A good brief fits on one page and decides whether you leave the show with usable pictures or just nice ones. This guide covers what your photographer needs to know, in which order, and what typically goes missing without a brief.
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An experienced trade fair photographer will find good shots without a brief. What they cannot know is which product is the launch, which guest arrives in the afternoon, who in your team does not want to be photographed and where the pictures will end up. That information is the difference between a set that looks good and a set that your sales team, your press office and your social media people actually use.
If you are flying in from abroad, the brief matters even more. You will arrive the day before, your stand may still be under construction, and there is little time for long conversations on site. A brief sent by email a few days earlier and a five-minute check on the stand on the first morning cover most situations. At Pixer we go through these points with you before the show day, so the meeting on the stand stays short and does not interrupt conversations with visitors.
These details sound obvious, yet they are the ones most often missing or wrong:
The most important question in a brief is not what to photograph but where the pictures will appear. Almost everything follows from that: orientation, perspective, how much space is left for text, how many people are in the frame.
| Use | What the photographer takes from it |
|---|---|
| LinkedIn and social media | People in conversation, vertical frames for stories, fast delivery |
| Website and catalogue | Clean stand view, landscape with space, product details |
| Press release | One clear shot of the CEO or the launch, calm background |
| Sales and distributors | Products in use, stand with a readable logo |
| Home market | Shots that explain the show and the venue to people who were not there |
Name no more than three main uses and put them in order. If you ask for everything at once, you get a bit of everything and not enough of anything.
A short list of key shots helps, even though the photographer will go beyond it. Three to five must-have shots are enough. For a complete example, see creating a trade fair shot list.
Prototypes that may not be published, confidential screen content, price tags, partner products with their own image rights. Anything not listed here will be treated as fine to shoot. One sentence in the brief avoids hours of retouching later.
If your company has a visual style, send two or three example pictures. They explain more than any description. Notes on corporate colours or preferred perspectives help too.
Agree in advance how many pictures you expect, in which formats and by when. With our packages this is fixed: 30+ photos for €990, 60+ for €1,490 and 120+ for €1,990, each delivered within 24 hours after the show ends, with unlimited usage rights. Companies from outside the EU are invoiced without German VAT. Details are on trade fair photographer Germany.
Plan ten minutes at the end of the booking for a quick check: is a shot missing, did a guest come late, is there a scene you still need? That way delivery is complete without a second appointment.
Copy this template into an email and answer each line with one sentence. If you cannot answer a line, that is a sign something still needs to be decided internally before the show starts.
The same ten lines work for every show you attend. The template gets sharper each time, because you add what was missing last time.
Bullet points, not a concept, sent by email in advance and checked for five minutes on the stand.
Hall, stand number, entrance, on-site contact with mobile number and how the pass is handed over.
No more than three main uses, in order. Format and shots follow from them.
Who matters, who arrives when, who does not want to be photographed.
Prototypes, confidential screens and third-party products belong in the brief.
Number of pictures, formats, sign-off and file names before the show.
One page of bullet points. Completeness matters more than length: basics, purpose, people and limits.
A few days before the show, so questions can be answered. A short check on the stand follows on the first morning.
No. Three to five must-have shots are enough. An experienced trade fair photographer adds the standard shots such as stand views, conversations and details.
Message your photographer on WhatsApp. Within the booked time window, the schedule can usually be adjusted.
Usually the exhibitor, through the organiser's exhibitor portal. The exact rules are in the exhibitor manual.
Yes. We work in English, German, Arabic and Persian, and the brief can come in any of these languages.
Send us the show, your stand number and the date. We will go through the rest with you in a short briefing call.
We reply within 24 hours. During a show week, WhatsApp is fastest.
