Things to consider when hiring an industrial photographer/ filmmaker

07

Jul 2022

Thinking of hiring an industrial photographer/ filmmaker, here is the complete guide on how you should proceed. Let’s have a look at the things to consider when hiring an industrial photographer/ filmmaker.

#1 It takes longer than you expect to photograph your facility. We have several cases of gear and it takes time to move those through your location. The quotes are given either in the final images or how long the shoot takes. Have a short list ready to get a quote. For a one-day shoot, there are typically around 30-50 deliverable images. It is possible to get access to the entire shoot with an extra fee, typically double the artist fee.

Have an idea of what kind of image crops you want. For instance, the image crops for magazine covers, trade show booth banners, banners for websites, and Instagram/ social media feeds. Your business may target different industries. It’s great to have a plan for the procedures or machines that target each industry. If there are vendors onsite that you don’t want their logos in the shots. Let the photographer know before the shoot. It could be an easy photoshop move or require more serious retouching. Budgets- expect to pay 1500-$15000 for a shoot.

#2 It is very hard to do Photography, Video, and Drone at the same time. If you want both contents the crew needs to be larger and the time is doubled. The gear with photography and video is different. It is recommended that these are shot together so the style syntax is similar.

#3 All people that are photographed or filmed will need to fill out a model release form. That will legally cover you to use the advertising content for longer than their employment.

#4 The photographer will have a cart and an assistant while traveling through the facility. The faster we need to go the more crew that is needed.

#5 Let us know the size of the facility. This gives us a scope of how much time it’ll take to get through the facility.

#6 We need to understand the specific safety concerns of your facility so we can prepare. This includes heat, cold, light, particles, wet, toxic, dusty, and loud. We will need to know if we need specific Personal safety equipment. For biohazard sites, time in the shoot needs to be considered if we need to sanitize the equipment.

#7 It is best to have someone from marketing onsite during the shoot. The purpose of having a marketing person onsite during the shoot is to verify in real-time that we are getting the content that is required. It is more difficult to go back and coordinate a shoot and get all the people lined up. A lot of times the Operations officer needs to be onsite to coordinate everything and make sure all safety protocols are being followed.

Assume we don’t understand your industry terminology. We won’t know what’s important unless you tell us and show us. We are not conditioned to the safety concerns of your facility.

Before the shoot, it is best to do a facility walkthrough either via zoom. The photographer needs to understand the conditions inside so we bring the proper equipment. Yes, we have insurance, you should as well. Drones can be flown inside and we will need to know the insurance liability limits required. Sign the NDA agreements and that’s it.

Image licensing

It depends on the photographer. I offer international licensing in perpetuity. It is not a work-for-hire contract. The images are licensed to your company for use. The photographer retains rights to use images in their portfolio. If you don’t want the photographer to have rights to the images ask for a buyout. The buyouts are typically used internationally with advertising agencies. The buyouts are double what the photographer fee is.

Thanks. If you have any queries, feel free to reach out to us.