Unlock Success: 5 Strategies to Optimise Your School Photo Shoot

1.     Review the images you already have

Evaluate your current imagery to pinpoint any gaps.  Have you covered your subjects, extra curricular activities, sport and pastoral? Do you have current students in your image bank? Have you photographed the seasons? Are the images representative of your student body and the students you want to attract? Do you need to archive images of old pupils and staff?

If there are images you find yourself using again and again, share those with your photographer. Think about why you use them so often. Is it because they convey a sense how special your school is? Is it because they have lots of copy space? Do you need more images like this?

2.     Write a comprehensive brief

The more information you can give your photographer, the better. A great
photographer will be taking the ideas in your head, and shooting to get images
that represent those ideas. The more you can tell them the better. If you’re a
visual person, show them photographs you like. Research what other schools are
doing that you like, look at images from other industries, like hospitality or sports
photography. Or have a look at my portfolio here for ideas.  To help you write a really comprehensive brief I’m sharing my
photography brief template for free. E-mail amelia@ameliajohnson.com with the subject line FREE TEMPLATE and I’ll get it over to you.

3.     Put together a timetable for the shoot

Ensure you’re prepared well ahead of the shoot so that you can make the
most of the photographer whilst they’re with you. Book the classrooms you need,
check when sports are happening, as well as extra curricular activities, and
consider ahead whether you need students on standby. For me it’s very important
that all the children in the room at the time of the shoot that want to be are
included. It’s a lovely opportunity for the kids to experience being in a photo
shoot. The photos are edited down at the end of the day and the strongest images
are selected, but it takes very little time to include all students and will
make a big difference to the individual pupils. 

4.     Brief your staff and Students

Brief staff and pupils ahead of time on what you want them to wear. It
will very much depend on your school ethos how strict you are with uniform and
grooming, but make sure everyone knows what it expected. Likewise, it will save
time if all the areas you intend to shoot are tidy and clean. Photographers can
exclude areas and blur out clutter but it’s much better if they’re not
restricted by needing to do this.

5.     Be flexible

If you’ve booked your photographer, you’re confident they’re going to do
a good job. They’re experienced, give them some wiggle room to be creative.
They will see shots that you don’t, and some of the best shots can be impromptu
candid ones. 

If you’ve got any questions  or you’d like to discuss booking a shoot, please do reach out to me on 07706 945730, email me at amelia@ameliajohnson.com or contact me here. Learn more about my work here.