Finding a suitable photographer is rarely the problem. It gets difficult when your preferred time slot is taken or travel in show week becomes expensive. This guide explains when to book, what drives availability and what is still possible at short notice.
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Book as soon as your stand space and show days are confirmed. For shows outside North Rhine-Westphalia, four to six weeks ahead is a good guide, because travel can then be planned and shared with other exhibitors of the same show week. For shows in Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Dortmund, less notice is often enough: no overnight stay is needed and, with us, travel is included in the price.
If you are flying in from abroad, book the photographer when you book your flights. By then you know the hall and stand number, your stand team and the days you will be there. You can agree the brief by email or video call in English well before you arrive, instead of trying to organise it from the hotel the night before.
A later enquiry is not hopeless. Booking early simply gives you more room: to choose the time slot, to plan the shots and to prepare the brief, including fixed moments such as customer meetings, stage talks or a product launch.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| As soon as the stand is confirmed | Send an enquiry with show, hall, stand number and show days; get a fixed-price quote |
| Four to six weeks before | Confirm the booking, fix the time slot, plan travel for shows outside North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Two to three weeks before | Agree the brief and shot list: products, people, customer meetings, stage times |
| One week before | Sort out the photographer’s pass, name a contact on the stand, send the show-day schedule |
| Show day | Short check-in before doors open, shoot to plan, first photos usually the same day |
| After the show | Delivery within 24 hours after the show ends |
This is how booking works at Pixer: you send the show, city, hall, stand number and time slot, and we reply with a fixed-price quote including travel. Non-EU companies are invoiced without German VAT, EU companies under reverse charge. What a good brief contains is covered in how to brief a trade fair photographer.
When you book, you also decide when the shoot happens. That often matters more than the date of your enquiry.
With two hours, choose one focus, such as the start before doors open or the busy midday period. With a full day, you get both: the empty stand in the morning and the busy stand at midday. Our packages cover two, four or eight hours for €990, €1,490 or €1,990 plus VAT.
Sometimes your participation is confirmed late, or the photographer you planned drops out. Then enquire immediately, ideally by WhatsApp or phone, and include the key details straight away: show, hall, stand number, day and preferred time. We check short-notice requests at any time. For shows in North Rhine-Westphalia, something is often possible at very short notice because the distances are short. Our office is right at Messe Essen, 30 seconds from the entrance.
What suffers with a late booking is rarely the quality, but the preparation. A short brief with five points is enough: main product, key people, fixed appointments, formats you need, contact person on the stand. Read more in our guide to the last-minute trade fair photographer.
As soon as stand and show days are confirmed; outside North Rhine-Westphalia, four to six weeks ahead.
Flying in from abroad? Book the photographer when you book travel and agree the brief in English.
Popular time slots and hotel rooms go early in show weeks.
How the photographer gets into the hall is set out in the organiser’s exhibitor manual.
Before doors open for the empty stand, late morning for conversations.
We check short-notice requests at any time, and in North Rhine-Westphalia often at very short notice.
As soon as your stand space and show days are confirmed. Outside North Rhine-Westphalia, four to six weeks ahead is a good guide, so travel can be planned and shared.
Yes, we check short-notice requests at any time. Send the show, hall, stand number, day and preferred time, and you get a firm answer quickly.
Show, city, hall, stand number, show day and time slot, plus a line on your goal: stand photos, video, interviews or all of them.
Every organiser handles this differently, and the rules are in the exhibitor manual. Sort it out no later than one week before the show.
Yes. We brief in English by email or video call before the show, and we also work in German, Arabic and Farsi. On the day, a short check-in before doors open is enough.
Yes. Additional show days are quoted on request. Plan them together, so travel and shots can be spread across all days.
Your stand is confirmed? Then now is the right time. Tell us the show, hall and date, and we will come back with availability and a fixed price.
We reply within 24 hours. During a show week, WhatsApp is fastest.
