40+ Question ideas to include in your photography questionnaire

You may be surprised, but questionnaires are an incredibly valuable and crucial tool when it comes to building relationships with your clients and providing a smooth and caring experience. If you haven't used questionnaires before, these are forms with questions through which you can collect details prior to a session, as well as ask for feedback after you've delivered the photo gallery.

Ask the right questions and your clients feel listened to and cared for, while you have all the context you need to do your job well, and be prepared for any circumstances. The more you know about your clients, the better you understand their needs, can meet and exceed their expectations.

In this article, we'll walk you through our top 5 reasons why you need to use questionnaires in your photography business. We'll also share some practical examples of questions you can include in your own questionnaires, to get a better insight on who your clients are, and what they expect from their photo session with you. We'll also explain what's the easiest way for photographers to create questionnaires for their clients. 

Why you should use questionnaires in your photography business?

The are numerous benefits for using questionnaires in your business. Here are 5 of our favorite ones:

1. Questionnaires offer an easy and organized way to collect essential details from clients prior to the photoshoot. You can find out more about their preferred locations and compositions, have a better understanding of who'll participate in the photoshoot, what's their relation to each other, and more.
2. Questionnaires can offer a very personal and intimate insight on who your clients are, which allows you to build stronger, more genuine connections to them. You get to discover their story, how they met, fun facts about them and their loved ones. You'll know the names of their children, their parents and pets. You'll understand what drives them, why they care to get their photos taken and what they expect from your service. All this allows you to meet those needs, and serve your clients in a more personal, caring way.
3. Questionnaires can help you feel more confident and prepared for each photography session. If your clients plan to bring their relatives to the portrait shoot, if they want to do matching outfits, if they show up with props and specific composition requests - you'll know and be ready to handle that like a pro.
4. Questionnaires allow you to easily gather feedback and testimonials from clients after you've delivered their photos. Take this opportunity to learn about their experience, find out what they've enjoyed and what could have been done differently. Learn how you can improve your services and deliverables for future clients. Also, find out if they're comfortable to have their photos shared publicly, and if they're willing to send a testimonial that you can use on your website.
5. With questionnaires you can store all client information, questions and feedback neatly organized in one place. Once you're prepping for a photo session, or reflecting at the end of a busy season - you can pull all that information out, review it and strategize on improvements.

40+ Questions to include in your photography questionnaires

Now that you're aware of the huge impact questionnaires can have on your business and workflow, let's explore some practical examples of questions that will help you serve your clients better:

General questions to include in your questionnaire:

• Why are you having photos taken? Do you have any special requests for the session?
• What's the best way to connect with you? Phone call, email, text messages?
• Are you interested in getting any of the photos printed?
• Do you have any preferred locations for the photo session?
• Can you share a folder or mood board with some photo inspiration for our session?
• What type of photos do you prefer? Posed, candid, creative compositions, etc?
• How would you describe yourself with 3 adjectives?
• How would your friends describe you?
• Which social media channels do you use most often?
• Did you want to do anything special during your session?
• Do you have specific compositions or photo ideas that you absolutely want to have captured during your session?
• How do you feel about black & white photos?
• Do you have any concerns or questions about the session or photo gallery? I'm here to help and make this a fun and relaxing experience for everyone taking part in the session.

Questions to include in a Wedding/Elopement questionnaire:

• Tell me one fun fact about you and your partner?
• What's one of your favorite memories together with your partner?
• What type of photos do you prefer? Posed, candid, creative compositions, etc?
• Share a photo of you and your partner that you really love, and let me know what you love about that photo.
• What are some things/activities that you enjoy doing together?
• What hobbies and interests do you have? What about your partner?
• How would you describe your partner? (each partner needs to answer separately).
• Who will be taking part in the wedding/elopement/ceremony? (parents, friends, relatives, pets, etc. Please share their names, age and relation)
• Have you decided on the location where you want to elope/get married? If yes, let me know all the details. If no, do you have any preferred locations on your list?
• Can you share an approximate timeline of the day? Feel free to include as many details as you can.
• Do you want to take family formals? If yes, please list which people should be in the photos, and how they should be grouped. If there are any sensitive topics, situations, relationships that I need to be aware of - please let me know.
• How many bridesmaids and groomsmen will you have? Can you share their names and relation to you?
• Which vendors do you plan to work with (for venue, flowers, decorations, event planning, makeup and hair, cake, etc)?

Questions to include in a Family Portraits questionnaire:

• Who will be taking part in the photo session? Please share their names, age and relation.
• Tell me one fun fact about each member of the family?
• What's one of your favorite memories together with your family?
• Can you share a recent photo of you and your family that you really love? Let me know what you love about that photo.
• What are some things/activities that you enjoy doing together?
• What hobbies or interests does each family member have?
• Do you have any specific outfits or props that you would like to include in the session?

Questions to include in a Post-Session Questionnaire:

• How did you find out about me?
• What did you enjoy the most about the session and/or photo gallery that was delivered?
• Did you have any concerns or fears prior to the session? How did those play out?
• Was there anything that could have been done differently or better?
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend me to a friend or family member?
• Did your experience match your expectations? If not, how was it different?
• If you were recommending me to a friend, what would you tell them?
• I would love to feature your session on my blog and/or social media channels. Would you be ok with that?

The more specific you get with the questions you ask and information you collect through your questionnaires - the better prepared and more confident you'll feel during the photoshoot. You'll be able to address everyone by name, you'll know what sparks joy and curiosity for each family member. You'll also be down for just about any idea and creative composition, because it won't hit you out of the blue - you'll be prepared for it, and excited to execute it in a fun and beautiful way. If you ask us - that's the perfect recipe for a great photography session!

How to create questionnaires

The easiest and fastest way for photographers to create and send questionnaires to clients - is through Studio Manager. Go to studio.pixieset.com/questionnaires click on “New Questionnaire” and follow the steps inside your dashboard. You can choose the format of the answers, from multiple choice and checkboxes, to long or short text, date, email, etc. You can enable the "required" option for specific questions, add your branding (logo and colors) as well as a personalized cover image, to set the tone and get them excited about taking photos.

Once you're done creating your questionnaire, you can send it right away or pre-schedule it for a certain date. If your customer fails to fill out the questionnaire by a due date, you can have auto-reminders enabled so they get a follow up without you having to lift a finger.

And the best part - you can get started with questionnaires and Studio Manager via a Free plan. No credit card required. Register here, then start creating and sending questionnaires, contracts and invoices for free.