Unit Still Photography Workflow: Set to Delivery Guide

TL;DR: Unit still photographers shoot 1,000 to 3,000 images per production day, then deliver same-day selects within hours and full galleries within 24-48 hours. The key to surviving this volume? Log metadata at ingest and use automated culling tools to cut sorting time by 50-80%.

You shot 2,847 images today. Wrap was at 7 PM. The publicist needs 15 hero shots by 10 PM. And tomorrow you'll do it all again.

This is the reality of unit still photography. Most guides cover gear recommendations or how to break into the industry. This one covers what happens after you press the shutter: the workflow that gets thousands of images organized, culled, approved, and delivered without losing your mind.

What is Unit Still Photography?

Unit still photography is the practice of capturing promotional stills and behind-the-scenes images during film and television production. Unlike documentary BTS photography, unit stills are specifically created to market and sell the production.

The role sits at an interesting intersection. As one experienced photographer put it: "A unit still photographer has to think like a DP, a photojournalist, and a publicist. You're telling the story of what's in front of the camera, what's happening behind the camera, and you're capturing images that will be used to sell the film to distributors and audiences."

That triple responsibility shapes everything about the workflow. You're not just taking pretty pictures. You're creating marketing assets under production conditions, on a production schedule, with production-level expectations for delivery.

For major studio productions, unit still photographers are represented by IATSE Local 600. Getting there requires 100 documented paid days over three years plus significant entry fees. It's a professional position with professional standards.

The Numbers: What You're Actually Managing

Let's talk volume, because this is where most workflow problems start.

On a typical 11-12 hour shoot day, unit photographers capture between 1,000 and 3,000 images. One set photographer described it simply: "I typically come home with 3,000 photos a DAY."

That's not a typo. Three thousand images. Every single day.

Now multiply that across a production schedule. A feature film might shoot for 40-60 days. A TV season could run 100+ days. You're looking at libraries of 50,000 to 100,000 images per project. And once catalogs pass that 50k-100k threshold, most software starts to bog down.

The delivery expectations match the intensity:

• Same-day selects: 10-20 hero images due within 2-4 hours of wrap
• Full delivery: Complete organized gallery within 24-48 hours
• Ongoing requests: Marketing pulls for press releases, social media, trade publications

Modern cameras make this harder, not easier. With 50+ megapixel sensors now standard, each RAW file runs 50-100MB. A single day's shoot can exceed 150GB of data.

Pre-Production Setup

The photographers who handle this volume consistently aren't necessarily faster shooters. They're better prepared. Here's what to set up before day one.

Gear Essentials

Silent shutter mode isn't optional. You'll be shooting during takes, and any noise that disrupts audio will get you removed from set fast. Mirrorless cameras with electronic shutters are standard now. In the old days, photographers used sound blimps (bulky cases that muffled the shutter), but modern silent modes have mostly replaced them.

Fast lenses matter more than you'd expect. Sets are often darker than they appear on screen, and you can't use flash during takes. Pack glass that opens to f/1.4 or f/2.8 minimum.

Dual card slots provide redundancy. Losing a card means losing the day's work. Configure your camera to write to both cards simultaneously.

A laptop for on-set culling lets you review during setups and lighting changes. Don't wait until you're home to start sorting.

Folder Structure and Naming

Consistency prevents chaos later. Set up a structure before you shoot a single frame:

PROJECT_NAME/
├── 2026-01-15_Day01/
│   ├── Selects/
│   ├── Delivery/
│   └── RAW/
├── 2026-01-16_Day02/
...

Name files predictably: PROJECT_DATE_SCENE_###. When you're searching through 80,000 images six months later, you'll thank yourself.

Metadata Templates

Build IPTC metadata templates before production starts. Include the production name, your copyright notice, credit line, and contact information. These templates can be batch-applied during import, saving hours of manual entry across thousands of files.

Create keyword templates too. Terms you'll use constantly (actor names, "behind the scenes," "key art," scene numbers) should be one click away, not typed fresh each time.

On-Set Workflow

Your behavior on set matters as much as your technical skills. Productions have hierarchies and rhythms. Understanding them determines whether you get the shots you need.

The Invisible Photographer

"A good set photographer has to be almost invisible. Understanding the rhythm of the set is key!"

This advice from an experienced photographer captures the core principle. You need to be everywhere and nowhere. Present enough to capture the moment, absent enough to never slow down the crew.

