What a Corporate Photo Brief Must Include

The brief is a one-page agreement

A corporate photo brief is not the sentence “take nice pictures”. It names who will be photographed, where, which frames are mandatory, where the photos will be used and which files will be delivered. Media7 fills that page with the client and locks it before shoot day. Short answer: people, place, look, shot list, usage rights and delivery format must sit in the brief. Without them, time on set goes to wardrobe, backgrounds and “one more room”.

People and roles

Who is photographed: leadership, team, guest faces, or all of them. Each person gets spare time and a deputy noted. Media7 asks for name, role and priority on the list. Squeezing everyone into the same twenty minutes ruins portraits. If a second short window for no-shows is written in the brief, the crew is ready that day; if it is not written, those faces are not part of this shoot.

Place and look

Office, production floor, street or studio each need different light and permits. On the scout Media7 notes window direction, lifts, noise and brand walls. Look references arrive as 5–8 photos, not a Pinterest board of unused styles. Background: neutral, brand colour, or the real workplace. Mixed light is a frequent problem in Baku offices; writing “natural light” in the brief is not enough — the room that actually works must be named.

Shot list and usage

Every frame has a job: site hero, LinkedIn, press, card, deck. Media7 also writes the format on the list: horizontal, vertical, square. Usage window and channel sit in the brief because the same portrait may need different retouch for an ad and for an internal news post. Must-have frames are marked. “As many frames as possible” is not a delivery criterion; an agreed count and selected selects is a more honest expectation.

Wardrobe, brand and bans

Dress code, colour clashes and stray logos are written as bans. If there is a uniform, a clean full set is brought. Media7 checks accessory and glasses flare on set, but does not fix the wrong jacket in retouch. If a brand book exists, colour and type also affect graphics after the photo. Competitor material, labelled mugs and accidental screen notifications sit on the no-go list.

Delivery specification

Colour profile, long-side size, retouch depth and folder logic are written down. Media7 usually separates selects from retouched finals. Revision rounds are agreed in advance. If the filename keeps the person’s name and the usage slot, marketing does not waste a search. Photography delivery is cropped to the channels in the brief; a late “we also need Stories” can be a second job.

Baku logistics

Parking, access, lunch hour and lift queues land on the call sheet. Media7 keeps spare time for light and reflections. In a multi-floor office, move time cuts the shot count; the list is therefore ordered by floor. If an exterior facade is required, sun direction is checked on the scout. If weather changes, the indoor plan is the backup and the client is told in writing.

Corporate photo brief checklist

Goal and channels.

Named people list and priority.

Place, look references, forbidden backgrounds.

Shot list: must-have and spare.

Dress code and brand rules.

Delivery: size, retouch, number of rounds.

This page is the visual annex to the contract. Media7 sends it with the proposal.

Portrait order and waiting

If a director is ten minutes late, team portraits move forward; the crew does not wait in an empty corridor. Media7 orders names by the hour on the call sheet and gives one person the job of calling the next face. Glasses, hijab and hair are noted in the brief so light does not change at the last minute. A two-person frame is planned at the same height and the same key; otherwise one face falls dark. The group frame is last because everyone is rarely free at once. That rhythm comes from the priority list in the brief, not from whoever speaks loudest on set.

Retouch expectation stays written

Skin clean-up, background marks and logo fixes are different jobs. Media7 counts which of them are included in the brief. “Make me thinner” is usually out of a corporate still; small temporary marks are in. Glasses flare is solved on set, not with heavy clone work later. Eight to twelve chosen portraits go to retouch, not all 200 frames. In the selects round the client marks names; they do not write a blanket “liked everything”. That limit protects time and the contract.

How to start

Send usage slots, participants and 5–8 references. Media7 completes the brief and returns a written proposal. For price use the price calculator or contact. The clearer the brief, the fewer repeat takes a portrait day needs.