacrificing image quality.

High-resolution images are particularly essential for commercial purposes, large prints, billboards, and any situation where visual clarity is paramount. However, high-resolution images also require more storage space and may take longer to process, making it crucial for photographers and clients to balance their needs with practical considerations.

High resolution files are usually transferred to clients in JPG format, however TIFF is used frequently in commercial circles.

Technically RAW isn’t an abbreviation, so it should be written as raw, but everyone uses the uppercase variation, so RAW it is. 

Raw format refers to the unprocessed and uncompressed file captured by the camera’s image sensor. Unlike JPEG or other compressed formats, RAW files retain all the original data captured by the camera without any loss of quality. This provides photographers with greater flexibility in post-processing, as they can adjust parameters like exposure, white balance, and color temperature without degrading the image quality.

RAW format is preferred by professional photographers who require extensive editing capabilities to achieve their artistic vision. However, RAW files are larger in size and require specialized software for processing, making them more challenging to handle for casual users.

It is extremely rare for a photographer to hand over or sell their RAW files, unless they’re working in a partnership with a retoucher, company or another photographer to process the files. It is quite similar to giving a customer cake batter before putting it in the oven – the job isn’t finished at this stage.