Learn who to ask for what, and when. The AD controls the set schedule. The DP owns the lighting. Sound will tell you if your shutter is too loud. Build relationships with these departments before you need favors from them.

And don't rush to fill every quiet moment with shooting. As one veteran put it: "Don't feel like you have to be shooting a whole bunch right away, as if you're on the clock or shooting a wedding. Slow down."

What to Capture

Your shot list serves multiple purposes, so shoot with all of them in mind:

Marketing/Key Art: Hero shots of principal cast in character. These sell the production. Dramatic lighting, clean compositions, iconic moments.

EPK (Electronic Press Kit): Behind-the-scenes content for press and publicity. Director working with actors. Department heads at work. The collaborative process.

Production Documentation: Wide shots showing the full scope. Crew at work. Equipment setups. These matter for archival purposes and sometimes insurance documentation.

Detail Shots: Props, costumes, makeup, set decoration. Often overlooked, but marketing teams request these constantly for social media.

On-Set Review and Flagging

Use downtime productively. When the crew is relighting or resetting, review your shots. Flag obvious selects in-camera or via tethered software.

One rule is non-negotiable: never delete anything on set. Even images that look like obvious rejects might be the only usable frame of a particular moment. Cull later, in a controlled environment, with backups in place.

Same-Day Selects Process

This is the pressure point of the workflow. Wrap happens, and the clock starts immediately.

The Timeline

Production and publicity typically expect same-day selects within 2-4 hours of wrap. They don't need 200 images. They need 10-20 hero shots that can go to press if needed.

Understand what they actually want: strong images of principal cast, a few BTS shots showing the production at work, and maybe one or two "wow" frames that capture something special about the day's work.

Rapid Culling

First rule: never cull from your memory card. Copy everything to your working drive (preferably an SSD for speed) and run a backup immediately.

Automated culling tools have changed this phase dramatically. Modern culling software can analyze thousands of images for technical quality (focus, exposure, eyes open) and group similar shots automatically. The time savings are significant: 50-80% reduction in culling time compared to manual review.

The workflow looks like this:

1. Import to working drive
2. Run AI first pass for technical quality
3. Manual second pass for story and composition
4. Final selection based on what publicity actually needs

Quick Edits

Same-day selects don't need heavy retouching. Adjust exposure and white balance. Crop if necessary. Ensure consistency across the set.

Don't spend 20 minutes perfecting a single image. Production wants speed over perfection for these initial selects. Save the detailed work for final delivery.

Export at whatever specs your production requires. Usually that means full-resolution JPEG plus a web-resolution version.

Full Delivery Workflow

Same-day selects buy you time, but full delivery is where organization either saves you or buries you.

Metadata at Ingest

This is the single most important habit in the entire workflow.

"If you aren't logging metadata at ingest, you're just scheduling a mental breakdown for the offline edit."

That quote from an editor applies perfectly to still photography. Apply your IPTC metadata templates during import, not after. Scene numbers, episode information, and talent names go into keywords immediately.

Every day you delay metadata entry, the backlog grows. And unlike culling (which AI can help with), metadata requires human knowledge of what's actually in the images.

Organization and Tagging

Structure your delivery around how people will search for images:

By scene: Marketing needs "all images from the courtroom scene" By talent: Publicists need "all approved images of Lead Actor" By type: Social teams need "all BTS content"

Automatic tagging accelerates this process. Modern systems can identify shot types (wide, medium, close-up), detect objects and settings, and suggest keywords based on image content.

But automatic tagging works best as a starting point, not a replacement for human review. Always verify the tags make sense for your specific production context.

Face Recognition for Talent

Productions with large casts benefit enormously from face recognition. Train the system on your principal cast early, and it will automatically identify who appears in each frame.

This turns a 20-minute manual tagging session into a 20-second automated process. And it makes searches ("show me all photos with Actor A and Actor B together") actually possible across massive libraries.

Final Export and Delivery

Delivery specs vary by studio and production. Check requirements early and build them into your export presets.

Common formats:

• Full-resolution TIFF or JPEG for archival
• Web-resolution versions for digital use
• Specific color spaces (sRGB for web, Adobe RGB for print)

Organize the delivery by whatever structure the production requested. Usually that's by scene, by episode, or by date. Include all metadata in the delivered files.

Talent Approval Integration

For many productions, you can't release images until talent approves them. This step needs to be built into your delivery timeline, not bolted on afterward.

