What do you ask a new client?

[maemackay]

Hi! I'm a hobby photographer based in Scotland, and have been branching into some paid concert photography work since the start of this year. Recently, I have been contacted by a musician looking for a promo shoot, which is very exciting for me but I'm also totally clueless and quite nervous! 

So, I guess to start with, what questions do you ask your new clients to find out what they are looking for? 

[tonygale]

Welcome and congratulations on the new client, that's fantastic!

A few of the things I typically ask

What are they looking for specifically? How many photos, what style, how many setups, etc. Do they have examples of what they have in mind?

Do they want a hair/makeup artist?

Where do they want to shoot?

How do they plan to use the photos? ( A promo shoot could be PR, website and social media, and eventual album cover, marketing etc.) I charge more, if they are using it more.

Do they have a budget in mind? Often people don't want to answer that, and the way I typically frame it is that there are several different ways to approach the shoot and of you know the budget it helps figure out what is possible. You can't rent $1500 worth of lights if the whole budget is $1000

Good luck!

[maemackay]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate this! All really helpful pointers and has hopefully given us both a great understanding of the briefing now. 

[cooperneill]

Biggest questions that I always ask potential clients are:

What's the budget?
What's the intended usage for the photos?
Do you have a mood board or examples of other shoots you like?

From there you can get a general idea of what they're looking for / what they're willing to pay for it and make adjustments as needed until you both find a good spot for pricing and usage.

[maemackay]

Great thats so good to know! Especially the mood board, that really helped. Thanks 🙂