Open-day photography should answer the questions prospective students and parents have: what the faculties, facilities and student life are really like. Cover the booths, talks, tours and informal moments that show this, agree with current students whether they appear, and keep labs, residences and other controlled areas out unless the controller has approved.
An open day is a conversation between an institution and the people who may join it. Prospective students and their parents want to see the campus as it really is: how big the lecture rooms are, what the library feels like, who answers their questions. Photographs from the day will be used to invite the next group, so they need to be honest as well as attractive.
This guide forms part of our wider overview of campus and student photography.
What do prospective students need to see?
Start with the information needs, not the image list. Common questions include:
- What are the facilities for my course?
- What is the campus like to move around?
- What do current students say about daily life?
- What support is available, from accommodation to counselling to careers?
- What activities and societies can I join?
Photographs that answer these questions are more useful than generic wide shots of crowds. A student explaining a project at a booth, a tour group at the library entrance and a faculty adviser talking to a family all show something real.
Working with current students
Many open-day volunteers are current students who agreed to help, but helping does not always mean agreeing to appear in publicity. Ask volunteers in advance whether they are comfortable being photographed and whether their images may be used outside the event.
Where someone prefers not to appear, the photographer can avoid close shots of them, or the team can give them roles away from the main photographed areas. This is easier to arrange before the day than on it. Our guide to permission to photograph versus permission to publish explains why attendance alone is not the same as agreement to promotional use.
Controlled and sensitive campus areas
Open days often include visits to spaces that are not normally public: laboratories, design studios, simulation rooms and student residences. Each has its own controller, and some contain research material, safety hazards or residents' private belongings.
Before the day, ask the faculty or facility manager which areas the photographer may enter, which parts of those areas are to be avoided and whether any items must not be photographed. Where permission is not clear, keep those areas out of the brief. A residential-college tour should show shared spaces only unless residents have explicitly agreed.
Visitors, families and children
An open day will have visitors of all ages, including secondary-school students and younger siblings. The institution decides how they appear in images used for marketing. At a minimum, post visible notices at entrances and at registration saying that photography is taking place, and give the photographer instructions on how to treat minors in frames.
Our guide to children's event photographs lists questions the authorised adults need to settle. We follow the host's direction and do not assume consent from attendance.
An example open-day plan
For example, imagine a Saturday open day with a main hall talk at 10am, faculty booths from 10.30am to 3pm and guided tours at set times. The communications team wants images of the talk, three faculty areas, one tour and some informal moments.
A single photographer might cover the talk, move through the booths during the busiest hours and join one tour. If the booths are spread over several buildings, a second photographer could be considered. Our concurrent activity and crew planner can help test this, and we confirm the crew and hours in writing.
Crowds, light and movement
Open days are crowded, and spaces vary from bright concourses to dim lecture halls. This affects how photographers move and what they can capture. Our guide on crowded venues and obstructed sightlines explains practical constraints. Tell us about any routes closed to visitors, any narrow corridors and any times when the crowd is at its peak.
What to tell the photographer and what you receive
Share the programme, the list of booths and tours, and the names of student ambassadors and staff to look out for. Explain which areas are restricted, and who the contact person is on the day.
Agree what you need afterwards: a quick selection for social media, a full gallery for the archive, or images sized for a prospectus. The quotation should state the number of edited images and how they will be delivered. If you plan to reuse images in several years of marketing, mention it so rights and approvals can be arranged. Our venue photography checklist helps you collect the practical details.
Checklist
- Write the questions prospective students and parents ask most often.
- List the booths, talks, tours and demonstrations to be covered.
- Ask volunteer students whether they are willing to appear.
- Check which labs, studios, clinics and residences need extra permission.
- Put up notices that photography is taking place.
- Agree who approves images used in promotional material.
Send us the open-day programme, the list of venues and the kinds of images your communications team needs, and we will propose coverage and confirm it in writing.
Plan our open-day photographyCommon questions
How do we show real student life without staging it?
Ask current student volunteers beforehand whether they are comfortable being photographed, and photograph them doing what they would do anyway: guiding tours, answering questions, running demonstrations. A willing student in a real activity is more convincing than a posed group, and it keeps consent clear.
Can we photograph inside laboratories, studios or clinics?
Only if the person responsible for that space agrees. Some areas contain equipment, research material or patient-related information. Ask the faculty or facility manager what is allowed and tell us in advance so the photographer can plan around it.
Do we need to cover the whole day?
Not always. Open days have peaks, such as the opening talk, faculty booths and tours. List the periods when most visitors are present and the moments you need, then choose a window that includes them. Quiet hours rarely produce useful images.
Will visitors appear in the photographs?
In a busy open day they will. Put up notices at entrances explaining that photography is taking place, and ask the institution how visitors, particularly children, should be treated in images used for promotion. We follow the host's instructions on framing and selection.
Plan our open-day photography
Send us the open-day programme, the list of venues and the kinds of images your communications team needs, and we will propose coverage and confirm it in writing.
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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