Photo shoot checklist: getting your practice camera-ready.
Great office photography is mostly preparation: the right patients invited early, seasonal décor and clutter gone, cords hidden, screens cleared of patient information, and a quiet block on the schedule. Everything on this page is doable in a week, and most of it in an afternoon. Print it, tape it to the break-room door, and check things off.
Two weeks out — choose your people
The photos of rooms sell the space; the people sell the practice. This is the part that can't be fixed on shoot day, so start here.
Patients for interviews and photos
- Happy and comfortable talking. The best on-camera patients are the ones who already tell their friends about you. Enthusiasm reads; nerves also read.
- A real story. Someone who put treatment off and finally did it, someone whose smile changed something for them — a story with a before and an after beats general praise every time.
- Variety. A range of ages and treatments makes the finished films and photos speak to more of your patients.
- The doctor invites, personally. A personal ask from the doctor gets a warmer yes than a front-desk call — and sets the tone that this is an honor, not a favor.
- Tell them what to expect. A relaxed conversation, usually 10–15 minutes on camera, nothing live, retakes welcome. Your production team should provide a one-page handout for each patient.
- Stagger arrivals and book a spare. Schedule patients 30–45 minutes apart so nobody waits, and invite one more than you need — someone always has a conflict.
- Paperwork, before the camera rolls. Every patient signs a photography and interview authorization first. With us this happens on an iPad in about two minutes; whoever you shoot with, no signature means no filming.
Your team
- Decide who's featured — doctors, and any team members you want on the site — and let everyone know a shoot is happening, so nobody is surprised by a camera.
- Team members appearing on camera sign a short media release of their own. It's voluntary, and anyone who prefers to stay off-camera simply stays out of frame.
- Pick one team member as the shoot-day point person. One person who knows the plan beats five people guessing.
The schedule
- Book the shoot on a light clinical day or an admin morning — empty rooms and a quiet compressor make everything faster and better.
- Walk the space with your production team beforehand if you can: which rooms photograph best, where the light comes from, where interviews will happen.
The week before — the office itself
Cameras exaggerate clutter. A room that reads "lived-in" to the eye reads "messy" on a website. The goal isn't a show home — it's your office on its best day.
- Seasonal decorations down. These photos will be on your website for years — a pumpkin or a string of lights dates every image to one month. Evergreen only.
- Counters cleared. Loose papers, sticky notes, personal mugs, shipping boxes, product samples — off every surface that might be in frame.
- Cords hidden. Unplug what isn't needed, tuck and tie what is, and get power strips out of sight. Dangling cables are the #1 thing that makes a professional photo look amateur.
- Taped-up signs down. Handwritten notices, printed policies taped to walls or desks, and any leftover pandemic-era signage. If it's taped, it goes.
- Glass, mirrors, and stainless polished. Cameras find smudges you've stopped seeing.
- Every bulb working — and matching. Replace burnt-out bulbs now, and match the color: one cool-white bulb in a warm room turns a photo green.
- Plants alive. Water them, remove dead leaves, and retire anything struggling. A fresh arrangement at reception is worth it on shoot week.
- Walls and frames. Straighten artwork and diplomas, touch up scuffs at chair height and corners.
- Waiting room styled. Current magazines only, cushions straightened, kids' corner tidied.
- Every monitor in every room: cleared of patient information, or off. Screen savers count.
- Charts, route slips, and lab cases out of sight — check the sterilization area's sightlines too.
- Schedule whiteboards and printed day sheets erased or removed.
- Nothing with a patient name visible anywhere a lens might point — including reflections in glass and monitors.
- Only people who have signed a release appear on camera. Everyone else stays out of frame — including patients in the waiting room.
The day before
- Confirm your interview patients and their arrival times; reconfirm the spare.
- Stage the rooms being photographed: chairs angled and wiped, trays tidy, no sharps or instruments that read "clinical" in frame.
- Wardrobe reminder to the team: clean, well-fitted scrubs or uniforms in solid mid-tone colors — no fine stripes or small checks (they shimmer on camera), no big logos. Matching sets, freshly laundered, photograph best.
- Charge anything that appears in photos — scanners, tablets — so no charging cables sneak into frame.
Shoot day
- All lights on, blinds even, window film and glass wiped.
- Compressor, suction, and noisy HVAC off during interviews — background hum is the enemy of good audio.
- Phones on silent in interview areas; hold pages and intercom calls during takes.
- Reserve two parking spots near the door for gear.
- Water and coffee out — for the team, the patients, and the crew.
- Your point person greets patients, keeps the schedule moving, and knows where everything is.
- Then relax. A calm office photographs like a calm office.
Quick answers
How do we choose patients for interviews?
Happy, comfortable talking, with a real story — and invited personally by the doctor. Variety of ages and treatments, one spare invitee, signed authorization before filming.
What absolutely must come down?
Seasonal décor, counter clutter, visible cords and power strips, taped-up signs, and anything showing patient information.
What should the team wear?
Clean solid mid-tone scrubs or uniforms. No fine stripes, small checks, or large logos.
How long does it take?
Two to four hours for interiors and team, plus 15–30 minutes per patient interview. A light clinical day makes it painless.
Want the shoot handled for you?
Our builds include an office photo shoot — shot list, patient releases signed digitally on an iPad, and interviews directed so five usable minutes come out of ten relaxed ones. This checklist is exactly what we send our own clients.
Book a site consultation