What’s a shot list, and do I need one?
It’s the handful of frames that have to exist when the day’s over. Not every photo, just the ones somebody’s going to ask for.
You need one if anybody other than you is going to use the photos. Sponsors, the board, next year’s marketing. If it’s just a record of the night, don’t bother.
What belongs on it
Here’s what’s actually worth writing down:
- The people who have to appear. Your executive director, the keynote, the award winners, the donor who funded the room. Names and a description, or a photo, if I have not met them.
- The moments that only happen once. The ribbon cut. The check handover. The standing ovation. There’s no second take on any of those.
- The sponsor obligations. Logos, banners, activation spaces, and anyone who was promised they’d show up in the recap.
- The room before anyone’s in it. Twenty minutes of an empty, finished room is what next year’s sales deck runs on.
What doesn’t belong on it
Anything you want “a few of.” That’s not a list item, that’s coverage, and it’s my job to get it without being told.
Long lists of posed groups. Every group photo costs three to five minutes of somebody’s evening. Thirty of them is two hours you didn’t plan for.
How specific should it be?
Specific about people and moments, loose about everything else. If it reads like a schedule with names attached, you’ve got it right.
When should you send it?
Whenever you’ve got it. A week out is great, the morning of is fine, and if you hand me something at the door I’ll work from that.
The one thing worth flagging early is anything that needs setting up. A posed group, a portrait corner, a specific backdrop. Tell me about those ahead of time and they’ll be ready. Everything else I can just go capture.
