Most photography briefs describe how images should look instead of what they need to do.
"Warm and inviting" means something different to every person in the room. "Photography for our Airbnb Luxe listing that converts browsers into bookers" is a brief a production team can design around. One page from Premium Resorts for a four-day, two-property shoot: property details, listing requirements, target audience, and one sentence that changed the plan: "We need the exterior at blue hour above everything else." That clarity produced four efficient production days across 713 combined square metres.
Purpose before adjectives
Start with the commercial objective. Where the images will live matters as much as what they depict. Website heroes have different requirements than OTA thumbnails. Social content needs different crops than print collateral. A brief that names the channels gives the production team enough to design the entire shoot around real constraints.
Show, do not describe
Ten to fifteen reference images with brief notes communicate more than any written description. "Moody and sophisticated" is ambiguous. A folder of images that embody that feeling is specific. References of what you do not want are equally useful. Share brand guidelines or an identity system if one exists. Colour grading and post-production calibrate to the existing visual language.
Leave the craft to the studio
Camera settings. Lighting specifications. Lens choices. The best briefs explain the business, the goals, and what success looks like. Everything else is craft. One decision-maker on approvals is ideal. Two slows the process. Three stops it.
Our process is outlined in How We Work.