Advisory councils and expert consultations

An advisory council exists for honest advice. Members are asked for opinions that may be unwelcome or commercially sensitive, and they may be sharing views they would not express publicly. A photographer in that room, however discreet, changes the setting. So the first question is how much of the meeting needs to be photographed at all.

This page is part of our guide to professional meeting and association-event photography.

Three ways to document a council

There are three common approaches, which can be combined.

1. Portraits before the meeting. Short, individual portraits or a small group, taken in a quiet corner before members sit down. They give you formal images for a website or a report, without any photography in the discussion.
2. An approved group image. One planned photograph at a natural point, such as before or after the session. It records who attended.
3. A short window at the start. The crew photographs the opening remarks and the room for a few minutes, then leaves.

For many councils, one or two of these are enough. Our portrait format and crop brief helps you decide what formats the portraits should take.

Protecting the deliberation

The core of the meeting is conversation. Experts weigh options, disagree with each other and sometimes disagree with the host. If they believe their words and expressions may be photographed, they may soften them.

Keep the camera out once the substantive discussion begins, and let the chair decide the point at which the crew leaves. Our guide to confidential professional meetings with a limited image record explains similar boundaries, and leadership offsites describes an internal version of the same idea.

Each member decides

Council members are volunteers or invited experts, and they have their own views on publicity. Some are in roles where public photographs raise security or professional concerns. Ask each person directly, and keep the response in writing.

Do not treat attendance as consent to publication. Our guide to permission to photograph and permission to publish explains why these are separate, and why a member who agrees to a portrait for the council's internal pages may not agree to its use in a public report.

An example scenario

For example, a professional body convenes a ten-member advisory council for a full day at a hotel. The secretariat wants portraits for the council's web page and one group photograph for the annual report.

Members are asked a week before. Nine agree to portraits, one declines. The photographer arrives 30 minutes early, sets up in a quiet side room and photographs each member for about three minutes. A group image of nine is taken at the first break. The crew leaves before the opening remarks. The secretariat checks captions with each member before publication.

Captions and names

Titles change, and members may hold several roles. Ask each member how they want to be described and keep a list. Our guide to providing accurate names and roles explains how to share them with the crew.

When the expert is a guest

Sometimes the consultation is an event with invited guests and not a standing council. In that case, see invitation-only professional forums with named guests. For a discussion in which everyone speaks equally, roundtable discussion photography offers another view.

What if a member joins remotely?

Some councils include members on a video link. A screen of faces in a photograph can identify people who did not agree to be shown. Ask remote members the same question as those in the room, and frame the screen so it is not the focus unless they have said yes.

Cost and planning

Portrait sessions need quiet space and a fixed time for each person, which affects the booking length. See event photography prices for factors. We confirm the plan and conditions in writing before the date.

Tell us the council members, the meeting format and the uses planned for the images. We will advise on what is realistic and what may be better left unphotographed.