Business Photography UK

What business photography covers

Most businesses need the same handful of image types, just in different proportions. A retailer needs product photography on white and in context. A consultancy needs headshots and pictures of people at work. A café needs food photography for menus and delivery apps. An estate agent needs property photography that is accurate as well as attractive. A manufacturer needs commercial photography of the factory floor, machinery and finished parts.

dijitul shoots all of these on location. That means we come to your shop, office, kitchen, workshop or venue, set up there, and photograph what is actually yours. There is no hired set and no stock imagery. If you also want footage from the same visit, video production can be added to the plan, and we quote both together.

Prices and how a shoot is quoted

Our prices are simple and always shown with VAT added on top:

• Half day: from £295 + VAT
• Full day: from £495 + VAT
• Product photography: from £25 + VAT per image
• Video: from £695 + VAT
• Extra editing or retouching: £45 an hour + VAT

These are starting prices. The fixed quote depends on how many set-ups, people or products there are, how much retouching each image needs, and where you are. Travel beyond the Mansfield and Nottinghamshire area is added to the quote, so you see the full figure before you book. See all our prices or ask for a fixed quote.

Who owns the photos: copyright, licences and assignment

This is the question most clients never ask until it matters. Under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the author of a work is the first owner of the copyright. For a photograph, the author is the photographer. That has been the rule for commissioned photos since the Act came into force in 1989: paying for a shoot does not, on its own, transfer copyright to you. The exception is a staff photographer, whose work in the course of employment belongs to the employer.

What you get instead is a licence: written permission to use the images in agreed ways. A licence can be broad (any marketing use, worldwide, no end date) or narrow (website only, for two years). An exclusive licence stops the photographer licensing the same images to anyone else, and under section 92 of the Act it must be in writing and signed.

An assignment is different: it transfers ownership of the copyright to you. Section 90 says an assignment has no effect unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of the person assigning it. A handshake or an invoice marked "paid" is not an assignment. Copyright in a photograph lasts for the photographer's life plus 70 years, so it is worth getting the paperwork right once.

dijitul states the licence in every quote. If you need full ownership, for example because the images will go on packaging that a distributor also uses, tell us at the start and the assignment is written into the agreement.

RAW or JPEG: which files you actually need

A RAW file is the unprocessed data from the camera sensor. It holds more highlight and shadow detail than a JPEG and can be re-edited without loss, but it is large, needs software such as Lightroom or Photoshop to open, and does not look finished. A JPEG is the processed, compressed image that any browser, phone or printer can use straight away.

For almost every business the right delivery is edited JPEGs in sRGB, in two sizes: full resolution for print and a web copy sized and compressed for page speed. If your designer or printer needs more latitude, we can supply TIFFs or Adobe RGB files for print, and RAW files by agreement. Unedited RAWs are not a shortcut to cheaper photos: someone still has to process every one.

People in your photos: model releases and UK GDPR

English law has no general "image right". In Fenty v Arcadia (2015) the Court of Appeal confirmed that point, although Rihanna still won because Topshop's T-shirt suggested she endorsed it, which is passing off. The practical risk for a business is different: a photo of an identifiable person is personal data under UK GDPR, and using someone's face to sell something without their agreement damages trust.

So for any commercial image showing staff, customers or models, we use a model release: a short signed form that records who the person is, which images it covers, and where they can be used. For staff, it is sensible to agree what happens to their photo if they leave. For events, where releases are impractical, we work with you on notices and an opt-out, covered on our event photography page.

Getting the most from one shoot day

A day goes further with a shot list. Write down every place the images will be used (website hero, product pages, LinkedIn, brochure, trade show banner) and the shape each needs: a 16:9 website banner, a 4:5 Instagram post, a square marketplace image or an A4 portrait brochure cover. We then shoot each set-up wide enough to crop several ways. Tidy the premises the day before, charge any devices that appear on screen, and have staff ready in the clothes you want on record. If the images are for a new look, have your brand identity colours to hand so props and backgrounds match. When you are ready, get in touch with what you need photographed and where.

What you get

• Edited high-resolution JPEGs in sRGB colour
• Web-sized copies, compressed and named for your site
• Cutout PNGs or pure white JPEGs for marketplaces
• CMYK-ready files or full-resolution TIFFs for print on request
• A written usage licence covering where and how long you can use the images
• Signed model releases for identifiable people in commercial shots
• Online gallery download with a contact sheet for selection

How it works and what it costs

Logos from £150, brochures from £295, photography from £295 a half day and CAD at £45 an hour, all + VAT. You get a fixed price before we start.

1. Tell us the brief

   What it is for, who will see it, where it will be used and any examples you like. Rough is fine.

2. Fixed price

   We confirm the price and what you get, in writing, before any work starts.

3. First designs

   We design, shoot or model it and share the first version for your comments.

4. Refine

   We make the changes, check every detail, and prepare the files properly for print, web or manufacture.

5. Final files

   You get the finished files in the formats you need, ready for your printer, website, social channels or manufacturer.

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