Photoshoot ideas
Photoshoot ideas by occasion
Concepts that survive the decade, from a London photographer who shoots them.
Photoshoot ideas
Concepts that survive the decade, from a London photographer who shoots them.
Every set below is written for one occasion: what to shoot, why it works, and the frames that are worth more than the ones everyone takes.
The strongest maternity images are built on light and shape rather than props. What follows are concepts that …
Birthday shoots fail when they try to look like a party that is not happening. The concepts that work either l…
The best family photographs are of a family doing something, not of a family arranged. Plan an activity and le…
Couple photography works on interaction. Every idea below gives the two of you something to do, because two pe…
An engagement shoot has a job beyond nice pictures: it produces the announcement image, and it is the rehearsa…
A wedding gallery is three galleries in one: the documentary record of the day, twenty minutes of portraits, a…
A bridal portrait is a fashion portrait wearing a wedding dress. The difference from wedding photography is co…
The official graduation photograph is a production line. Everything worth having is shot either before the cer…
The beach is a hard light problem disguised as a pretty location. Solve the light and everything else follows.…
A baby shower is an event shoot with one portrait subject at the centre of it. Shoot the room before anyone to…
Travel photography fails from too much, not too little. The discipline is choosing five things to photograph p…
Christmas photography is a lighting problem: short days, warm bulbs and fairy lights that look magical to the …
An anniversary session has an advantage a wedding shoot never has: no schedule, no guests and no performance. …
A proposal shoot is a logistics problem with a camera attached. Everything depends on planning done before any…
A corporate set is judged on consistency first and personality second. The whole job is building one repeatabl…
A solo session has no brief except you, which sounds freeing and is actually the hard part. Give it a shape: t…
Street style works on three things: a background that is busy enough to be interesting and plain enough to rea…
A hotel room is a studio you have rented by accident: controlled light, clean surfaces, no clutter. The whole …
Night photography is not low-light photography. It is a choice between three distinct looks — available light,…
A studio gives you control and takes away everything else — no location, no context, nothing to react to. Ever…
Prom photography happens in a narrow window in bright afternoon light, usually in somebody's garden, with an a…
A garden is a location with no walls, which means the light and the background have to be built rather than fo…
Beauty photography is the least forgiving genre there is: the crop is tight, the focus is on skin, and there i…
Newborn photography has a biological deadline. Under about fourteen days a baby still curls into the shapes pe…
Fitness photography is a lighting genre disguised as a sports one. Muscle definition is shadow, so everything …
A car is a mirror shaped like a car. Almost every decision in automotive photography is about controlling what…
Sibling photographs fail for one reason: the children are asked to perform affection on demand. Everything bel…
Children photograph well when they are absorbed in something and badly when they are being photographed. The e…
Pet photography is child photography with a shorter attention span and no verbal instructions. Fast shutter, e…
Dance is a shutter-speed problem with a timing problem attached. Everything is decided by whether you freeze t…
Concert photography is the hardest light in photography: coloured, changing every second, and mostly aimed awa…
Food photography is decided before the plate arrives: by the light you chose and the angle that suits the dish…
Product photography splits into two jobs that need different setups: the clean listing image that must be cons…
A team shoot is a production problem before it is a photography one. Build one lighting setup, mark the floor,…
Teen portraits go wrong when they are staged like a family session. The fix is to photograph the person they a…
Yoga photography is a line problem. The shape is the subject, so everything — angle, light, background — exist…
Snow breaks two things automatically: exposure and colour. Fix those and it is the easiest beautiful light the…
Rain doubles every light source and empties every location. The photographs everyone else went home rather tha…
A festival is a light problem that changes every hour and a crowd problem that never stops. Shoot early, shoot…
The point of these sessions is relationship, not arrangement. Everything that works gives the two of them some…
A senior portrait is a teenager's first proper photograph of themselves. Treat it as that rather than as a sch…
Interior photography is preparation plus two technical habits: keep the verticals straight and stop mixing lig…
A bike is mostly curved metal, which means it is mostly reflections. Control what the tank and the fairings ca…