Content / A commissioning guide
How to brief golf club photography and film
A practical brief for planning golf club photography and film around the website, campaigns and communications where it will be used.
Start with where the content has to work.
A useful photography and film brief starts with the person you need to help, the decision they are making and the place they will meet the work. Then choose the people, place and details to capture, decide whether a still or footage is needed, and plan the framing around the final destination.
A long list of shots is not a brief. The same fairway can need a quiet wide image for a website, a person-led crop for a campaign and a useful detail for a member communication. Name those jobs before the shoot so the collection can be selected and handed over with a purpose.
A practical planning matrix
Brief the capture around the destination.
On a smaller screen, scroll across the matrix to compare every destination.
| Destination | Audience and purpose | What to capture | Format and crop plan | Questions to agree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website | A prospective member, visitor or organiser deciding whether the club feels right before they enquire or book. | Stills: arrival, course, clubhouse, people and useful details. Footage: movement through the place, welcome and activity where it helps explain the experience. | Plan a lead image with the subject placed to one side and uncluttered space for a headline. Also capture wider and closer alternatives so page crops do not remove the subject. | Which pages need to change first? Who approves the selected images? Which people, locations and third-party material need permission or a different plan? Review or replace when the membership offer, welcome team or featured facilities change. |
| Campaigns | The specific group the campaign needs to reach and the action it should understand, such as a membership enquiry or visitor booking route. | Stills: one clear moment, person or place that can carry the message. Footage: activity, atmosphere or a short sequence only where it supports the campaign story. | Capture vertical, square and landscape options by changing framing at the shoot. Keep the subject clear of the edges and leave usable space around it for the agreed message. | What is the offer and destination? Who signs off the message and final selection? What permitted uses, participant consent and handover does the club need to agree? Review or replace when the offer, message or landing page changes. |
| Club communications | Members, visitors or partners who need a clear update, invitation or picture of a current part of club life. | Stills: people, event detail and the setting. Footage: an interview, activity or a sequence when it adds context that a single image cannot provide. | Plan a set that works together: a scene-setting image, a human moment and useful details. Leave room to crop without losing the person, action or context that makes the image useful. | Who owns each channel? Which uses need to be retained in the handover? What changes in staff, facilities, offering or season should trigger review or replacement? |
Copyable brief checklist
Use these eight lines to prepare the work.
- Name the audience, purpose and next action for each destination: website, campaign or club communication.
- List the pages, campaign messages or communications that need content first, and the person who owns each decision.
- Choose the people, place and detail moments that make the intended experience credible and recognisable.
- For each moment, decide whether a still is enough or whether footage adds useful movement, sequence or spoken context.
- Describe the framing needed: the subject, the background that supports the story and the clear space needed for the destination's message.
- Agree who can approve the plan and final selection, plus the questions to resolve on permitted uses, participant consent and any third-party material in view.
- Record the handover needed: selected files, agreed versions, where they will be used and who will keep them current.
- Set review triggers rather than an arbitrary expiry date: a staff change, facility change, new offer, visible seasonal mismatch or a change in the club's story.
Plan the crop at the shoot, not afterwards.
Start with the subject: a golfer, a member of staff, the clubhouse entrance, a table being set or a piece of course detail. Give that subject room to remain visible when the image changes shape. A crop works best when the important person, action or feature is away from the edges and the space around it still supports the story.
Clear space can make a website headline or campaign message easier to place, but it should not turn the picture into empty scenery. Ask for a wider frame and a closer alternative where both could be useful. This keeps the final use led by the subject and message rather than by a fixed platform size.
Hypothetical worked example
One autumn membership brief, completed.
Northfield Golf Club is fictional. It wants to help prospective members understand the club's welcome and year-round playing experience before they make a membership enquiry. The first destination is the membership page, supported by a membership campaign and a member update about the new season.
The brief asks for stills of a member arriving, a member of staff welcoming them, golfers on the course, the clubhouse and small details that show the club being used. It adds footage of arrival, welcome and play because the membership page needs a sense of movement through the place. For the website lead image, the member is framed to one side with the route into the clubhouse visible and clear space for the page headline. The campaign set includes separate vertical, square and landscape frames of the welcome and play moments. The member update uses a scene-setting still, a human moment and a detail image.
The requested uses are the membership webpage, paid membership campaign and member email. The club's membership lead approves the message and final selection. Its marketing manager is responsible for resolving participant and third-party material questions before capture or use. The content coordinator receives selected stills, agreed crops, footage and a usage record into the club's maintained content library. The collection is reviewed when the membership offer, welcome team, clubhouse facilities or visible season no longer represents what the club wants people to understand.
Review the collection when the club changes.
There is no universal shelf life for a club image or film. Review the work when staff, facilities, the offer, the season shown or the story the club wants to lead with has changed. A good collection can remain useful across more than one destination when the selected work still represents the experience honestly.
Keep the decision practical: name what has changed, which existing item no longer helps and the replacement the club needs. That gives the next shoot or edit a clear job instead of treating every content review as a full reshoot.
Your content brief
Show the moments that make the club make sense.
Albatross plans photography, film and content around the website, campaigns and communications the club needs to create.