Plenty of good business stories never run because the photograph supplied alongside them is unusable. A picture desk has seconds to decide, and the things that get a photo spiked are nearly always avoidable.
At a glance
- Three people is plenty in a press photograph — five is a crowd.
- Editors want something happening: a handover, a signature, a ribbon cut.
- Avoid the line-up in front of a pull-up banner — the most binned shot there is.
- Supply a caption with full names and job titles, left to right.
- Same-day delivery matters more than perfection — news has a short shelf life.
Who should actually be in the picture
The instinct is to include everyone involved. The result is a line of people too small to recognise. Three is a workable maximum for a press photograph, and two is often stronger — the person the story is about, and whoever they are shaking hands with. If more people need acknowledging, a second wider frame solves it without ruining the first.
Give the picture something to do
A handover, a signature, a product being used, a ribbon being cut. Editors print photographs where something is happening. A row of people holding drinks in front of a pull-up banner is the most commonly supplied business photograph and the most frequently binned.
Editors print photographs where something is happening
Location matters more than people expect
A press shot taken beside a window with decent daylight will outperform one taken under office strip lights every time. If the story is about a place — a new building, a shop floor, a site — photograph it there. Generic backgrounds make generic pictures, and generic pictures do not get used.
The caption is part of the job
Full names, correct spellings, job titles, and the order people appear from left to right. Editors will not chase this, and a photograph without it often simply does not run. I supply images named and captioned so they can be forwarded straight on.
A picture desk isn’t looking for a nice photograph. It’s looking for one that tells the story without the caption.Nicola Gotts
Get it out the same day
Business press works to short deadlines, and a story offered three days late is no longer a story. For press work I deliver a small edited, press-ready selection the same day, sized for both print and online, so the release and the picture can go out together. My PR photography page sets out how a shoot runs from the first call.
Need photographs for a press release or PR campaign? See how a shoot runs.
PR Photography