Why Approvals Matter

Talent contracts often include "kill rights" that allow actors to reject a percentage of images taken of them. These rights exist to protect their brand and image. Ignoring them creates legal and relationship problems.

The talent approval workflow typically allows talent to kill 50% of solo images and 75% of group shots, though specific percentages vary by contract.

The Approval Workflow

A functional talent approval system needs:

• Secure access (no shared links floating around)
• Clear approve/reject interface
• Progress tracking (how many images reviewed, how many remain)
• Audit trail (who approved what, when)

Route images to talent or their representatives. Set clear deadlines. Track responses. Only release approved images to publicity and marketing.

Timing Approvals

Build approval time into your delivery schedule from the start.

Same-day selects sometimes skip formal approval (check the contract), but full delivery almost always requires it. If talent has 48 hours to review and you promised delivery in 24 hours, something has to give.

Communicate timelines clearly to everyone involved. Surprises create delays.

Common Workflow Mistakes

Five mistakes consistently slow photographers down:

Skipping metadata at ingest: Every image without proper tags becomes a needle in a haystack. What takes 5 seconds per image during import takes 30 seconds when you're searching through 50,000 files.

Culling on memory cards: Slower, riskier, and you can't run backups until you've copied everything anyway. Always copy first, cull second.

No backup strategy: One drive failure can destroy an entire production's worth of images. The 3-2-1 rule applies: three copies, two different media types, one offsite.

Over-editing selects: Same-day selects need speed, not perfection. Save the detailed retouching for final delivery or specific requests.

Ignoring set hierarchy: Getting in the way of production, even once, damages your reputation. Learn the rhythm before you start shooting aggressively.

Tools That Speed Up the Process

The volume problem isn't going away. Cameras keep adding resolution. Productions keep wanting more coverage. Turnaround expectations keep tightening.

The photographers who thrive have workflows that scale. That means:

Automated culling: Cutting sort time by 50-80% isn't a luxury when you're processing 3,000 images daily. It's survival.

Cloud-based DAM: When your publicist is in LA, your production office is in Atlanta, and talent is reviewing from a hotel room in London, everyone needs access to the same organized library.

Integrated approvals: Running talent approvals through email and spreadsheets breaks down fast. Systems that connect approvals to your image library eliminate duplicate work.

Smart search: "Find all approved images of Actor A in the courtroom scene" should take seconds, not hours. Auto-tagging, face recognition, and proper metadata make this possible.

The goal isn't to work faster through sheer effort. It's to build systems that handle the repetitive work so you can focus on what actually requires a photographer's eye.

FAQ

How many photos does a unit still photographer take per day?

Between 1,000 and 3,000 images on a typical 11-12 hour production day. The exact number depends on scene complexity and the number of setups.

What's the turnaround time for production stills?

Same-day selects (10-20 hero images) are due within 2-4 hours of wrap. Full organized galleries are typically expected within 24-48 hours.

Do unit still photographers need to be union members?

For major studio productions, yes. IATSE Local 600 represents still photographers, requiring 100 documented paid days over three years plus entry fees to join. Non-union work exists on independent and lower-budget productions.

What camera settings do unit photographers use on set?

Silent shutter mode is essential to avoid disrupting audio. Fast lenses (f/1.4-2.8) handle the low-light conditions common on sets. Most shoot RAW for editing flexibility, with dual card slots for backup redundancy.

How do photographers handle talent photo approvals?

Images requiring approval are selected, sent to talent or representatives via a secure system, and tracked until approved or rejected. Only approved images are released to publicity teams. This process should be built into your delivery timeline from the start.

Key Takeaways

• Log metadata at ingest, not later: This single habit prevents most organizational chaos down the line.
• Use automated culling tools: 50-80% time savings on sorting means you can actually meet same-day deadlines.
• Know your delivery timeline: Same-day selects in 2-4 hours, full gallery in 24-48 hours, with approval time built in.
• Be invisible on set: Understand the rhythm and hierarchy before you start shooting aggressively.
• Build systems that scale: The volume isn't going down. Your workflow needs to handle 50,000+ images without breaking.

The photographers who last in this industry aren't necessarily the ones with the best eye. They're the ones who figured out how to manage the volume without burning out. Build your workflow once, refine it constantly, and let your systems handle the repetitive work. Save your energy for the moments that actually require a photographer's judgment.

Research sources: Reddit r/photography and r/Filmmakers community discussions, X/Twitter conversations with working unit photographers