A good handover passes on four things: access to the original delivery, the brief and quotation, the record of approved uses and restrictions, and the names of who decides next. Do it before the last day, not after. The successor should be able to answer where the files are, what they may be used for, and who to ask.
Most image problems after a staff change are not about photography. They are about missing context: which folder is the final one, who said yes to the sponsor logo wall photograph, and whether last year's group photograph was cleared for the website. This guide sits in our wider look at using event photographs for business and reporting and focuses on the moment the original contact leaves.
What is actually at risk when a contact leaves?
Four things tend to disappear first. They are worth naming because each needs a different fix.
- Access: a gallery link, cloud account or shared drive tied to one person's login.
- Context: why a selection was made, and what the brief asked for.
- Approvals: who agreed to what use, and for how long.
- Relationships: who at the photography team or agency knows the history.
The files themselves are usually the easiest part. The reasons and permissions around them are what a successor cannot rebuild from a folder of images.
What should the handover pack contain?
Think of the pack as the answer to the questions a new person will ask in their first month. Keep it short enough to be read.
| Item | What to include | Where it usually lives |
|---|---|---|
| Original delivery | The files exactly as delivered, plus the gallery link and expiry date | Shared company storage |
| Brief and quotation | The final brief, quotation, written changes and the delivery terms stated there | Booking email thread, contract folder |
| Approved selections | File names, purpose, approver, date, restrictions | A simple log or spreadsheet |
| Open items | Pending crops, corrections, requests to the photography team | Email, chat |
| Contacts | The photography contact, the agency contact, the internal approver | Handover note |
If your company already keeps a photo archive plan, the pack becomes one extra entry in it, not a new system.
How do you protect the original delivery?
Keep one untouched copy of what was delivered, separate from any working folders. Edited crops, resized social copies and designer files should sit beside it, never over it. Our guide on keeping originals beside social-media copies explains why.
Check who holds the gallery account. If the gallery was opened under a personal email, ask the photography team how access can be moved to a company contact. Ask this before the account closes, not after. See also what to arrange when an organiser's account is about to close.
How do you record approvals so they survive?
An approval that exists only in a chat message will not outlast the chat. Move each one into the log while the person who gave it is still reachable. Record the restriction as written, for example "internal newsletter only" or "not before the announcement date", rather than your summary of it.
Our guide to keeping records of agreed image-use restrictions covers the wording. If the approver is also leaving, note who now holds that authority.
A hypothetical example
Imagine a marketing executive leaving two weeks after a company dinner. Her successor starts next month. In her last week she copies the delivered gallery to the shared drive, writes a one-page note listing the 12 photographs already approved for the annual report and the 3 held back for a leadership review, and sends the photography team a short email naming her manager as interim contact.
When the successor arrives, nothing needs to be guessed. She can see what is final, what is pending and who to ask. That is the whole aim of a handover.
What if the agency or booking contact changes?
When an agency hands the account to a new team, ask for the booking records, not just the images. Our guide on booking records when contacts change lists what to request. Then ask the photography team to confirm in writing who now speaks for you, so instructions are not taken from two people.
Questions to settle before the last day
- Who owns the gallery account, and can it move to a company contact?
- Where is the single final copy of the files?
- Which selections are approved, and with what limits?
- What is still open with the photography team?
- Who decides on new requests until a replacement is hired?
Writing these answers down takes less than an hour. Reconstructing them later can take weeks.
Checklist
- Name the new owner and an interim owner in writing.
- Copy the original delivered files to a shared company location.
- Record the gallery link, the account holder and the expiry date.
- Pass on the brief, quotation and any written changes to scope.
- List approved selections with purpose, approver, date and restrictions.
- Note open requests, such as pending crops or corrected files.
- Confirm the new contact with the photography team in writing.
If a handover is coming and you want the next photography booking to be easier to pass on, send us your current brief and delivery arrangement, and we will help you write the record into the next quotation.
Plan a handover-ready photo briefCommon questions
Should the departing person forward the gallery link or move the files?
Do both in the right order. First confirm who owns the gallery account and whether the link is tied to one person's email. Then copy the original delivered files to a shared company location, and record the link, expiry date and access list. A forwarded link alone can fail the day that account closes.
Who should receive the handover if no replacement has been hired yet?
Name an interim owner, usually the person's manager or a marketing lead, and record that choice in writing. An archive with no named owner tends to be left alone until someone urgently needs a photograph, at which point nobody knows what may be used.
What if the agency that booked our photographer is being replaced?
Ask the outgoing agency for the booking records, the quotation, the final brief, the delivery details and any usage approvals. Then confirm with the photography team in writing who the new contact is. Your own copy of the original files should not depend on the agency's storage.
How detailed does an approvals record need to be?
Detailed enough that a stranger can use it. For each approved selection, note the image file names, the purpose, who approved it, the date and any restriction such as a date limit or audience limit. A short table is better than a long email thread nobody can search.
Plan a handover-ready photo brief
If a handover is coming and you want the next photography booking to be easier to pass on, send us your current brief and delivery arrangement, and we will help you write the record into the next quotation.
What happens next: You send your event details on WhatsApp. Our team reads the brief, asks what is missing, then confirms in writing whether the date, venue and coverage can be booked, with a quotation. Opening WhatsApp does not send anything, and a message is not a booking until both sides confirm.
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