A clear brief makes every conversation with a photographer easier. Here is the trade in Victoria as the ABS counts it, and a brief you can take to every call.
Who you'll be hiring
Photography and event video businesses in Victoria trading at the end of June 2025: 2,721, by how many people they employ.
Booking a photographer in Melbourne. Have the first half ready before you call. Put the second half to every business you speak to.
Tell them
The date, the hours and the placeAnd whether the day moves between places.
What the pictures are forAn album, a website, a print for the wall: each asks for a different eye.
Who and what has to be in themThe people, moments or products you would be sorry to miss.
How you'd like them to lookTwo or three pictures you love, from anywhere, say more than a long description.
When you need themThe date you need the finished pictures in hand.
Ask them
01Who will take the pictures on the day?The person you speak to may run a small team, or may be the one behind the camera.
02What happens if they're unwell on the day?Ask whether there is someone they can call on.
03What does the price include, and what costs more?Travel, extra hours, edited pictures, prints and albums.
04How and when will the pictures reach you?A download link, a drive or an album, and how long each takes.
05How long will they keep your files?Good to know before you clear out your own copy.
06What will the booking say about who owns the pictures, and how each of you may use them?Including whether they may show the pictures on their website or in ads. Ask for what you agree to be written into the booking.
From melbournephotography.com.au, a concept page.
Choosing by their work
A portfolio shows the frames a photographer is proudest of. Ask to see a whole gallery from one day, start to finish, so you can see how they work when the light is poor and the moment is quick.
A call or a coffee before you book is time well spent. You will be together for hours, and it helps to be at ease with the person holding the camera.
Using the brief
Send the first half before you speak, so the conversation starts with your day rather than a price list. Then put the same questions to every photographer and note the answers, so you are comparing like with like.
Printed, the brief fits on one page, with room to write beside each answer.
Shows whether a business's ABN is active or cancelled, its business type and its GST status, and the Register says the public can use it to check a business before buying.