Back to the Basics: What is a Commercial Photoshoot Really

Ok, to some this might seem ridiculous but to others, there’s a huge barrier to entry when doing anything new. So, let’s strip this down to the studs. At its core, a commercial photo shoot is a photographer with a camera taking pictures of a product or maybe something that represents a service. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff.

But here’s where it gets messy: jargon. In creative land, there’s a term for everything. Half of them sound like secret handshakes. So, in the spirit of transparency, let’s break this down.

Pre-Production aka Planning

When you hear pre-production, don’t panic—it’s just a fancy way of saying we are planning.

This is everything that happens before a camera even comes out of the bag:

• Writing the video script

• Building the shot list for stills and video

• Scouting the location(s)

• Pulling mood boards

• Hiring a stylist that fits the mood boards

• Buying/renting/getting all the things for the shoot

• All the phone calls and zooms

If someone says “we need to get this into pre-pro,” they’re just trying to plan the shoot.

Production aka Taking the Pictures

Production is when the on site/in studio work happens. This is the shoot, photo or video or both, we call it a shoot. When the cameras comes out, lights go up, and the schedule runs from call time (when we show up) to wrap time (when we call it quits).

Along the way you might hear:

• Art Department: this is the stylist (and their team) who is dressing the scene, or in a lot of cases, you and me being like, “this is too busy, let’s move that chair.”

• Picture or Picture Department: this is the camera, lights and director dealing with lighting and framing the scene

• The Shot: as in, “the shot is set” or “we got the shot” just means that scene or line on the list. Not the whole shoot, just that one piece.

• Hot Set: means the scene is ready to go, translation, don’t touch anything

• Strike: just means removing a piece of gear

• Blocking: Planning where people stand or move during a shot. Like choreography, but less “Swan Lake” and more “stand here and look natural.”

• Beat: a small unit of time or action in a scene, think of it like a pause, shift, or mini-moment that changes the rhythm

• MOS: Shooting without recording sound. I think the origin is German, but I don’t really know.

• Action: Yes, we still say that and just in case, it mean, “Go now!”

• Walking lunch: We’re eating and working at the same time.

• Company move: We’re packing up and heading to a new location.

• Crafty: Short for craft services, all the snacks and coffee that keeps us alive and moving on set

• The Martini: Last shot of the day

These terms can pile up fast, but here’s the secret: if you don’t know one, just ask. We love talking about this stuff.

Post-Production aka What Happens AFTER the Shoot

Most people have an idea here, but let’s be crystal clear: post is everything that happens after the shoot.

That can mean:

• Returning the unused clothes and props: sometimes these are high ticket items that might make the shot but also might break the budget, so we buy and then return if needed.

• Editing the photos, again this is pretty simple in concept but can get kind of crazy in the action:

  • Simple things like color correction, cropping, or just making selects.

  • Editing all the clips together to make the video.

  • More complicated things like, a logo removal or addition, removing elements from a scene (like that bright orange traffic cone you can see from the front door), or even changing clothing color.

  • Might be retouching skin, hair or a background to make sure that person looks their absolute best.

  • Just think, all the things in photoshop or editing suite.

  • Even cropping and resizing for different platforms: Instagram Stories are tall and skinny, LinkedIn prefers wide, and some platforms still love their perfect squares. This is all done in post.

Deliverables aka “What You Get”

A deliverable is just the finished images or videos sent to you. Could be five photos. Could be fifty. Could be one beautifully polished video.

How you get them (Dropbox, WeTransfer, hard drive) and how many you’re expecting will impact turnaround time. So if you’re wondering “when do I get my images back?” The real answer is: it depends.

Ok, that’s enough vocabulary for now. There are hundreds of little terms we toss around on set, but these are a few of the big ones to know.

If there’s a word or process you’ve heard that makes you scratch your head, send it my way. I’ll cover it in a Part Two.