Each client has its own approved visual style and its own release rules, so treat them as separate. For every client, write down the look it expects, the editing limits, who approves images and what may be published and where. Keep these records apart. Applying one editing approach or one publicity rule to all clients risks breaking the commitments you made to one of them.
An agency's portfolio of clients is varied by design. One client wants warm, documentary images of people. Another wants crisp, brand-coloured shots of products. A third wants discreet coverage, with nothing published without its approval. The agency's challenge is to keep these distinct so that none is compromised by another.
This page belongs to our overview of agency and recurring event-photography commissions.
Why a house style can cause trouble
A photographer's natural approach may be consistent across jobs, and that is often a strength. But a client has paid for a look that fits its brand, and may have guidelines on colour, retouching and composition. An approach that suits one client can break another's rules.
The same applies to publicity. An agency may be allowed to use one client's images in its own showcase and be forbidden from using another's. If both clients' images go into the same folder with the same rules, mistakes become likely.
Capture each client's style in writing
For each client, write a short note covering:
- The overall look: natural or stylised, warm or cool, candid or composed.
- Subjects to emphasise and those to avoid.
- Editing limits, such as no heavy retouching or no filters.
- Brand elements to include or exclude in frames.
- Two to four reference images, each labelled with what it shows.
Our photography style preference brief offers a layout. Our guide to using reference photographs in an event brief explains how references work and where they mislead.
Agree what editing can and cannot change
Editing expectations differ. Some clients want only exposure and colour adjustment. Others expect cleaning up distractions or applying a consistent grade. The shared guide to agreeing what retouching can and cannot change explains how to state limits.
For each client, state the approved level. If a client later asks for something outside it, treat that as a change request and record it. The photography scope change log is useful for this.
Release rules for each client
Release rules say where images may appear and who approves. For each client, record whether images may be used on its own channels, in press, by partners or sponsors, in the agency's portfolio or case studies, and for how long.
Do not carry assumptions from one client to the next. Our guide on keeping records of agreed image-use restrictions explains why a written record helps, and the image-use and approval register provides a layout. The agency's own use of images is a separate question, covered in agency portfolio images containing several supplier brands.
A hypothetical example
For example, an agency has three clients with events in the same month: a bank that wants restrained, formal coverage with images approved by compliance before release; a lifestyle brand that wants lively candid images for social media; and a manufacturer that wants product-focused shots in its factory.
The agency writes three one-page notes and three release sheets. For the bank, editing is limited to basic correction and no image is published before approval. For the lifestyle brand, a warmer grade is approved. For the manufacturer, the note forbids images that show certain areas. Each set is delivered to its client only, and the agency keeps the records in separate folders.
When the same event serves two styles
Occasionally one event produces images for two clients with different styles. The photographer cannot satisfy both in every frame. The agency decides which moments serve which client and tells the photographer. See one agency serving several clients at the same event for how to plan the combined brief.
Review and learn
After the first delivery for each client, compare it against the client's own note. If the client has comments, record them in the note rather than only in the email thread. The next brief then starts from the improved description. Our guide on image approval across marketing, agencies and leadership shows how to keep approvals orderly.
What to send us
Send each client's style note and release rules, or tell us where they are not yet written down. We confirm in writing how we propose to handle editing and delivery per client, and what we need from you before the events.
Checklist
- Write a one-page style note for each client, with reference images.
- Record each client's editing limits and any must-avoid looks.
- Record who approves images for each client.
- Record where each client's images may and may not be published.
- Keep each client's records in separate files.
- Review the first delivered set against the client's own note.
Tell us the brand style and release rules for each client you want us to photograph, and we will confirm in writing how we propose to keep them separate.
Set up client style and release rulesCommon questions
How do we describe a client's visual style to the photographer?
Use a short written description and a few reference images, and say what each reference shows: tone, colour, framing or subject. Avoid vague words such as 'premium' without examples. Our style brief tool helps you describe a look in plain terms.
Can the photographer use one editing style for all our clients?
Only if each client agrees. Some clients want natural colour and minimal retouching, others want a bold or brand-coloured look. Tell us each client's expectations, and we will say in writing how editing is handled per client.
Who sets release rules, the agency or the client?
Usually the client, within the limits the agency has agreed. Record each client's rules on where images may appear: its own channels, press, partners. Do not assume that what one client allows applies to another.
What if two clients' styles conflict at the same event?
Treat each as a separate brief and say where the conflict occurs. For example, a bright, high-key look and a dark, moody one cannot both apply to the same frame. The agency decides how coverage is divided and which images each client receives.
Set up client style and release rules
Tell us the brand style and release rules for each client you want us to photograph, and we will confirm in writing how we propose to keep them separate.
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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