Content
How to brief golf club photography and film
How to brief photography and film for your golf club around where it will be used: the website, campaigns, and club communications, with crops and handover planned.
Start with where the content has to work
A good photography and film brief starts with the person you need to help, the decision they're making, and where they'll see the work. Then choose the people, places, and details to capture, decide whether a still or footage is needed, and plan the framing around where it will end up.
A long shot list isn't a brief. The same fairway might need a quiet wide image for the website, a crop led by a person for a campaign, and a useful detail for a member update. Name those jobs before the shoot, so the collection can be chosen and handed over with a purpose.
Brief the shoot around where it will be used
The table sets out what each destination needs: who it's for, what to capture, how to frame it, and what to agree before the shoot.
| 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 to one side and clear space for a headline. Also capture wider and closer alternatives so page crops don't lose 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 a visitor booking. | 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 the framing at the shoot. Keep the subject clear of the edges, with usable space around it for the agreed message. | What is the offer and where does it lead? 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, an invitation, or a 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 a single image can't. | 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 kept in the handover? What changes in staff, facilities, offering, or season should trigger a review or replacement? |
Eight things to agree before the shoot
- The audience, purpose, and next action for each destination: the website, a campaign, or a club communication.
- The pages, campaign messages, or communications that need content first, and who owns each decision.
- The people, places, and details that make the experience credible and recognisable.
- For each moment, whether a still is enough or footage adds useful movement, sequence, or spoken context.
- The framing: the subject, the background that supports the story, and the clear space the message needs.
- Who approves the plan and the final selection, and what needs settling on permitted uses, participant consent, and any third party material in shot.
- The handover: selected files, agreed versions, where they'll be used, and who keeps them current.
- What triggers a review, instead of an arbitrary expiry date: a staff change, a facility change, a new offer, a season that no longer matches, 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 it room to stay 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 shouldn't turn the picture into empty scenery. Ask for a wider frame and a closer alternative where both could be useful. That way the subject and the message lead the final use, not a fixed platform size.
If the images are for a website project, use the website project checklist to agree the page and handover requirements before the shoot.
An example: an autumn membership brief
Take a club that wants prospective members to understand its 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 in use. 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 headline. The campaign gets 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 uses requested are the membership page, a paid membership campaign, and a member email. The membership lead approves the message and final selection. The marketing manager resolves any participant and third party material questions before capture or use. The content coordinator receives the 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 show what the club wants people to understand.
Review the collection when the club changes
There's no universal shelf life for a club image or film. Review the work when the staff, facilities, offer, season shown, or story the club wants to lead with has changed. A good collection can stay useful across more than one destination, as long as the work still shows the experience honestly.
Keep the decision practical: name what has changed, which 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.
