7 Things Web Agencies Should Check When Hiring a Photographer

We’re often commissioned by web agencies and design studios — for corporate site renewals, recruitment sites, hotel and shop websites, product and brand sites.

These projects are a little different from shoots commissioned directly by clients. What matters isn’t the photos the photographer wants to take, but the photos needed to complete the website.

So when a web agency outsources photography, what kind of photographer should it look for?

1. Do they understand web design?

A photo can look great and still be hard to use on a website. Space for copy, cropping for desktop and mobile, landscape versus portrait, the first view, banner variations — web photography means shooting with a clear understanding of how each image will finally be used.

2. Can they work from a brief?

Agencies often give directions like “this composition for this page,” “text goes on the right here,” or “staff photos should feel consistent.” When the photographer understands the intent, it’s much easier to make good decisions on the spot.

3. Can they shoot people, architecture and products?

A corporate site rarely needs just one kind of image: CEO profile, staff, offices, products, people at work, building exteriors, mood images. Booking a different photographer for each adds to the agency’s workload. Being able to shoot multiple genres in one consistent tone is a big advantage on web projects.

4. Can they match the brand’s tone?

A photographer’s personal style matters, but corporate work has to fit the brand — bright and approachable, luxurious, a little cool and minimal, or natural and documentary. The right answer depends on the brand.

5. Can they shoot video too?

More and more websites use short videos on the homepage. Capturing video on the same day as the photo shoot can make far better use of time and budget.

6. Do they think about what happens after the shoot?

Delivery sizes, colour grading, file formats, retouching, deadlines — it matters that the photographer delivers with an understanding of how the agency will handle the images next.

7. Can they handle themselves in front of the client?

This one is surprisingly important. To the client, a photographer brought in by the agency is part of the production team. Communication and conduct on set shape the impression of the whole project, not just technical skill.

Based in Kyoto, LS STUDIO works with web agencies, design studios and advertising producers, thinking about the visuals each project needs — photography, video, AI — as part of the production team.

Not just “outsourcing the shoot,” but “entrusting the visuals.” That’s the relationship we hope to build.