Commissioned photography is work made to someone else's order: an agency, a picture desk or an organisation asks for pictures, and you deliver them. The three things that decide whether it goes well are how you read the brief, how you present the work afterwards, and whether the consent and licensing behind each frame are in order. Get those right and the rest is craft.
What does an agency brief actually ask for?
A brief is not a description of pictures. It is a description of a use. Read it twice and mark every noun that names a person, a place or a deadline, because those are the parts that cannot be changed later.
The first pass is for the ask: what is being photographed, who it is for, and where it will run. The second pass is for the constraints: delivery format, aspect ratios, whether captions are required, whether a model or property release is mentioned, and the date the pictures are needed. If the brief says "candid" and also lists six named people who must appear, those two things pull against each other, and that is worth a question before the shoot rather than an apology after it.
A practical habit is to write back in plain sentences: here is what I understand the pictures are for, here is what I will shoot, here is what I need from you on the day. This is also where you set out your fee and what it covers, because a quote that arrives after the shoot is a negotiation, and a quote that arrives before it is a plan. Agencies expect this. A brief that has been read carefully is cheaper for everyone than a reshoot.
For a fuller picture of how this works on the commissioned side, including how a portfolio is read by an editor, Claire Schneider's site covers editorial photography on commission alongside documentary work and the licensing questions that follow publication.
How do you build a portfolio an editor can read?
An editor reads a portfolio in a hurry, usually on a screen, usually with three other tabs open. The portfolio's job is not to show everything you can do. It is to let someone decide, in under a minute, what kind of photographer you are and whether you can be sent to a job.
Start with a single page of pictures that belong together. Twelve to twenty images is a working range. If the pictures come from four different kinds of assignment, split them into four short sets rather than mixing them, and put the strongest set first. An editor who has to guess which picture belongs with which is an editor who has stopped reading.
Sequence matters more than individual frames. Open with something that reads at thumbnail size, close with something that leaves a feeling, and put the technically difficult picture in the middle where it will be seen properly. Captions should say who, where and when, in one line, without adjectives. If a picture needs a paragraph to explain it, it is probably not carrying its weight.
Keep the file sizes sane and the page fast. A portfolio that takes fifteen seconds to load has already lost the argument. Put your contact details on the same page as the work, not three clicks away, and keep the whole thing in one language unless you genuinely work in two markets.
What are the consent and licensing rules behind published images?
Consent and licensing are two different permissions, and both are needed before a picture goes out.
Consent is about the person in the frame. Licensing is about the use of the image. A signed release does not give you the right to sell the picture for any purpose, and a licence does not replace a release. They sit side by side.
For editorial use, which is use in a news story, a feature or a documentary context, the position is generally more permissive than for advertising, because the picture is informing rather than promoting. That distinction is the one most often blurred by clients, and it is worth stating plainly in writing which one applies. Commercial use, meaning advertising, packaging or anything that implies endorsement, needs a release from any recognisable person, and for a minor it needs a parent or guardian.
Minors deserve their own paragraph. A child cannot consent in the legal sense. A parent or guardian signs, and even then the picture should be one you would be comfortable defending in front of that family. If the setting is a school, a club or a youth event, the organiser usually has its own permission process, and you should ask to see it rather than assume it covers you.
Private property is a separate matter from people. A photograph taken inside a private building, a care home, a workplace floor or a private event may need the owner's permission regardless of who is in the frame. Public space is not the same as public permission.
What goes in the caption, the credit and the metadata?
A caption is not decoration. It is the part of the picture that survives when the picture is separated from the article. Write it in one or two sentences: who is in the frame, what they are doing, where it was taken, and the date. Use full names where you have them and check the spelling against a document, not against memory.
The credit line names the photographer and, where relevant, the outlet or agency. It should be agreed before publication, not added afterwards. If the licence is limited, the credit line is often where the limit is stated in public: "photograph by X, used with permission".
Metadata is the quiet part. Fill in the creator, the copyright notice, the date and a short description in the file itself. This is what an archive, a picture desk or a future editor will read when the original email is long gone. It is also what protects you when a picture is reused without your knowledge, because the information travels with the file.
Corrections are part of the process. If a name is wrong or a caption misstates what is happening, correct it quickly and visibly. A corrected caption costs less than a complaint.
How do you keep a documentary project honest?
Documentary work is made over time, in a place, with people who did not ask to be photographed. The grammar of it is small: wide frame to show the place, medium frame to show the relationship, close frame to show the person. Seven frames will usually tell a short story if they are chosen well.
Consent in documentary work is not a single signature at the start. It is a conversation that continues, and it includes the right of someone to say, later, that they would rather not be in the picture. That is not a failure of the project. It is the project working.
When the subject is a community, a youth group or a social change story, the duty of care is higher, not lower. Ask what the pictures will be used for, who will see them, and whether the people in them will be identifiable in ten years. If the answer is uncomfortable, the honest move is to shoot differently, not to shoot less carefully.
What should you check before you send the invoice?
Before the invoice goes out, run a short list. Are the delivered files the format and size the brief asked for? Are the captions written and checked? Is the credit line agreed? Is there a written record of the licence, including the use, the territory and the duration? Are the releases, where needed, signed and stored with the project?
If any of those is missing, say so in the delivery email rather than in a later argument. Clients rarely mind a question before delivery. They mind a surprise after it.
Commissioned photography is a small trade with a long memory. The pictures that keep working are the ones where the brief was read, the portfolio was clear, and the permissions were sorted before the shutter, not after.