How to do a remote photoshoot

What you need before you start

A remote photoshoot needs less gear than most people expect, and most of it sits with the subject. The photographer works entirely from a browser. Run through this checklist before the session so nothing stalls once you are live.

• A phone. A modern iPhone or Android with a good rear camera. Newer phones that support RAW or Apple ProRaw give the most latitude in the edit.
• A stand or tripod. Non-negotiable. A handheld phone drifts and blurs; a clamp or tripod keeps the frame locked so you control the composition.
• Light. A large window is the cheapest good source there is. Two LED panels work well if you would rather not rely on daylight.
• A stable connection. Wi-Fi or strong 5G on the subject’s side. A weak signal is the single most common cause of a rough session.
• Wardrobe and props. Whatever the shot calls for — outfits, the product, backgrounds — set out and ready before you start.
• A shot list. Written down. You cannot walk over and reset a light, so planning does more of the work than it would in a studio.

With remote camera control, the sensor on the subject’s phone does the capturing while you make every creative decision from wherever you are. Here is the full process, step by step.

Step 1: write the brief

Everything good about a remote photoshoot starts before anyone opens an app. The brief is where you decide what you are actually shooting and who needs to be in the room.

Write a short shot list first: the specific frames you need, in priority order, so you capture the essentials early and treat the rest as bonus. Pull a moodboard of two or three references for lighting, pose, and crop — it is far faster to say “like this image” than to describe an angle over a call. Decide the output formats up front, because that changes your plan: JPG for quick social deliverables, RAW or Apple ProRaw when the images will be retouched hard.

Then confirm the guest list. A remote shoot can bring the subject, the photographer, and any clients or art directors into the same session. Agree who joins, and send the subject a two-line prep note: charge the phone, clear some storage, find a tripod, and pick a spot with good light. Five minutes of briefing prevents most of the problems that otherwise surface live.

Set expectations on the deliverable too. Note how many final frames you owe, the orientation each one needs, and where they will run, because that shapes how you frame during the session. A brief that answers “what does done look like?” keeps the shoot focused and stops you from over-shooting variations you will never use.

Step 2: prepare the devices

The setup is split cleanly. The subject installs CLOS on their iPhone or Android — that phone is the camera. The photographer directs from a browser, with nothing to install. Clients and crew join the same way, through a link.

Test the connection the day before, not five minutes before. Have the subject open a session, confirm you can see the live rear-camera feed, and check that the controls respond without lag. Always use the rear lens, never the selfie camera: the rear sensor is far better and gives you the resolution you are shooting for. If the preview stutters, move the phone closer to the router or switch to a stronger network while there is still time to fix it.

A dry run also lets everyone learn the interface before it matters. The subject sees how to hold or mount the phone; you get a feel for how the frame responds when you pull focus or change exposure. By the time the real session starts, the technical questions are already answered and you can focus on the pictures.

Step 3: set the room

With devices ready, turn to the physical space. You cannot touch anything on the subject’s side, so coach the setup carefully over the live feed.

Start with light. Place the subject facing a window or your key light, not with their back to it — backlight silhouettes a face. If you are mixing sources, pick one dominant temperature so a warm bulb and cool daylight do not fight your white balance. Ask the subject to switch off harsh overheads that cast shadows.

Then place the phone. For portraits and headshots, the lens should sit at roughly the subject’s eye level; a phone set too low creates an unflattering up-the-nose angle. Leave a little room around the subject so you can crop intentionally later, and keep the phone level so verticals stay straight.

Mind the background as much as the subject. A cluttered wall or a bright doorway behind them pulls the eye away from the shot, so clear the frame or reposition the phone before you start rather than fixing it in post. A plain wall, a clean corner, or a simple backdrop keeps attention where it belongs.

Finish with a framing walk-through on the live feed. Have the subject step into position, check the composition, and take one test frame. Confirm it looks sharp and correctly exposed at full size before you commit to the session. That single check catches soft focus, a tilted horizon, or a color cast while they are still easy to fix, and it means the first real frame is already usable rather than a throwaway.

Step 4: direct the shoot

Now it behaves like any shoot, just mediated by software. You control the shutter, focus, and exposure remotely while directing the subject by voice.

Talk more than you would in person. Without body language to lean on, your voice is the whole toolkit. Give one instruction at a time — “chin down a little… now turn your shoulders to the left” — and call out the moment you fire so the subject holds the pose. Demonstrate on your own camera if that is easier than describing it. Keep the energy up between frames; small talk relaxes people and produces better expressions.

Because you see the live feed, you set the frame and capture on your own timing rather than talking someone through settings they cannot see. Watch for drift and blur, re-take anything weak on the spot, and work down your shot list so you know you have the essentials before you move on to variations.

Pace the session deliberately. Shoot the priority frames while everyone is fresh, then loosen up for the variations once the must-haves are safely captured. If the subject stiffens, change the instruction rather than repeating it — ask for a small movement, a look off-camera, or a reset between frames. Short breaks keep expressions natural over a longer session, and because the files are already in the cloud you can glance at what you have and adjust direction without breaking the flow.

Step 5: capture in RAW

On Pro plans you can capture RAW files — DNG or Apple ProRaw — straight off the phone’s sensor instead of a baked JPG. That gives your retoucher room to recover highlights, correct color, and sharpen detail without artifacts, which matters whenever the images will be edited seriously.

Pro also adds the manual controls that make RAW worth shooting: ISO, shutter speed, and white balance, plus telephoto and ultra-wide lens switching. Keep ISO as low as the light allows, set a shutter speed fast enough to avoid blur, and match white balance to the room’s dominant source. Decide on your format before you start so you are not converting later.

One practical note: RAW files are large. The Free tier includes 1 GB, which is enough to try a session, while Pro tiers scale from 5 GB up to 1 TB to hold a full RAW shoot. Size your storage to the job before you begin so you do not run out mid-session. If the deliverables are for fast social use, full-resolution JPG on the Free plan is perfectly fine.

Step 6: deliver from the cloud

There is no “send me the files later.” With real-time cloud delivery, every frame lands in CLOS Cloud the instant it is captured, so you and any clients can review as you shoot. An art director can flag selects while the subject is still in position, which lets you re-take a weak frame before you break the set.

When the session ends, nothing has to be transferred by hand. Download a single hero frame, a hand-picked selection, or the entire shoot packaged as a ZIP, whichever suits the next step in your workflow. Pro adds non-expiring albums, so a campaign’s finals stay available long after delivery.

Because capture and delivery happen in one continuous loop, a remote photoshoot moves as fast as an in-person one — and the files are already where you need them the moment you wrap.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Backlighting the subject. A bright window behind them turns a face into a silhouette. Light should fall on the subject, not behind them.
• Shooting vertical-only. Frame for where the images will actually run. Locking every shot to portrait orientation leaves you short when a layout needs a wide crop.
• Skipping the connection test. A weak signal ruins the live preview and slows delivery. Test it the day before, not during the session.
• Working without a shot list. Without a plan you will wrap and realize you missed a key angle. Write it down first.
• Ignoring storage limits for RAW. RAW files are large. Check your plan’s storage before a heavy session so you do not stop halfway through.
• Using the selfie camera. Always shoot on the rear lens; the front sensor is weaker and lower resolution.
• Under-directing. Silence produces stiff subjects. Talk constantly, give one cue at a time, and signal each capture.

Remote photography rewards preparation more than expensive gear. Bring a plan, good light, and clear direction, and the virtual photoshoot you run will hold up against a studio session for most commercial work. When you are ready, see pricing for when Pro’s RAW and storage make sense, or read how CLOS fits working photographers.